# Hops



## WayneCP86 (21/1/16)

G'day all.

After some help with my attempt at growing hops. Firstly some details, Ive built a hops garden out of my old tomato garden, Im sure it will work where it is and how its set up. Its a bed of fresh compost, garden mix, chook manure and sugarcane mulch. I use a drip system and diy heavy sprayer. Heres a look at it...




Ignore the green hose, it was temporary. 




My questions are:
Is there any guides or suggestions to growing hops up here in SEQ?
Ill be after 2-3 rhizomes, looking at fuggles, goldings, cascade and saaz types, are there any of these types that are definitely no for growing here?
And I know its out of season but are there anyone with rhizomes about still? ;p

Cheers
Wayne


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## WayneCP86 (22/1/16)

Anyone?


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## Mardoo (22/1/16)

I don't have anything to say about growing hops where you are, but if you put multiple types of hop rhizomes together in that tub you won't be able to tell which is which within a year. They spread. Majorly.

Soil mix sounds good.

There are definitely some QLD hop growers on here. Maybe check the 2016 Hop Plantations thread for some QLD growers and PM them. If you get a bit more specific in your thread title you're likely to get more bites.


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## WayneCP86 (22/1/16)

Cheers,

I have the rhizomes and "trellises" seperated by around a meter, I read online that would be suitable? 

I did post up the title as "Hops help for SEQ" but I think my phone cut it short when I sent it through.... oh well.

Thanks


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## Yob (22/1/16)

1 meter might be ok for the first year... after that your fucked... 3 meters is better


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## WayneCP86 (22/1/16)

Hrrrmmm ok I can always do two spots.


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## Mattrox (22/1/16)

Yob said:


> 1 meter might be ok for the first year... after that your fucked... 3 meters is better


The swear jar is filling up tonight. Are you saving up for something?


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## Yob (22/1/16)

yes.. a bigger swear jar


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## Yob (22/1/16)

WayneCP86 said:


> G'day all.
> 
> After some help with my attempt at growing hops. Firstly some details, Ive built a hops garden out of my old tomato garden, Im sure it will work where it is and how its set up. Its a bed of fresh compost, garden mix, chook manure and sugarcane mulch. I use a drip system and diy heavy sprayer. Heres a look at it...
> 
> ...


I gotta say, I do love this bathtub approach, I do hope there are very big holes in it for drainage though, hops like to be well drained


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## WayneCP86 (22/1/16)

Yeah its very well drained, large holes that can be blocked up if need be. Its been used to grow tomatoes to chillies, they have been downgraded though for this new venture!

It dries out fully after 1 and half days of 30 degree heat and nothing growing in it.


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## wide eyed and legless (23/1/16)

If you do find some one with rhizomes you will be better off organising a swap of cones and grow just one type from the tub, as Mardoo pointed out the rhizomes would intermingle and there would be no knowing what is coming up where.


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Ok, Ill keep it this set up as is for now but just one type will go in it. I can do a second type on the other side of the shade house. Will 1 rhizome be enough in that tub or would 2 of the same type be needed? Im now assuming one will cover that set up pretty well after the first season or so...


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Actually ignore that last one... I re read thr growing hops article and saw my miss read, the root system itself can grow to that size. So ill leave one in there, Ill go to bunnings and set up another in a large pot on the other side, or wait til master puts up mega sales!

Cheers everyone


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## kalbarluke (23/1/16)

I live near Boonah (so not too far from you) and a few of my mates in the area have had varying degrees of success growing hops.
My experiences: we grew goldings (though I'd be surprised if that was the actual variety), cascade, chinook. The most successful plants grew upward of 5 metres tall (we put a nail in the apex of the roof of a two storey house and string to the ground and the hops grew to the top and wanted to go higher). The roots spread very far and so garden beds in the ground were better. Lots of chook poo in loose, fluffy, well drained soil helps. 
The major killers l found were weather conditions: wind, dry weather and extreme heat. I live on a hill and my hops would get blown apart from wind all the time. We will also get those ex-cyclones or summer tropical low pressure systems with gale force winds that blow rooves off houses or supercell storms in this part of the world. Hops just don't like strong wind and will let you know. The heat in Ippy gets pretty bad too. Weeks of 37 degree days don't help. Plus we don't get the long daylight hours of our southern friends in places like Melbourne or Tassie.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdAMO7bABs

