2010 Hop Plantations

[jakub76]

I read somewhere over the winter that I needed to introduce some predatory mites and one site suggested that fresh manure would have them.

Manure sounds the go, introducing mites reminds me of Queensland's genius introduction of the cane toad. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Nick JD]

I have a ladybird and two geckos faithfully policing my Tub 'o Hops.

Hoorah for biocontrol!

 

[jbirbeck]

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

neither fly spray nor pyrethrum have worked in the past, and neither has a chilli and soap mix nor specific mite killers. may have to increase the humidity in the area to deter them. Have heard the little buggers can winter in nearby plants/trees etc. My area is clear but I suspect the neighbours have a few issues :angry: .

Ladybirds won't do anything for a mite infestation but if you have aphids (as I do in my roses thanks to the neighbours again :angry: ) ladybirds will held control that problem. I've not had an issue with aphids and the hops

 

[barls]

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?

surprisingly enough she still hasnt figure out the drip tray for the fridge sits on the ground

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.

mines currently a 4m pole and they are sunk in the ground 0.5m. they have a plastic coated wire as the main wire atm.
im currently thinking of putting up a spreader bar fixed to the main wire with a pair of wires then fixed to the outer edge of said bar.
im still trying to figure out what im going to use as the bars but current thoughts are two not too thick lengths of hard wood at each end.
but havent got much further

 

[batemanbrewer]

guys, just a heads up. Fresh manure can burn the roots of your plants and contain parasites that will harm your hops. It's recommended to age manure for at least 6 months before using it on your garden (though I'm sure that long isn't necessary).

My chinook has broken through sometime in the last 2 days, still waiting on my POR...

P.s.- Dr S., that goldings sounds like a glorious plant :beerbang:

 

[Wolfy]

This was linked on the HBT forums, lots of people there found it useful:
Field Guide for Integrated Pest Management in Hops
(it's quite large, right click, save as works best)

It's a detailed document (with photographs) about hop problems and issues and some possible solutions.
Given its published by the US Dept of Agriculture it is most likely USA-centric, and I'm not sure which (if any) of those problems are issues here in Australia, but it may be useful for some things.

 

[alkos]

Thanks a million mate! I've posted this link to Irish and Polish forums already, its awesome

(been fighting with green and black mites this year already - northern hemisphere ;-) )

Cheers to all homegrowers ;-)

 

[Wolfy]

Thanks a million mate! I've posted this link to Irish and Polish forums already, its awesome

(been fighting with green and black mites this year already - northern hemisphere ;-) )

Yeah, all the USA (northern hemisphere) home-growers said it was a great help.
But I hope that we have less need for it here, I don't think we have all the pests and diseases here, which is good.

 

[mxd]

I put mine down last week (cascare, chinook, golding and mt hood.

Hopefully something will happen

 

[jyo]

I put mine down last week (cascare, chinook, golding and mt hood.

Hopefully something will happen

View attachment 40700

Mate, are they different varieties you have lined up there? If so, the roots and rhizomes are going to grow into one another, making identification when digging up very confusing. Keep in mind they can throw their side roots out several metres.
Cheers, John.

 

[batemanbrewer]

My chinook has broken through sometime in the last 2 days, still waiting on my POR...

Scratch that, the POR came up today and the chinnok is doubling in size daily !!!

 

[Wolfy]

guys, just a heads up. Fresh manure can burn the roots of your plants and contain parasites that will harm your hops. It's recommended to age manure for at least 6 months before using it on your garden (though I'm sure that long isn't necessary).

According to the compost-wisdom that my father shared while planting my hops last weekend:
If you throw a few worms into the aging manure in the compost/pile and the worms die, its not good for your plants yet, when the worms survive you can use it on your plants.

 

[Nick JD]

According to the compost-wisdom that my father shared while planting my hops last weekend:
If you throw a few worms into the aging manure in the compost/pile and the worms die, its not good for your plants yet, when the worms survive you can use it on your plants.

The worms survive in my fresh manure, Wolfy.

But they make my bum itchy.

 

[Wolfy]

The worms survive in my fresh manure, Wolfy.

But they make my bum itchy.

I don't think they are the same ones found in the garden.

 

[Whiteferret]

According to the compost-wisdom that my father shared while planting my hops last weekend:
If you throw a few worms into the aging manure in the compost/pile and the worms die, its not good for your plants yet, when the worms survive you can use it on your plants.

poor wormys
what did they do wrong lol

 

[Whiteferret]

Here is my POR about 2 weeks out of the ground about 7 shoots in all. my hallertau and fuggles arent far behind and the others only went in the pots this week.

 

[geoffi]

I planted my Goldings x 2, Tett x 2 and Chinook x 1 a couple of days ago. The Goldings were already sprouting leaves and have now broken the surface. Very encouraging. I anticipate another bumper POR harvest.

Sounds like the home hop-growing scene is exploding. So many planting.

I just learned that there was an attempt at establishing a hop industry right here in Curramore (just north of Jamberoo) about 100 years ago. Obviously didn't flourish, but I've certainly had good results so far. I have a few acres to play with...

 

[pk.sax]

Just noticed today that one of the two hallertau I planted has shot a second shoot, right next to the first one it had.

Might be because of planting the rhizome vertical. Well, Darkman suggested to do it this way (plant the rhizome vertical with the shoot pointing up) and very glad about it, might make it easier to manage and train up the same support rather than bring down another string for it.

 

[mxd]

Mate, are they different varieties you have lined up there? If so, the roots and rhizomes are going to grow into one another, making identification when digging up very confusing. Keep in mind they can throw their side roots out several metres.
Cheers, John.

yep, there the 4 different varieties about 1 meter apart. Should I put a "root" barrier between them ?

 

[jyo]

yep, there the 4 different varieties about 1 meter apart. Should I put a "root" barrier between them ?

Definitely, mate. I found one of my Cascades about 2 metres away from where it was supposed to be 2 seasons ago.
Cheers, John.