2006 Hop Plantations

[Simon W]

I've not tried crossing Hops(would love to!) but have with other plants and it works great.

You'll need pollen from a male hop flower of another variety (ATOM might be able to help you there!), or you can try spraying the end of one of the branches(bines?) of another variety with Gibberellic acid, tho I dunno where you would get it.
This forces a localised sex reversal on Hops' closest relative, only way to find out if it will work on a Hop plant is to try it I guess. I've never used Gibberallic acid to force flowering, only 'natural' male flowers.
If it does work and male flowers start to grow, cover the end of the branch with a good, holeless, plastic bag(tie it shut around the branch) to stop them pollenating every cone in your garden.(and anyone else's within 100km's!)

When the male flowers open and drop their pollen(yellow powder), shake the bag around to get all of it,
then cut the branch tip off(with the bag still tightly attached) and move somewhere away from the main hop plants to remove the cut branch. Dispose of the branch carefully, you don't want to shake it around too much.

Get a soft artists paintbrush, dip it in the pollen in the bag, shake off any excess into the bag and carefully 'paint' the pistils with the pollen. Be carefull not to release too much pollen into the air.

When the seeds have grown, maybe a few weeks later(shrug), by this time the pistils will have turned brown and dropped off, the cones will probably look very swollen and you should be able to see brown seeds in it.

The remaining pollen in the bag can be stored for other crossing experiments.

The cross is a gamble, it could be total crap, or it could be an amazing new variety, you never know. It must be mentioned tho that professionals spend years hybridising, and can go through may generations to get a result they like.
Note tho that sometimes hybridised seed doesn't germinate, or will show major flaws thru inbreeding etc.

It may all sound like too much mucking around, and yeah it is, but it's fun.

EDIT: Theres tons of info about Gibberellic acid on Google, even some relating to the use on hops, so maybe it does work.
Found some reading about breeding hops: here

 

[benno1973]

The leaves are going grey/dying, some of them have like a spider web type film in them, and some of them have little black things on them.

Possibly twospotted spider mite? Linky here and also here. Then again, I don't grow hops so that's not necessarily what they are, just a guess by the description you've given... silvering and browning of hop leaves and reduced vigour Possible to take any close up pics of the little nasties doing this to your plants?

 

[Batz]

I was hoping a green thumb out there could help me with my german wurtem....?

The leaves are going grey/dying, some of them have like a spider web type film in them, and some of them have little black things on them.

I was wondering if there's anything I can do ?
Its not all bad, the POW are going guns & the wurten... plant still has some cones on them. I suspect though the vine hasn't reached its full potential & that the yield will be pretty low.

Some pics:

View attachment 11379 View attachment 11380

View attachment 11381 View attachment 11382

Spray with white oil ASAP


Batz

 

[Steve]

TD get your parents to prune your hops to a couple of inches above the ground. If they cant do that its fine - the new shoots come from the rhizome underground in spring. If they cant prune it back then theres nothing to worry about the old bines will give the new bines in spring something to climb up. Frost on old bines wont kill your plant.
Cheers
Steve

 

[crells]

Spray with white oil ASAP
Batz

Got the following of the ABC website. Just wondering if anyone has tried this or if they use the commercial stuff ?


It's easy to make your own oil based spray at home and it's totally safe. All you need is a little vegetable oil and liquid soap.

Oil based sprays are very useful in controlling a wide range of insect pests in the garden. Pests like scale, aphids, smooth skinned caterpillars, mites and even young grasshoppers suffocate when their bodies are covered with oil.

You can even use oil sprays to deter the citrus leaf miner.

Heres how its done:

1. In a blender, combine 2 cups of vegetable oil with cup of dishwashing liquid. Blend it up until its well mixed. This is your concentrate and can be stored in a jar. Be sure to label it and include the dilution rate on the label.

2. To prepare the concentrate for use, dilute 1 tablespoon in a litre of water, mix it well and spray the pest as well as both sides of the foliage thoroughly.

3. Always follow this dilution rate, because you can burn the foliage if its too strong and there are a few other rules; dont apply it in hot weather and avoid using it on plants with hairy foliage as well as ferns, palms and cycads as this can also cause leaf burn.

4. Regular applications of this easy to make oil based spray will help protect your plants from many common pests found in the garden. Why dont you try it yourself?

 

[Simon W]

I've been reading thru the link I posted earlier about hop breeding (here. 2.2Meg PDF file) and it's a pretty interesting read, mostly about the parentage of American and European hops with family tree style diagrams, but also has a info about drying hops, variety resistance to pests and diseases, whether they are early/mid/late season flowering, etc.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned comparing varieties cone shapes by posting photo's of the cones.
This file has done a little of that, there are comparison photo's of the following:
Brewers Gold, Cascade, Challenger, Chinook, Cluster, US+UK Fuggle, Galena, Liberty, Mt.Hood, Northdown, Northern Brewer, Nugget, Olympic, Perle, Target, Tettnanger, Willamette.