Check out the video I made a few years ago (or just search "growing hops in seq" on YouTube). We were able to harvest about 200g of goldings, 150g of cascade and about 75 g of chinook. The cascade was lovely and the chinook was a late bloomer.
My opinion is you are planting a bit late but you could still grow them. As yob said earlier, you will need more height. But, have a go.


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Cheers, Ive scene your video before. Im pretty covered from the wind here, live in a gully along that stretches along a creek off the 2 rivers. Heat is my only concern, but 37 degrees as the weather man says is measured at Amberley, here we have a weather station as well and it generally sits 2 degrees lower then stated. Normal summer days are 32-34, very hot ones are 34-36, we have had 40 here though during heat waves, thats a killer and something ill have to watch.

My family use to a few properties out at boonah and aratula, I found the heat there was very direct compaired to here, but the further you head to the center of ipswich then west of it the more brutal it becomes as well. 

The set up I have gives me 8 meters of "height", i just need to train them to grow horizontally at around 4 meters.

Im not really after huge quantities, more of a lets give it a go, sounds like fun thing.


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## Mardoo (23/1/16)

Hops don't mind heat, but hops don't like dry. I swear by soaker hoses, the black ones that weep. In hot periods I just leave them on very low 24/7. They have to have good drainage for this. They'll grow an easy 12cm on days between 35C and 40C. However, hot wind they don't like and kalbarluke is spot on about wind in general.

They're river bottom plants originally, so it sounds like they'll do just fine where you are Wayne. However, the length-of-day thing will likely be an issue. The difference in moving mine from a place where they got 6 hours of direct sun to a place with 10 hours of direct sun was noticeable in plant size, health and crop.


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Cheers ok, yep mine should be fine then, i have a black weeper hose setup, its just covered by the mulch in the pic. I get sun there all day as it gets it from the east nor east in from before 5am until around 12 and then from it goes more west nor west until around 6.30ish. I think from here it will be more trial and error, to see what works best.

Thanks heaps everyone, will have to wait now until some rhizomes come up for sale!


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## HBHB (23/1/16)

I'm a bit further north and subject to fairly strong coastal winds where we are, so the bines cop a fair flogging from the wind, especially with the inevitable summer tropical lows.

I've tried Goldings, but a bunch of grubs ate them out after their first poor growth season. Same happened to a Hallertauer after 2 years of runted growth up to about 75cm max. zero flowers, Cascade does ok until either the grasshoppers, scrub turkeys or the army worm turn up in battalion strength. Chinook is almost (almost) unkillable and tends to thrive and give some good quantity of decent sized cones, though this year the grasshoppers demolished the growth tips when it got to about 3M high. Retribution came in the form of bhut chilli spray, which made me feel better, but alas the damage was done. I'm thinking of just farming grass hoppers next year :unsure:


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Ouch, thats got to suck! My old man has a shed full of chemical warfare supplies and takes almost too much pleasure in using them. Never really have issues with bugs but if they do rock up, they dont last!


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## Mardoo (23/1/16)

HBHB said:


> I'm thinking of just farming grass hoppers next year :unsure:


Nah, they make the beer way too grassy…sorry. (Possums are my particular nightmare.)

Variety-wise I'd recommend Chinook, Victoria and Mt. Hood. They all grow well in Australia and produce lovely hops here. As HBHB says, they're tough buggers.


