2010 Hop Plantations

[praxis178]

Fertilize and water them well and later in the year you'll be able sit outside with a beer and watch them grow.

Yep, I'm already able to "watch" my new bines grow, 1 week out of the ground and already 2' tall!

Although my two year old Perles are still to break ground this year, don't know why their lagging behind the new ones......

 

[Sydneybrewer]

Hey sydneybrewer, it's been said MANY times before, but you do know that hops can be lethal to dogs don't you? Not sure if the actual plant material is bad for them, but the actual hops can be deadly. Make sure your dogs can't get at em when they are producing hops!

Sorry, if you already know this, but just thought I'd put it out there.

yeah i do know about it and it caused some anxious moments as we couldn't be without our two dogs (even if it would have served them right) but the vet said they showed no signs of poisoning so the bad stuff must be in the cones i think, and yeah the hops are now behind a gated area for there sake and the dogs.

 

[newguy]

yeah i do know about it and it caused some anxious moments as we couldn't be without our two dogs (even if it would have served them right) but the vet said they showed no signs of poisoning so the bad stuff must be in the cones i think, and yeah the hops are now behind a gated area for there sake and the dogs.

The cones themselves (I think it's one of the oils/acids/chemicals in the cones) are the poisonous bit to dogs, but I believe I've heard that only "sight hounds" are most susceptible. It causes overheating, IIRC.

Unless dogs like bitter things more than a hophead, I don't think they're going to eat many cones on their own. They smell great, but taste terrible in raw form. I've heard of dogs eating the hops/pellets in the trub poured out of the bottom of the kettle, as that's really sweet. I'd be careful about where I pour the trub but I wouldn't worry about the dog eating cones right off the vine.

 

[AussieJosh]

The cones themselves (I think it's one of the oils/acids/chemicals in the cones) are the poisonous bit to dogs, but I believe I've heard that only "sight hounds" are most susceptible. It causes overheating, IIRC.

Unless dogs like bitter things more than a hophead, I don't think they're going to eat many cones on their own. They smell great, but taste terrible in raw form. I've heard of dogs eating the hops/pellets in the trub poured out of the bottom of the kettle, as that's really sweet. I'd be careful about where I pour the trub but I wouldn't worry about the dog eating cones right off the vine.

Thats good news! As i said i just planted all my hops and am really looking forward to getting a puppy in the next few months. Dogs eat grass some times...(i heard when there sick?) but i dont really see them eating other plants?
This is my first year growing hops, Do hop cones or flowers fall off the vinne much?

 

[newguy]

It's been my experience that the cones don't fall off on their own very easily. However, some varieties will not have cones all the way down to the ground, but others do.

Be careful with the puppy, though. Even if something tastes terrible, they'll still chew it. A little bit of chicken wire around the base of your hops for this first year is probably a good idea. Once the dog gets past the puppy phase you shouldn't have to worry.

 

[Sydneybrewer]

Yeah i think the coffee grounds i had mixed in with pottng mix where my rhizome was planted was what set the dogs off, although last year they ate all my wifes cucumbers, capsicums and tomatoes right off the plants.

 

[barls]

my little monster loves beers and chillies, the hotter the better, she once ate all the bird eyes off the bush. also has chewed up a fair few plants in the yard as well.
ive got a solid lattice fence to keep her out

 

[AussieJosh]

Thanks for the chicken wire tip newguy!

SydneyBrewer your dogs sound vego!

some rhizomes i planted on wednesday.



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and the blue tongue i trod on! He scared the crap out of me!! But he was ok!

 

[thanme]

Wow. I can actually contribute to this thread this year
I'm attempting to grow cascade and chinook in pots this year, and my cascade starting sprouting on the first day of spring and now has 3 shoots sticking up, and my chinook had it's first pop up this morning Gonna have to finish my trelis off sooner rather than later though. Will get pics over the weekend.

 

[Malted]

my little monster loves beers and chillies, the hotter the better, she once ate all the bird eyes off the bush. also has chewed up a fair few plants in the yard as well.
ive got a solid lattice fence to keep her out

Is your dog your little monster? :lol:
That is just crazy, eating chillies off the bush! That is nutters!
A lattice fence to keep her out of the garden and a padlock on the beer fridge?

 

[Malted]

been thinking about something similar to that malted but on a line so i can raise and lower to assist in harvesting.

I had thought about lowering and raising too. Mine is fixed since it is only 9 foot (3 metres) high. I figure I can get to the SS lines easily with a ladder and lower the hay bailing twine that I am going to attach.

If you went above 3m I think raising & lowering would be a definite advantage.
There are plenty of trellis designs that can be raised or lowered and factor in things like raising/lowering just one plant or a whole row of them.
If you are thinking of a 'clothes line' design like mine then maybe the frame could be a bit of box steel so that it is not as heavy as a 3-5 metre length of hardwood timber? I just used the hardwood because I got it cheap. Then you could have the uprights hinging at their base (if not secured to a pot like mine) and use the side tensioning cables to keep them upright with maybe a winch of some sort on them?

A better idea is:
I have also seen where they have a rigid clothes line T frame like mine but the horizontal cables go through the horizontal frame arms, then come down diagonally and are all joined to the side tensioning cable. The side tensioning cable is thus used to tension the top horizontal cables not hold the frame up. I did not do it this way because the cables also secure my frame in place. If you had the uprights dug into or concreted into the ground then they could support themselves and you could run the cables through them as described above.

