2009 Hop Plantations

[HoppingMad]

Hi Hopping Mad,

I had a hallertauer plant that seemed to be going strong, but then the leaves started getting eaten badly. I found a caterpiller even after trying two types of caterpiller spray. i also had earwigs and reckon i had spidermites too. So i thought i'd try some chilli/garlic. I also heard that a soap/oil mix was the go.

I mixed the lot together. Garlic, chilli, soap and oil.
The leaves all went black and fell off. The plant looked much HB79s, but darker.

Long story short. My mix didn't work and seemed to kill the bines. Good news is that 3 shoots have just surfaced about 3-4 weeks later.

Now i'm pretty sure i've got spidermites on my Chinook as it's got a slight web under the leaves. It's discolouring and getting some holes.

Let me know how you go HoppingMad

Cheers,
Al

Hmmm, that doesn't sound so good! Leaves falling off?!

Might try a weaker solution to start with and see how I go as I don't want that happening! If I get a mix that works I'll post the recipe here guys.

Cheers!

Hopper.

 

[doon]

my Chinooks have gone apeshit over the last two weeks probably grown 3 foot i reckon. Two have reach the roof, have just put string horizontally along roof line for them to grow onto

 

[adam77]

My perle is about 4-5 metres hight. It started flowering a few weeks ago and then stopped. It is still growing fairly quickly. Should I pick the flowers or wait until they dry some more?

I think the flowers are ready to be picked as most of the moisture has gone out of them.

 

[Bizier]

My perle is about 4-5 metres hight. It started flowering a few weeks ago and then stopped. It is still growing fairly quickly. Should I pick the flowers or wait until they dry some more?

I think the flowers are ready to be picked as most of the moisture has gone out of them.

Wow that is early. I think if they are dried out, then you are not going to get anything more per cone in terms of AA yield.
How old are your rhizomes?

 

[drsmurto]

Agree with you on one hand Smurts - Hops do love the sun. That's why places like tassie do well as they get more hours of sunlight in a day apparently.

But your rhizomes are older and established yeah?

If your plants are establishing themselves as new rhizomes, then a ton of sunlight and the hottest kind and be tough on them, particularly if your initial zome was a small stick and not covered in heaps of healthy shoots.

Found out the hard way with my first year plantings in 2008. Lots of them withering on the hop string, and my smallest rhizome, an EKG passing away.

Hopper.

The 2nd and 3rd year rhizomes are definitely thriving (well in excess of 4m now) but when i dug up part of them in winter, divided them up and sold them i kept a few for myself.

Partly as an insurance policy so i knew that what i had sold was viable but also to expand my hop garden.

The new rhizomes were maybe 10cm long at best and not much thicker than a pencil. All are going gangbusters with bines now >2m high.

Up in the Adelaide Hills i don't get as hot a day as the plains dwellers (3-4 C cooler) but they do cop the full whack of the afternoon sun with no protection. I've been away for the past 4 days and left them in my partners care. In that time they've grown >30cm and are the picture of health.

I will admit to giving them a liquid potash drink on Monday when i was feeding the tomatoes before i left :icon_cheers:

 

[adam77]

Wow that is early. I think if they are dried out, then you are not going to get anything more per cone in terms of AA yield.
How old are your rhizomes?

2 year old rhizome. It is the first year I have grown it. I bought if off the guy from Albany. It was a very big rhizome. Might pick these ones and see if others grow in the new year.

 

[Steve]

Do you think the fence could be throwing off some extreme heat, causeing it's demise, it's a colorbond fence.

Very possible. Build a semi circle shield of shade cloth round the pot thats closest to the fence.

 

[drsmurto]

About time i took some pics of my babies.....

Chinook

Goldings

POR (if you look closely you can see the Victoria to the left of the POR)

And a reverse angle to show the doubling up of chinook and goldings as well as the horizontal string i have trained them along over the chook run.

What heatwave? :icon_cheers:

 

[matho]

hey drsmurto i have heard that there are wild hops still growing up in adelaide hills is that true?

i too like to be up in the hills when the plains are at 40 deg we would be lucky to be nudging 35

hope alls going well

cheer's matho

 

[NickB]

Have I mentioned DrSmurto, that with your hops going great guns, and a Landlord on tap, how much I actually hate you right now.... h34r:
















Cheers

 

[HoppingMad]

Hi Hopping Mad,

I had a hallertauer plant that seemed to be going strong, but then the leaves started getting eaten badly. I found a caterpiller even after trying two types of caterpiller spray. i also had earwigs and reckon i had spidermites too. So i thought i'd try some chilli/garlic. I also heard that a soap/oil mix was the go.

I mixed the lot together. Garlic, chilli, soap and oil.
The leaves all went black and fell off. The plant looked much HB79s, but darker.

