2011 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hops!

[arogers]

First signs of life from the Vienna Gold, the green stuff has been out for a while now (in fact I think all thru winter actually) but now have some purple shoots coming up looking for the sun.

I swear Vienna Gold is the most rampant of the 9 or so varieties I have, the stuff is crazy. Same is true for it's cuttings, they take every time and show the most growth while in the breeding stage.

 

[drsmurto]

the saga continues

View attachment 47618 gaden bed and first hole mortared in

View attachment 47619 the hole goes down about a foot or so and is now quite nice soil whith the stuff Ive put in there

View attachment 47620 first chinook going in... joy!!

View attachment 47621 the rhizome is planted about half way down the top of the bricks loose soil over

View attachment 47622 a bit of mulsh for good luck

View attachment 47623 a bit of compost for love + a load of gypsum (claybreaker), blood and bone + trace elements, compost and mulch + slow release...

's-gunna luv it

:icon_drunk:

How deep do the bricks go? The roots will easily go down 30+cm and then head sideways.

I've had bines appear more than 2 m from the plant growing up a corn plant.

2m apart bare minimum for different varieties or you will spend the enitre growing season trying to keep them apart.

You will probably get away with it in their first root but I'd be spreading them out a lot more.

My cascade and 1 of my chinooks are now less than 1 metre apart. When planted they were 3m apart. If/when i move and have to relocate these things i think cutting the top and bottom of a 44 gallon drum and burying that might be a plan. Although i wouldnt be surprised if these freaks could punch holes i metal.

 

[Wolfy]

First signs of life from the Vienna Gold, the green stuff has been out for a while now (in fact I think all thru winter actually) but now have some purple shoots coming up looking for the sun.

I swear Vienna Gold is the most rampant of the 9 or so varieties I have, the stuff is crazy. Same is true for it's cuttings, they take every time and show the most growth while in the breeding stage.

That's because you make it feel special and cool and call it "Vienna Gold" and not the blog-boring-generic 'Cluster' that it really is.
Call it 'Cluster' and it probably will sulk like the rest of the hops and take a few more weeks to shoot.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

planted my first hops (chinook & cascade) on the weekend, feeling very accomplished. Checked on them this morning and f#$&en bush turkeys had dug them up. FFFUUU.. :angry: I need to train the cat to hunt them.
time to build a bloody great big fence.

will post pics if they survive.

 

[newguy]

Since I was asked to post recent pics...





Close-up of the Hallertauer cones (still immature):

 

[newguy]

Harvest will probably commence in about 4 weeks depending on the weather.

 

[Malted]

planted my first hops (chinook & cascade) on the weekend, feeling very accomplished. Checked on them this morning and f#$&en bush turkeys had dug them up. FFFUUU.. :angry: I need to train the cat to hunt them.
time to build a bloody great big fence.

will post pics if they survive.

Yeah photos of bush turkeys are always cool

 

[cdbrown]

I have 4 in pots from last year which I trimmed all the dead bines off. Do you guys recommend repotting them?

 

[Yob]

I need to train the cat to hunt them.

poor Colins

 

[Liam_snorkel]

this guy?
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/floods...brisbane-street

hahaha

 

[Yob]

2m apart bare minimum for different varieties or you will spend the enitre growing season trying to keep them apart.

Cheers Doc, the Chinooks are going in side by side (spaced about 2m) and then the goldings further up the lines (at least 2m)... and another 2 I have no idea where Im planting yet!!

I know the bricks are not deep enouh atm but thought, perhaps incorrectly, that the first year may be OK and I would have time to do something a little more robust during next winter... tossing up a few ideas nothing concrete....

hmmmm concrete in-ground planter box or something? dunno, plenty of time to sort it out...

I'm definatly feeling the urge to plant now though, it's an early spring down here

Yob

 

[Bribie G]

My second year Cluster is just poking a shoot through the mulch layer, I noticed yesterday. It's very dry in SEQ so I've given that part of the yard a good soak.