The other thing I could do with mine is to tie bailing twine to the fence, then over the top wires and down to the pot. Undo at fence to lower hops, I wouldn't need to go up a ladder then. Easy enough to zip tie something on the ss cable for the twine to pass through to stop sideways movement.

I hope my rambling helps you decide on your trellis design.

 

[Wolfy]

some rhizomes i planted on wednesday.

Make sure you keep better records of what is planted where than the plastic/texta plant labels you have there.
The only labels that lasted even one year for me were aluminum ones, and its also good to keep a written record of what you planted where (and keep that somewhere you will not misplace it).

 

[jbirbeck]

I've been watching my POR get ready for a big jump in the last few weeks but it hasn't yet taken off...The Victoria which I haven't watch has gone nuts, a couple of feet already and a lot of bines. Its the only one that hasn't got something to climb up yet

I did see the cascade had broken the surface as well which is good news. Its suffered at the hands of spider mites the last couple of years so if it can get a head start on them all the better.

Hoping for a big harvest this year.

 

[newguy]

I did see the cascade had broken the surface as well which is good news. Its suffered at the hands of spider mites the last couple of years so if it can get a head start on them all the better. .

My hallertauer was ravaged by spider mites last year. I tried spraying with a tobacco concoction (pipe tobacco boiled with water) to try and kill them but it didn't work - only stained the house. I read somewhere over the winter that I needed to introduce some predatory mites and one site suggested that fresh manure would have them. My wife's aunt and uncle farm, so I got several pails of fresh well rotted manure and dumped that onto each hop before they sprouted this spring. I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but no spider mites this year.

It's worth a try if you can find some manure.

 

[MarkBastard]

Anyone have any tips for keeping f$@%ing green ants out of your pot soil?

Thought I'd take a peek under the soil to see how mine is going and a whole colony of the little wankers jumped out.

I'm going to re-pot which should destroy their nest but how can I stop them reforming?

 

[jbirbeck]

My hallertauer was ravaged by spider mites last year. I tried spraying with a tobacco concoction (pipe tobacco boiled with water) to try and kill them but it didn't work - only stained the house. I read somewhere over the winter that I needed to introduce some predatory mites and one site suggested that fresh manure would have them. My wife's aunt and uncle farm, so I got several pails of fresh well rotted manure and dumped that onto each hop before they sprouted this spring. I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but no spider mites this year.

It's worth a try if you can find some manure.

I can usually get fresh Horse manure and chicken manure...will get out the shovel

Anyone have any tips for keeping f$@%ing green ants out of your pot soil?

Thought I'd take a peek under the soil to see how mine is going and a whole colony of the little wankers jumped out.

I'm going to re-pot which should destroy their nest but how can I stop them reforming?

There are powders you can buy similar to ant sand that you shake on the pot, water in and that gets rid of the little blighters.

 

[Nick JD]

Anyone have any tips for keeping f$@%ing green ants out of your pot soil?

Thought I'd take a peek under the soil to see how mine is going and a whole colony of the little wankers jumped out.

I'm going to re-pot which should destroy their nest but how can I stop them reforming?

Ant sand. I had a colony in the back yard that made the Aliens colony look small. My back yard is completely sand and since they're gone there's a half meter depression as all their tunnels have collapsed. Sprinkle it around the entrance - and then sprinkle it around any other satellite entrances in a few days (they become the main one).

The sand doesn't seem to harm plants, but I haven't used it next to a hop rhizome.

 

[Wolfy]

Anyone have any tips for keeping f$@%ing green ants out of your pot soil?

I'd soak the whole thing in a big tub of water, get it really waterlogged and the ants wont survive.
Then when you repot it, put a water tray under it and try to keep water in the tray and the ants won't be able to get into the pot due to the water.

 

[cdbrown]

Make sure you keep better records of what is planted where than the plastic/texta plant labels you have there.
The only labels that lasted even one year for me were aluminum ones, and its also good to keep a written record of what you planted where (and keep that somewhere you will not misplace it).

Can't agree more - I've got no idea which is which for 3 of my plants.

 

[drsmurto]

I've been watching my POR get ready for a big jump in the last few weeks but it hasn't yet taken off...The Victoria which I haven't watch has gone nuts, a couple of feet already and a lot of bines. Its the only one that hasn't got something to climb up yet

I did see the cascade had broken the surface as well which is good news. Its suffered at the hands of spider mites the last couple of years so if it can get a head start on them all the better.

Hoping for a big harvest this year.

Fly spray, or if that sounds too nuclear, pyrethrum based sprays.

I had no problems with spider mites last year and i suspect the reason for that were the little frogs that i spied crawling around the bines.

Harlequin bugs were my biggest enemy last year but i have had the chooks de-bugging my vegie patch this winter and have cut back a few nearby trees that seemed to house the buggers so am hoping they are under control.

Went and did some weeding last night and the cascade has broken the surface as has the Victoria. Chinook and POR still fast asleep and Goldings demonstrating just why these buggers are thought of as weeds. Stop counting at 40 shoots, some nearly 1 metre from the central rhizome i planted 3 seasons ago.

EDIT - spelling