2010 Hop Plantations

[aaronpetersen]

Thought I'd add a few pics of my hop plantation.
First year Saaz and Cascade
Second year POR and Chinook

Saaz and Cascade

POR up front and Chinook at the back

I also had a crack at propagating my rhizomes this year no Luck with the POR but I just noticed today that the Chinook has 2 shoots that have just popped up.

Free to a good home in the pot if someone want to come pick it up from Melton, 40 odd K's west of Melbourne. PM for details.

PM sent

 

[MaltyHops]

Well, my trellis is fully up and running now - have twined one goldings bine
at the moment. Used a bit of coat hanger bending to make frames to fit
around the pots under the rim and provide loops to attach sisal twine to.

I must recommend using safety glasses if anyone plan to do something
similar - lots of whipping coat hanger wire when I was doing the bending.

This exercise has been good to make use of a stash of PVC piping and wire
coat hangers one gets from the dry cleaners I had sitting around (had to buy
quite a bit of new material as well, of course).

For those interested in using PVC piping, I've had to reinforce the connection
to the umbrella stand bases even further and is now quite solid. The whole
thing seems reasonably solid though I'm not game to test it too much - a
bit wobbly overall, could strap additional larger diameter pipes to the vertical
poles to reinforce. Think it quite important to make sure the vertical pipes are
aligned vertically as any off angle will put weight on the pipes at an angle making
them bend even more, maybe eventually break.

 

[Weatherby]

I got some Rhizomes from Boston, thanks mate

Chinook

Goldings

As for winding around the strings, is it clockwise around the string if looking from the top?

 

[felten]

Aye, mine are self wind themselves around clockwise from the top

 

[ampy]

Thought I'd add a few pics of my hop plantation.
First year Saaz and Cascade
Second year POR and Chinook

Saaz and Cascade

POR up front and Chinook at the back

I also had a crack at propagating my rhizomes this year no Luck with the POR but I just noticed today that the Chinook has 2 shoots that have just popped up.

Free to a good home in the pot if someone want to come pick it up from Melton, 40 odd K's west of Melbourne. PM for details.

Spare chinook has gone to aaronp
Cheers

 

[pk.sax]

Been like this for 2-3 weeks now. Both Halleratu. The sage bush closeby is growing however

 

[jimi]

It's hard not to be impatient with hops isn't it!
My Mt Hood (I got from Andy) popped up after only a couple of weeks in the ground and the huge Chinook 'zomes I got from Mantis had done nothing for two months until I spotted it today - today five big thick bines that look like they've just erupted from the earth made my day.

 

[HeavyNova]

This thread inspired me to give the home grown hops a try and so far so good! I have 2 plants; 1 Saaz and 1 Cascade that both went into the ground mid September.

The below photos are 1 week old now but at the time of taking the plants were about 5 weeks since breaking through the surface.

The Saaz rhizome was much bigger than the Cascade so I guess that helps explain the difference in size between the 2.

Cascade

Saaz

Can't wait to see how big these get over the summer!

 

[proudscum]

Has anyone ever had their Hops tested for Alpha Acid levels?
Within the next 2-3 years i will be self-sufficient in US and European hops and would like to know what the levels may be.
So any ideas of who and the cost involved as well a lab in Victoria would be handy.

 

[pk.sax]

I had te gardener/landscaper around and showed him the eaten up leaves on the mint, sage and hops and he identified I as aphids. There were a little on the rose bushes too but are preferring my herbs for some reason

Is white oil insecticide OK to use with hops?

 

[Malted]

I had te gardener/landscaper around and showed him the eaten up leaves on the mint, sage and hops and he identified I as aphids. There were a little on the rose bushes too but are preferring my herbs for some reason

Is white oil insecticide OK to use with hops?

You have a gardener?!! His name is not 'Roger' by any chance? Roger the gardener...

Seriously, I thought we didn't have hop aphids in Aus?
I too am interested in hop bugs in Aus, because some ******* bug is chewing holes in my hop leaves and I can't identify who or where the culprits are. I have looked under the leaves and can't find anyone. They don't chew the whole leaf, just a 5mm circle (between leaf ribs) or so in every other leaf. There are some little spiders on one plant and consequently it doesn't have any holes in the leaves; Go spidey!

 

[manticle]

I had te gardener/landscaper around and showed him the eaten up leaves on the mint, sage and hops and he identified I as aphids. There were a little on the rose bushes too but are preferring my herbs for some reason

Is white oil insecticide OK to use with hops?

Check elsewhere but my recent reading of white oil (been using on rose bush) is that it is on the low/no end of toxicity. Obviously you don't eat roses though so don't just take my word for it.

MSDS' abound for the stuff although how many are manufacturer specific I'm not sure.