Long story short. My mix didn't work and seemed to kill the bines. Good news is that 3 shoots have just surfaced about 3-4 weeks later.

Now i'm pretty sure i've got spidermites on my Chinook as it's got a slight web under the leaves. It's discolouring and getting some holes.

Let me know how you go HoppingMad

Cheers,
Al

Well I tried to create some organic spray, and I'm not sure about what I created but time will tell. It hasn't discoloured the leaves or anything.

This is what I used:
- One fresh chilli (10cm long)
- Two crushed cloves Garlic
- A tablespoon of Canola Oil
- 1cm of soap cut off a bar and finely chopped (didn't have any liquid soap)
- 1 litre of water

Blended all the ingredients in a blender and emptied into a spray bottle. Damn spray bottle got jammed on the little bits of chilli.
I don't know whether I recommend my approach! Have to keep opening up the bottle to remove chilli particles. Maybe use dried chilli.

After I'd done mine I actually found a recipe that Dr Smurto put down on a previous thread some time ago. His recipe suggests using garlic, 40 dried chillies, liquid soap, pyrantheum and a litre of water blended. Didn't exactly say the exact quantities of everything. 40 chillies seems like a lot though.

Anyhow, after all that stuffing around I think something like a straight Pyrantheum spray or some of that white powder people use for tomatoes might be way simpler than what I've done! Think I will use this spray then get some commercial stuff when it's finished.

Hopper.

 

[Spoonta]

I have been using white oil on my hops seemsto be working

 

[raven19]

hey drsmurto i have heard that there are wild hops still growing up in adelaide hills is that true?

I believe there are 'wild' POR plants that grow all over the place through the hills from hop farms many years ago.

Have not seen any wild ones myself yet though.

 

[drsmurto]

Have I mentioned DrSmurto, that with your hops going great guns, and a Landlord on tap, how much I actually hate you right now.... h34r:


Cheers

You'll be pleased to know that when i got up the next morning the Landlord kegged had leaked out of the beer out post. In my haste to get the beer on tap i clearly didnt check the disconnect was on properly. Could smell Styrian goldings as i walked into the bar. Thankfully i have only lost a few pints but i still shed a tear......

Clearly showing off my hop garden and pint of Landlord came back to bite me on the arse! :lol:

As for the wild hops, i've not seen any around Lobethal which is where i have heard they grow.

The 40 chillies in the home made spray isnt meant to be subtle. Burn the bastards i say!

 

[MarkBastard]

I've found that I've only had little holes eaten into the very lowest lot of leaves on my hop plants, so I haven't bothered spraying anything at all on the plants. All natural!

 

[Hutch]

I've found that I've only had little holes eaten into the very lowest lot of leaves on my hop plants, so I haven't bothered spraying anything at all on the plants. All natural!

Earwigs seem to be in plague proportions down here, so I've not been able to avoid using sprays. Garlic/Pyrethrum seems to be working, though the little bastards are still everywhere. Can't seem to kill them with any spray, just deter them from destroying the leaves.

 

[HoppingMad]

As for the wild hops, i've not seen any around Lobethal which is where i have heard they grow.

I too have heard about the Lobethal rumour. Found it on another forum and posted it here a year or so back. Never had it confirmed. On the subject a startup micro brewery in 'Forrest' in the Otways in Vic claims to be using 'wild hops' in their beer that they are developing. Whether that one is true and they grow wild around there or is simply a clever marketing ploy is yet to be seen.

The 40 chillies in the home made spray isnt meant to be subtle. Burn the bastards i say!

:lol:

Hopper.

 

[fraser_john]

Earwigs seem to be in plague proportions down here, so I've not been able to avoid using sprays. Garlic/Pyrethrum seems to be working, though the little bastards are still everywhere. Can't seem to kill them with any spray, just deter them from destroying the leaves.

crunch up two sheets of newspaper into a rough ball and set in amongst the bines, about 6 inches off the ground. Come back a week later and dump the critters into a bucket of hot soapy water. I get about 30 each time I do it. Gets the numbers down fast.

 

[BennyBrewster]

crunch up two sheets of newspaper into a rough ball and set in amongst the bines, about 6 inches off the ground. Come back a week later and dump the critters into a bucket of hot soapy water. I get about 30 each time I do it. Gets the numbers down fast.

Are you putting anything in the newspaper ? fat from the bbq ?

 

[Mantis]

I'll get some pics of my traps tonight but beleive me, old marg, meat trays and the like with a bit of beer in and some barby fat or even I have found lately, a covering of oil used in the kitchen, works a treat.
The oil covering stops the beer from evaporating as well
Catching hundreds of the blighters who just get in and drown.

Just make sure the dog doesnt find them. I had a very happy Jack Russell a few weeks ago after he drained one of larger traps :lol:

I reckon we are making conditions ideal for the pricks by putting down mulch everywhere

Edit: afterthought