2012 Hop Plantations

[mckenry]

Finally had a chance to string up my hops.

3 x mt hood
2 x hersbucker
2 x hallertau
2 x goldings
2 x chinook
1 x cascade
1 x columbus
1 x cluster

Hey adryargument,
Looks like a really nice spot!
Only thing is it doesnt look like a lot of room for all those hops - if they're all in that bed anyway.
If so, theyll all tangle together. Its a bit hard to get the size, but judging from the ladder for proportion, it seems like too many for the area. Gonna be a whole lot of work keeping them apart. (if you want to)
Its recommended 2m apart.

 

[gunbrew]

Hi BPH87,
Have you made a mound out of the ground for the hop plant?
Was the manure composted as manure can injure plants while it is still fresh, by burning or dehydrating them.
This happened to my neigbour, he thought he was going great getting free fresh manure till it made his plants yellow, then almost dead.
Good luck.

I have my hops planted in a bed of mixed black soil and red soil with cow manure mixed in. Is this sufficient or do hops need better drainage?

I have had several shoot out bines and continue to grow then after getting a few leaves they just die off.

Pretty embarrassing considering I am a farmer........................ hops are meant to be a weed - farmers are great at killing weeds

 

[adryargument]

Hey adryargument,
Looks like a really nice spot!
Only thing is it doesnt look like a lot of room for all those hops - if they're all in that bed anyway.
If so, theyll all tangle together. Its a bit hard to get the size, but judging from the ladder for proportion, it seems like too many for the area. Gonna be a whole lot of work keeping them apart. (if you want to)
Its recommended 2m apart.

Unfortunately its the only decent block of land here that gets any sun / isn't to rocky to grow. (the soil under then plants is about 40-60cm deep until it hits rock.)

They are roughly 80cm/1m apart, however i have planted them in two rows of 7, with the same type of hops opposite where possible.
I have crossed the strings diagonally to create a kind of hop grid / wall and will train them into their partner plants instead of their neighbours.

I find they tend to grow upwards fine, then mix at the top - later in the season i am thinking ill string any plants that need additional height to the tree above them.

 

[BPH87]

Hi BPH87,
Have you made a mound out of the ground for the hop plant?
Was the manure composted as manure can injure plants while it is still fresh, by burning or dehydrating them.
This happened to my neigbour, he thought he was going great getting free fresh manure till it made his plants yellow, then almost dead.
Good luck.

Hey Gunbrew,

So the manure was mixed in with red soil that had all been scraped off of a diary feedlot and it was about 5 years old I think. We use it in all our vege gardens not only for the nutritional value but also for the draining properties of the red soil as the black soil that we have is too heavy.

I have also set up a sprinkler system for them and have been applying liquid fertilizer (worm castings and juice) every 2 weeks. I think they have been in the ground for about 6 weeks. They are in full sun, planted east - west.

Some have sprouted from the rhizomes and made it to the surface then died off, while others have got to the stage of developing leaves then died off.

I have 4 rhizomes each of Cascade, Chinook, Goldings and Hallertau.

So far only Cascade has survived and thrived with 3 of the rhizomes out of the ground and staying alive (touch wood).

Goldings and Hallertau have shoots but no more than ground level.

Chinook had a great growth but then died off.

Thinking about transplanting them to pots with a good potting mix, but will this cause to much stress????

I can not for the life of me figure out what is going on.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Ben

 

[Justin T]

This is my Chinook as at Wednesday. Going kind of slowly.

 

[emnpaul]

BPH87, do you mean died as in turned brown and shriveled or mysteriously disappeared? Probably not news to you but worth mentioning I think. Slugs, snails, grasshoppers and well, pretty much everything loves hop shoots. Also what Gunbrew said. Too much fertiliser/manure perhaps. Not sure about the feedlot red soil as I can remember cows pissing heaps when eating/being milked so perhaps acidity could be an issue. In my experience they are quite weedy, so man up, stop babying them and they might start to fire up. :icon_cheers:

Drainage or over watering may be an issue. To that end I doubt you'll do them any great harm by transplanting it at this stage, but you'll likely retard their growth somewhat, which will have the effect of limiting your yield, at least for the first season.

Good luck.