Here's one that looks promising: http://amtecol.com/html/msds/MSDS%20White%20oil%2012037.htm

 

[daemon]

White oil is just a bit of vegetable oil and detergent, very easy to make up yourself. It works by suffocating the bugs (ie by coating them in oil and stopping oxygen) so you have to spray it on when they're on the leaves and ensure that you spray under the leaves as well. It's completely harmless to plants and you can use it every two weeks if it's a bad infestation.

 

[drsmurto]

Has anyone ever had their Hops tested for Alpha Acid levels?
Within the next 2-3 years i will be self-sufficient in US and European hops and would like to know what the levels may be.
So any ideas of who and the cost involved as well a lab in Victoria would be handy.

I will be self sufficient this year too but so far have had good success estimating the AA of the hops.

First time use of a hop i use it for flavour and aroma where the IBU contribution is less and use a known bittering hop. If that seems ok then i ditch the bittering hop and use all homegrown. So far i have been close enough, within 1 AA%. As long as you aren't brewing IIPAs etc then you'll be fine. Just aim for the middle to lower end of the IBU range just in case you underestimate significantly.

Aphids and hops - whiteoil is fine to use but i would do so before it flowers. It's as non toxic as a petroleum based product can be. Organic gardener magazine recommends it so it must be reasonably benign. Pyrethrum based sprays should also work (Beat-a-bug etc)

I have harlequin bugs chomping away on my plants but given how fast the hops grow there aren't enough of them to cause more than minor damage so am leaving them this year. The local frog population seem to have developed a taste for the bugs too. Having the hops right next to the chook run probably also helps to keep the bug population in check.

No photos of my hops recently but both the goldings and chinook have reached the top of the newly erected trellis. 3m and still going strong. Will probably prune the lower leaves this weekend to get some airflow around the base which is supposed to reduce mildew issues (if you are somewhere humid) and make it less attractive to the bugs.

 

[Kieren]

As long as you aren't brewing IIPAs etc then you'll be fine.

Most of my IIPA's have theoretical IBU's of way over 120. I don't worry too much about overall IBU's for these beers. Just use a low cohumulone hop for earlier addtions, then go nuts on the later additions. I would have thought using hops of unknown AA% in smaller IBU beers like a light lager could put out the bitterness a lot more if your estimated AA% is off by 1-2 AA%.

Interested in your thoughts on this. Do you use home grown hops in beers with smaller IBU?

 

[drsmurto]

Most of my IIPA's have theoretical IBU's of way over 120. I don't worry too much about overall IBU's for these beers. Just use a low cohumulone hop for earlier addtions, then go nuts on the later additions. I would have thought using hops of unknown AA% in smaller IBU beers like a light lager could put out the bitterness a lot more if your estimated AA% is off by 1-2 AA%.

Interested in your thoughts on this. Do you use home grown hops in beers with smaller IBU?

The beer on the handpump at the swap was 32 IBU with the homegrown cascade contributing 12 IBU.

The swap beer is 32 IBU with 100% homegrown chinook.

I haven't used HG hops in a lower IBU beer.

 

[pk.sax]

Pyrenthum eh.... OK, thnx for tip mate. I'll look out for specs on both When I visit the evil shed

PS: no, his name is Matt, the landscaper. Mother dear hired him to mow the grass etc when I'm not around (or too lazy ) I promise to hire Roger when I move to toorak. Cheers! :beer:

 

[raven19]

Finally got up the new trellis. The timber crosses at the top can be lowered when required, and the vertical posts are just bolted to the fence posts, and will come down once hops are done for the season.

Chinook (left) 3m high, POR (right) 2m high:

Note: Guard dog bottom right.

Goldings, Victoria and Mt Hood:

 

[tommygun]

I had te gardener/landscaper around and showed him the eaten up leaves on the mint, sage and hops and he identified I as aphids. There were a little on the rose bushes too but are preferring my herbs for some reason

Is white oil insecticide OK to use with hops?

Aphid damage is normally discoloration or leaf distortion, they normally only attack young new shoots too before they harden up. If the holes are fairly round it will be harlequin beetle which you'd see on hibiscus. They won't affect growth or flowering in small numbers. Agreed with the others about white oil just be careful as it heats up you can burn soft foliage on a hot day with oils. Use a pyrethrum for aphids and thrips and stuff.

Tom.

 

[Adam Howard]

Cluster. Was the first rhizome I got and is going great guns.

Little Chinook. Most recent addition. I have the feeling it isn't going to take long to catch up to the Cluster though!

Sections from a greenhouse. Going to run wires from the hop plants up into the back arch at different points for the bines. Right next to my pumptrack!


My uncle has a Saaz and Hallertau starting up in his backyard now. Aiming to get hold of a Galaxy and Cascade rhizome next year.