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## Bribie G (23/1/16)

My hop growing experience on Bribie Island was woeful. Research I did at the time indicated that you shouldn't really be growing hops North of Port Macquarie, not so much because of temperatures (it gets pretty damn hot in Central Europe where most Euro hops are grown) but because of day _length. _

They grow best with long hot summer days then set flowers as the day length decreases sharply in Autumn, which is fine in Tasmania / Victoria, but once you get into the Subtropical areas where there isn't a lot of difference between day length throughout the year I guess the plants don't get the same "trigger" to flower.

Some people seem to have had a fair bit of success, Nick B used to grow them at Nanango for example. I'd guess the best varieties to try would be ones that succeed in California, maybe Willamette if you can get them, as those areas are further South than Cascadia. (= our North)


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## Feldon (23/1/16)

I remember reading about CUB's former Hop Research Station on Whitehorse Road in suburban Ringwood in Melbourne back in the 1960s (where Pride of Ringwood hops were developed).

When street lighting went up in Whitehorse Road CUB had to relocate its research station because the night time lighting completing stuffed up the growing cycle of the hop plants. Just shows how sensitive they are to hours of light per day.

The OP says he lives in "a long gully", so perhaps the shortening of direct sunlight hours by seasonal shadowing might help mimic conditions in the more southern latitudes?


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Cheers, I'll give em a look


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Eh ill give it a go, i have a few things ive been told cant grow here due to climate or season times but grow then well. Im an avid bonsai enthusiast as well and was told my evergreens would die... 8 years on and still doing well. If it works great, if not still great, ill grow grapes instead haha


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## Bribie G (23/1/16)

Ipswich is on a similar latitude to Northern Mexico, the Western Sahara and Saudi Arabia, that would probably explain why hop growing, whilst possible, isn't the most effective


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## WayneCP86 (23/1/16)

Yeah thats true, but if it literally comes down to sun light times, then Ill dig out my reptile enclosure artificial light set up


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## WayneCP86 (27/1/16)

Another quick question set guys. 

If all works out and i get a usable harvest, Ill be drying them and vacuum sealing the individual usable lots. I use kit extracts at the moment, I haven't got the room for a full from scratch set. So how much do I add into each vacuum pack? From what I could find online it was 1 to 2 oz per set but I want to ckarify. Oh and its more flavor and aroma not bitterness.

Cheers


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## Yob (27/1/16)

Save in 100g lots.


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## Matplat (27/1/16)

I'm starting to think that buying hops at a good price is more satisfactory that growing them....

As such, you could buy some of my plants off me if you want, they are in pots atm and have been in them since august so have obviously got bines growing.

I've got two cluster, one victoria and one goldings that I would be willing to part with. Considering they are potted and have a seasons growth behind them what would a fair price be? $40 each?


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## WayneCP86 (27/1/16)

Cheers yob.

Matplat, I have these gardens set up ready for rhizomes. Im not sure what a fair price would be.


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## Yob (27/1/16)

Matplat said:


> what would a fair price be? $40 each?


 :blink:

Id feel pretty bad asking more than $20, tell him to bring replacement pots if they are precious to you is the path I'd tread


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## Matplat (27/1/16)

I'm pretty sure I saw them on ebay last year for $20-25 per rhizome, so I added a bit to include pot, soil and growth....


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## Yob (27/1/16)

yeah.. but that's ebay and if those chumps are happy to pay that for something that's given away (in a lot of cases) during winter then that's their own lookout...


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## Matplat (27/1/16)

I have no desire for spare pots, just totalling up the cost.

I would think there is more value in the fact that you basically get to skip the first years effort for little reward?

Provided they are healthy, I don't see plants as something that loses value with age (like a car), or being 'second hand'....


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## Matplat (27/1/16)

II can't find my invoice, but pretty sure I and a fair few others would have paid $23ish for a cascade rhizome from The Diggers Club..... (that plant i'm keeping hold of!)