Theres also an amusing typo where 'malt plant' is in the place of 'male plant'

 

[Batz]

Got the following of the ABC website. Just wondering if anyone has tried this or if they use the commercial stuff ?
It's easy to make your own oil based spray at home and it's totally safe. All you need is a little vegetable oil and liquid soap.

Oil based sprays are very useful in controlling a wide range of insect pests in the garden. Pests like scale, aphids, smooth skinned caterpillars, mites and even young grasshoppers suffocate when their bodies are covered with oil.

You can even use oil sprays to deter the citrus leaf miner.

Heres how its done:

1. In a blender, combine 2 cups of vegetable oil with cup of dishwashing liquid. Blend it up until its well mixed. This is your concentrate and can be stored in a jar. Be sure to label it and include the dilution rate on the label.

2. To prepare the concentrate for use, dilute 1 tablespoon in a litre of water, mix it well and spray the pest as well as both sides of the foliage thoroughly.

3. Always follow this dilution rate, because you can burn the foliage if its too strong and there are a few other rules; dont apply it in hot weather and avoid using it on plants with hairy foliage as well as ferns, palms and cycads as this can also cause leaf burn.

4. Regular applications of this easy to make oil based spray will help protect your plants from many common pests found in the garden. Why dont you try it yourself?

Yes we make our own white oil,very similar the this.


Batz

 

[Screwtop]

On a more positive note - a picture of the cones

View attachment 11383

crells, search back through this thread, it simply needs a feed. Wurtemberger love fertiliser, I feed mine every 4 weeks.

 

[Doc]

Two years in a row the Hersbrucker has outstripped the others.
Tettnang and Perle are first year (left two in final piccy), and Hersbrucker and Columbus in the right two.

Next year, another new position and hopefully more sun and yeild.

Beers,
Doc

 

[johnno]

My POR has gone pshyco. After thinking it was going to die due to a lot of dead matter on it, it has kicked back. There must be thousands of cones on it.

Funny thing is, when I was checking earliyer today I found the longest cone I have ever see. Most of the cones are just starting to form now but this one is a freak.

It still has dead spots on it and I am not sure what may be doing it, overall it is still producing. Thankfully.

I will post a picture of the freak cone tomorrow if I get the chance.

cheers
johnno

 

[bindi]

The Chinook has flowers after a week of rain and looking good for the first year The Gouldings is growing like a weed but no flowers [yet] is it too late for SE Qld?.

 

[Batz]

The Chinook has flowers after a week of rain and looking good for the first year The Gouldings is growing like a weed but no flowers [yet] is it too late for SE Qld?.

My Goldings are the same bindi,big mobs of growth but no flowers yet.
POR and Tettnang are both flowering well.

Batz

 

[johnno]

Here it is.

Lots of cones everywhere. That is only about 75% of the whole plant.

And the freak cone as well. I also found another couple like that but not nearlyy as large.
I wonder if it will get any bigger.

cheers
johnno

 

[Trough Lolly]

Despite a bone zapping drought and recent hail which stripped the bines of almost every leaf, the hops are hanging in there and are showing good regrowth.

The PoR has even flowered!


Hopefully the Goldings and Chinook will follow suit... :unsure:
Cheers,
TL

 

[Steve]

Johhno - that is a freak!

 

[Trough Lolly]

By the way, if any Canberra brewers are interested, I still have some Goldings and Chinook cuttings ready to plant...


PM me if you're interested.

Cheers,
TL

 

[randyrob]

Hey Guys,

well i planted some hop seeds in december and now i have this:



is it ok to cut of the bines growing out from the main bine? without damaging the plant

see below pic they are growing out to the left and right.



Many Thanks Rob.

 

[apd]

Rob,

I'd say let it grow. It's only its first season so let it do its thing the replant next year (not in a pot) and it'll be nice and strong.

 

[Trough Lolly]

Rob!
Get that fecking plant out of the stainless mash tun you've got there!! :blink:

Another vote here for leaving it alone and letting the root ball establish itself in year one. Grown from seeds, eh? Do you know the variety and sex of the plant? Male hop plants are good for pollinating the female plant which grows the cones that we're after. Some less scrupulous gardening stores sell the ornamental variety of hops that don't flower at all... <_<

Cheers,
TL

 

[randyrob]

Hey Guys,

the seeds i received were from cones (Columbus x English Wild Hop)

a far few of the seeds took off about 14 from memory.

i guess i just have to work out which ones are male / female?

and then remove the male ones right?

i'll take some more detailed pictures of the leafs etc so i can give u more of an idea

Cheers for the help

Rob.