2010 Hop Plantations

[Nevalicious]

G'day Nev,

These BYO articles have some notes on pre-wintering care:

Grow Your Own Hops

10 Tips for Hop Growers

T.

Excellent work Tom. Just what I needed.

Also, thankyou Raven!

They're gonna get the chop this weekend. I'm also going to think about putting them into the ground...

Cheers

 

[Golani51]

I have two in pots,one of which has died back, although the other is still green. First year potsand only grew 2 feet as did the other pot.
I also had one in the ground that did best (7m?) but didn't have cones at all.

Should I leave the first two in pots till the next season and then plant in ground or plant now?

Thanks,

Reuven

 

[MaltyHops]

Should I leave the first two in pots till the next season and then plant in ground or plant now?

I would vote for leaving in pot for now - otherwise you're disturbing them and
planting them when they're about to go dormant, probably not the best idea.
Main thing is not to let them dry out completely - could maybe just half-bury the
pots for now in ground that wont get too wet.

T.

 

[Wolfy]

I have two in pots,one of which has died back, although the other is still green. First year potsand only grew 2 feet as did the other pot.
I also had one in the ground that did best (7m?) but didn't have cones at all.

Should I leave the first two in pots till the next season and then plant in ground or plant now?

Hops are large plants with a large root-mass, they will always do better in the ground if you can provide them a suitable place and enough room to grow.

Often the first years growth is all about the plant establishing itself, and often related to how much you fertilize, care for it and water it.
Even if the plants only grew 2ft, when you transplant from the post to the ground (I would suggest you do that just as spring is starting) you should find that the root-mass has increased substantially.

If next year they also grow to 7m but do not flower, you might not be providing them with enough hours of sunlight or enough growth (leaf nodes) both of which are required before the plants will flower.

 

[Golani51]

Hops are large plants with a large root-mass, they will always do better in the ground if you can provide them a suitable place and enough room to grow.

If next year they also grow to 7m but do not flower, you might not be providing them with enough hours of sunlight or enough growth (leaf nodes) both of which are required before the plants will flower.

The property I live on has very limited areas in which to plant in the ground. Even less that have sunlight.
I may have to look in to getting very big pots.

R

 

[clarkey7]

Here it is.....Double IPA with 186g homegrown POR and Chinook hops...and 33g leftover (Centennial and Galaxy) commercial hops to lift aroma and perceived bitterness a touch.

For the record, the beer was about 15-20% less bitter than I was expecting before I dry hopped it....

Very Tasty! :icon_chickcheers:



PB

 

[Frag_Dog]

I don't know if this should go in here or a Hop Plantations 2011 thread.

I just dug up my cascade today. The leaves were all yellow and it was dieing back. Here is what the rhizome looks like...



So what do I do with it now? Will each of the root stems potentially produce another plant? If so I think I have at least 10-15 rhizomes that are of decent size (finger diameter, about 10cm long). Anyone interested in a swap?

I read somewhere that they should be wrapped in a wet paper towel and stuck in the fridge until spring. Is this what others do as well?

 

[raven19]

So what do I do with it now? Will each of the root stems potentially produce another plant? If so I think I have at least 10-15 rhizomes that are of decent size (finger diameter, about 10cm long). Anyone interested in a swap?

I read somewhere that they should be wrapped in a wet paper towel and stuck in the fridge until spring. Is this what others do as well?

Honestly, unless you are moving the plant to another part of the garden, best to leave it in the ground over winter.

That being said, wrap it in slightly damp newspaper then into a plastic bag in the fridge over winter should be fine. Not too damp though otherwise it will go mouldy!

Re: Splitting, you need some root stem along with at least 1 bud if you want to split it up.

 

[big78sam]

Here it is.....Double IPA with 186g homegrown POR and Chinook hops...and 33g leftover (Centennial and Galaxy) commercial hops to lift aroma and perceived bitterness a touch.

For the record, the beer was about 15-20% less bitter than I was expecting before I dry hopped it....

Very Tasty! :icon_chickcheers:

View attachment 45898

PB

:icon_drool2: I just got back to the office from as game of soccer and I could go one of those

 

[Wolfy]

So what do I do with it now? Will each of the root stems potentially produce another plant? If so I think I have at least 10-15 rhizomes that are of decent size (finger diameter, about 10cm long). Anyone interested in a swap?

I read somewhere that they should be wrapped in a wet paper towel and stuck in the fridge until spring. Is this what others do as well?

Looking that that picture, I do not really see any split-able rhizome there. The rhizome should be thick and fat (like the root showing in the middle of the picture) but with lots of buds all the way along it, it looks different to the normal roots (which is what most of that photo shows) that if split will not produce a new plant.

But as raven19 said, best to leave it in the ground unless you need to move it, but keep it damp (not wet) and refrigerated and it should be fine until spring.