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## Yob (27/1/16)

and I don't see that they raise in value just because you were able to keep them alive..

no offence intended, sell them for what you like, if someone's _*happy*_ to pay it, then win win, personally, I'd wait and get them for free in winter


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## Matplat (27/1/16)

That's ok, none taken. It's not about just keeping them alive, it's about having progressed them to a more productive stage of life.

I ask you this, if you were given the option of buying a more advanced plant or a more junior plant, which would be your preference? The more advanced plant surely?

If you go to a nursery, bigger more advanced plants are always more expensive than smaller ones.

Wayne, let me know what you think, I feel I have justified my price reasonably well, but if you see things differently I'm happy to listen.

If $20 gets you a 15cm piece of root, surely an entire root system is worth more?


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## WayneCP86 (27/1/16)

Yeah all good Matplat. For my self I dont mind waiting, its more about the hobby and fun of doing it myself then the final product. If they grow well for me but produce un usable flowers then thats fin as they look pretty cool coverying my daughters shade house.


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## mofox1 (27/1/16)

Matplat said:


> II can't find my invoice, but pretty sure I and a fair few others would have paid $23ish for a cascade rhizome from The Diggers Club..... (that plant i'm keeping hold of!)


Diggers is a convenience price tho... I saw the same $40 refractometer you can get everywhere for sale there at $100 (and $115 at Cloudehill).

If you are looking to re-coup cost, it might be easier to sell as rhizomes. Bit more effort on your part, and also no idea if one years growth is suitable for splitting. Most likely Yob'll have an idea or three on this topic.


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## Mardoo (27/1/16)

If they've had room to expand and have been fed well you can get a fair bit of rhizome from a first year. I could have gotten at least four and up to six solid rhizomes from the only first years I ever pulled out.


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## Exile (27/1/16)

Growing them ok here on the Gold Coast.
Went away for a few days last october and came back to see them almost dead from lack of water and those black plastic pots get way too hot.
Cut them back and it took a while for some new growth to come back 

First year plants


Chinook






Nugget





Cascade





Only been feeding them with Seasol to establish root growth for the first year


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## WayneCP86 (29/1/16)

They look really strong and healthy now Exile. Funny my usual user namenis Exile182!


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## Rocker1986 (29/1/16)

I have a couple of first year plants here, Hallertau and Fuggle. The Hallertau has grown more than the Fuggle but both are healthy plants. They're only in pots this year but I have a couple of bigger raised garden bed things to put them in over the winter before next season. I'll just have one plant in each one, otherwise they'll get mixed up and I won't know what the hell I'm harvesting when they flower.

I have found that they grow like wildfire, but I won't really know the extent of the flowering until next year or the year after, as these are only first year plants and the harvest is usually less.

Like you say though, it's a bit of fun, and I'm not really worried about harvesting kg after kg of flowers or anything. If I get enough off them this year for a late addition in one brew I'll be happy.


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## WayneCP86 (29/1/16)

Thats exactly it. Its all supposed to be fun, the better it goes is added bonus.


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## mckenry (13/2/16)

Mine are about ready. Massive cascade cones.


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## Rocker1986 (13/2/16)

Far out. My Hallertau are probably half the size, if that, of those cones. It is a first year plant so I dunno if they get bigger in following years or not. At least it has produced some cones though.


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## mckenry (14/2/16)

Yeah, this year is the biggest I've seen this plant grow cones. She's probably 5 or 6 years old. Been transplanted twice. I split it this year to give some to a mate.
Maybe you need to follow this example. Or maybe move to a high altitude cold region, instead of bathing in sunshine and warmth year round.....
Its actually been a strange growing year. Went off like a canon, throwing 300mm growth per day and even flowered early. Then it seemed to go to sleep for a month, then started growing rapidly again and put out these massive cones.


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## Rocker1986 (14/2/16)

I am gonna be moving them from their current pots into large raised garden beds over the winter and building a proper trellis for them. Hopefully this sees them improve although they are growing really well in the pot; I expect the root system is quite large now going by the thick, woody 'stems' at the base of the plant.


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