 

[Spiesy]

I love your backyard.

 

[IainMcLean]

Just been out and checked mine - a first attempt growing hops and using a Chinook rhizome.

Just breaking through the surface is an inch long shoot

Had given them up as defunct... so it looks like it's game-on again!!

 

[hoppy2B]

BPH87, your hops may pick up as the weather warms. Some varieties may be more susceptible to insect attack etc early in the first season, but should get going eventually. If I read correctly and you have 4 rhizomes of each cultivar then I think you should be alright.
If your vegies grow well with the manure you are using then I would expect your hops to grow well also.

 

[punkin]

I love your backyard.

Did an actual double take when i saw it. Looked straight for the location on the profile too. I used to have an almost identical backyard in a house i lived in at Eastwood.

 

[samward]

So about a month ago most of my hops took off rather vigorously. Now (for the most part) they all seem to have stalled. Normally I would just wait them out, but a few of the plants are starting to look rather sad.

Does anyone know what may be ailing my plants?? I figure its either bugs or nutrient deficiency, but I have no idea which, or what to do to fix it.

 

[IainMcLean]

So about a month ago most of my hops took off rather vigorously. Now (for the most part) they all seem to have stalled. Normally I would just wait them out, but a few of the plants are starting to look rather sad.

Does anyone know what may be ailing my plants?? I figure its either bugs or nutrient deficiency, but I have no idea which, or what to do to fix it.

View attachment 57811

View attachment 57812

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&a...SzErGOtoxz_XiNg

Mildew?

 

[kalbarluke]

Samward: It does look like a nutrient deficiency. Have you tried giving them a feed of "trace elements"? Can be bought at local hardware stores for a few bucks a tub. See if that makes any difference.

Have you fed the hops any fertiliser lately?

 

[gunbrew]

My williamette hop plant was massive last summer.
I did not trim back the old/dead bines as I read on here some place leave them for the next years bines to grow on.
Noticed yesterday that the main bine that is about 2 metres high has not died off as it has now started growing leaves in several places.
Anyone heard of that happening before?
Previous years all the bines just die off, that said none had ever grown as thick as this.
Will be interesting to see how it performes against the new groth bines that are just sprouting.
Cheers.

 

[BPH87]

Holy WOW Gunbrew!

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

My second year barrels are going nuts. Chinook broke first but has slowed down just above my head. The cascade is approaching ten feet now:



Contrast isn't great, but you can see it at the top of the bamboo and the barrel for some context.

Not as bad as the post earlier today, but am noticing apparent 'burning' on my leaves. No noticable bugs. They're probably due for their fortnightly seasol again...

 

[samward]

Samward: It does look like a nutrient deficiency. Have you tried giving them a feed of "trace elements"? Can be bought at local hardware stores for a few bucks a tub. See if that makes any difference.

Have you fed the hops any fertiliser lately?

I haven't yet, but I will do. Trip to the store to see what I can find tomorrow.

They were potted in brand new "veggie mix" potting mix, which was supposed to have fertilizer in it. But i'm guessing it was either not enough, or the wrong stuff (technical term I know).

Cheers
Sam

 

[hoppy2B]

If you give your plants liquid manure 3 or 4 times a week it should get all the trace elements it needs.

 

[sponge]

Just as the hops I planted didnt look like they would survive, up have come some sproutings...

Willamette has grown about a foot in the last week or so. They seem to be doing quite well indeedly.

Columbus has grown about half of this size but are also looking quite healthy.

Cascade is showing some signs of life, but all the shoots are still quite small.

All I am getting chinook and victoria are a very sad, brown looking stem.

How are others chinooks/victorias coming along? I always thought victoria was quite a quick growing hop..?

Oh well, I'm just happy to see some signs of life from the others! :super:

 

[Malted]

Sponge, in my nick 'o the woods, Chinook has been a late starter but storms on later in the season. My Vic has come up with heaps of bines that have set leaf but not really extended. Even within this region others have different growth characteristics to their plants. My cascade is a mixture with some bines climbing up and some just in a holding pattern with leaves on them. I'd expect some of mine to have done more than they have but we are experiencing weird weather here. Point being, don't worry about how other's plants are growing, just be patient for yours to do their thing in their own good time.