 

[Wolfy]

No decent photos of when they were all nice and green this year, but it was time to tidy everything up on the weekend:

The only way I can harvest them is by chopping them down, and since they were first-year plants I wanted to let them establish rather than do that.
So here is the lovely crop of Tettnang:

During the growing-season for varieties that I only had one plant, I used some layering to make more for next year.
The parent plant is at the front of the row, and so I dug a 2m trench and layed one of the growing bines down into it, leaving just a bit sticking up the end:

Now that the growing season is over, you can see that each place where the was a leaf-node, it is now a root/rhizome node:

For a few other plants, I just used some pots filled with potting soil, and layered them direclty under the parent plant:

While small, they should still grow fine next year.

I find that layering makes it easier for me than taking cuttings, since it seems I fail at that.

Will not be digging any up this year, but hopefully they'll all be established well for next year, not all plants grew so well this year, maybe a combination of newly planted and the weather. Golding and Tet went like crazy, most other UK varieties and even the Saaz went well, but all the Australian and US varieties could have done better.

 

[Malted]

The only way I can harvest them is by chopping them down, and since they were first-year plants I wanted to let them establish rather than do that.

I find that layering makes it easier for me than taking cuttings, since it seems I fail at that.

If you really were keen you would have been up a ladder...

I had no success putting cuttings straight into the dirt. What method I did however have good/best success with was as as below. (It is sort of like proofing the cuttings before putting them in dirt).



When collecting cuttings from the plants, have a bucket/s of water to put them straight into.

Cut a piece a bine into a length with three or four leaf pairs.

Cut off lower two leaf pairs about 5mm from stem.

Dip this cut end into some root growth hormone powder and shake off excess. This is not needed, BUT I found I had a lot more rootlets growing along the cutting (the cut end, nodes and in between) than without the powder (rootlets on the cut end and at the nodes if you're lucky).

Bung a whole heap of these into a glass of water with the remaining leaves above the water level.

Leave on a window sill (top up water as necessary) or other sunny spot until lots of white rootlets are visible, then plant out into pots etc...



Whilst my plants have died back for the season, my cuttings in pots have not, they are still green and growing. However, since I did them late in the season they are only 25cm long at most with lots of little leaves.

 

[drsmurto]

Finally got around to finishing cutting back my hops and giving them their annual feed (horse manure)

This pic shows my chinook plants - 2 bags of manure each side of the fence at a cost of $2.50 per bag.

1 plant on this side of the fence, 2 younger ones on the other (I planted the newer ones to prove to myself that the rhizomes i sell are viable - they are!)

The horse manure extends only 15cm beyond the shoots - as you can see it covers a very large area, garden gloves in for perspective. So for those who have bought hops from me and are planting them in the ground - take note.

 

[kelbygreen]

is it best to fertilise them now?? or can you do it just before they are about to kick back off again?? What would you suggest to do with rhizomes bought? last year I left in the fridge one POR grew roots in the fridge but I gave to tony as already planted one. So will the roots still grow if planted and fertilised now???

 

[timryan]

Whens the best time to plant Hops Rhizomes in Bacchus Marsh? Outer Western Surburbs Of Melbourne. Ive had them in the fridge for about 8 weeks just starting to get worried something will happen to them....

Cheers Tim

 

[kelbygreen]

Tim last year I put my 2 plants in pots and just put them in the ground when it warmed up. One I left in the fridge and it went nuts. But if you got a area to keep frost and stuff off them you should be fine I dont think frost will hurt them as they will be dormant under the soil but its best to be sure. If you do it this way try to keep the soil damp but not wet as the same as in a fridge you dont want them to dry out but you dont want them to get mouldy

 

[timryan]

I think i might have picked up a little mold i cleaned them up today... Hence the worry... I'm going to be planting them in the big pots.. Just dont want to loose my Chinook and POR

 

[kelbygreen]

they are really hardy plants. I forgot to water mine over the 2 weeks we had close to and above 40deg each day and they died I thought that was it but gave them some water few days later new little shoots came of the bines the top prob 4 foot totally died so cut that out they where straggly but survived my neglect lol

 

[timryan]

fingers crossed they hold out.. haha i guess ill put them in their containers in about mid August..

 

[drsmurto]

I'm in 2 minds as to the best way to deal with these hops.

The POR i am selling is shooting. Sitting on my back porch where the average temp is less than 10C. Friggin weeds i tells ya.

I planted mine today despite the fact i am in a high frost zone as i already have established plants and so if the new ones die i can replace them. Plus, they are now under a 10cm+ layer of horse manure so i figure they are protected. I am risking them rotting if we get a lot of rain for extended periods.

My reasoning behind the manure now is that over the course of the next few months the rain will leach nutrients into the soil reinvigorating it ready for the hops to take off in spring. It's also an effective mulch so helps with weed suppression.