What fertiliser would be good for second year? There's an avocado tree in the back yard as well, so last year I gave the entire yard a good dose of fruit tree fertiliser and got easily 50 kilos of Avos, and the grass liked it as well. Is this a good hop fertiliser as well?

The hops really struggled last year in the heat and the old-style wet, probably look at a shade sail thingo this Summer.

 

[felten]

I'd start out fertilising with some general fertiliser, with a higher N ratio, then when the cones start forming switch to a fruit/flower fertiliser, that has a higher K ratio, or just potash.

It's my understanding that having too much N when the cones are out can lower their AA and oil levels. Though it is good for getting a lot of leaf/bine growth at the beginning.

 

[drsmurto]

The only fertiliser my hops see is in winter - 1 bag of horse manure per plant.

I see it as a way of slowly reinvigorating the soil by leaching into the soil over a few months. Pre-season training for hops.

The added bonus is that by applying it so thick (10cm) it acts as a weed suppressant too!

For you tropical (all)sorts i suspect the needs of the plant will be siginificnatly different. I cant grow avocados (or mangos etc) but have a garden full of the stonefruit that requires a siginificant number of chill hours per season so very different climates!

Seasol/powerfeed combination would work well for the organic types.

 

[Malted]

The only fertiliser my hops see is in winter - 1 bag of horse manure per plant.

Ah come on, how would you like it if someone took a dump on you when you were asleep in bed? h34r:


Back on topic:

+1 for seasol/powerfeed - my hops seemed to love it; high proportion of 'available' nutrients that kick in quickly; regular/frequent applications are necessary. The hops didn't really do much on osmocote slow release pellets as I guess most were not 'available' nutrients, probably leached through the pots before becoming available.

be careful with potash (K), less is more...
Wood ash contains about 6% potash (http://www.improve-your-garden-soil.com/po...fertilizer.html) and might be a good supplement during flowering.

 

[raven19]

I have 4 in pots from last year which I trimmed all the dead bines off. Do you guys recommend repotting them?

How big are the pots mate?

I have not repotted many of mine - however I have never had flowers off my potted hops, only from hops in the ground.

I thus far have not trained the potted hops too high - more likely the issue for me. This season I will give them the chance to grow 4m+.

Have seen other hops in wine barrels that produce a crop though.

 

[cdbrown]

How big are the pots mate?

I have not repotted many of mine - however I have never had flowers off my potted hops, only from hops in the ground.

I thus far have not trained the potted hops too high - more likely the issue for me. This season I will give them the chance to grow 4m+.

Have seen other hops in wine barrels that produce a crop though.

Those fake half wine barrels from bunnings - I think the medium size. I got some flowers last year from one plant, but I didn't plant them until well into the season so missed out on prime bine growing time. 3m growing height was reached as everyone was getting ready to harvest! Don't want to miss out again this year.

 

[Malted]

How big are the pots mate?

I have not repotted many of mine - however I have never had flowers off my potted hops, only from hops in the ground.

I thus far have not trained the potted hops too high - more likely the issue for me. This season I will give them the chance to grow 4m+.

Have seen other hops in wine barrels that produce a crop though.

1st year hops in wine barrels at my place didn't seem to produce many cones, if any, below 1.5m above soil surface. All flower growth was towards the top part of the bines. Ergo if you snipped them off at 2m you would get stuff all flowers. Mine only had a trellis a bit over two meters above soil surface but I left the bines growing and trained them around and around in loops at the top instead of further upwards - I didn't snip them. It was the looped bines or the bits that would have been above 2m, if they were allowed to grow upwards, that produced the most flowers from the lateral shoots.
Also once flower growth kicked in, the bines stopped trying to run away as much.

 

[aaronpetersen]

I've got a spare Goldings rhizome that I'd like to swap for a Cascade. I just dug it up and it's got plenty of shoots and looks like it's ready to take off. I'm happy to post it.
View attachment 47694

 

[Deebo]

1 Saaz I bought this year has a shoot out looking around, no sign from the cascade or chinook I put in last year yet.