2012 Hop Plantations

[hoppy2B]

Some of my hops died back a bit at the top this year, I suspect its due to the fact I have been watering less. Caught a bit of water last week when we got 10mm so had a bit more to put on them and they have sailed through this latest bout of heat.
If your hop bines are drying off it may pay to give them more water Yob.

 

[Yob]

you dont say... here I was thinking it was because I put all that poison on them...

:wacko:

 

[Liam_snorkel]

yeah mine haven't been doing so well this year either, probably because I've been less militant about watering.

 

[Frag_Dog]

This year I've been smashing my Cascade (2 plants) with daily, or every-other day waterings and every 2 weeks I give them a handfull of Dynamic Lifta. It's really made a difference.

Last year both plants produced about 10 cones in total.

This year they are doing heaps better, the binds are covered in flowers from about 1.5m up to the top (3-4m).

The only issue is the flowering seem to be staggered a bit. The first set of flowered resemble proper hop cones, just a bit smaller. There are still ones comming on now which are obviouly goig to need to be picked later.

 

[hoppy2B]

you dont say... here I was thinking it was because I put all that poison on them...

:wacko:

Could be that but its most likely a lack of sufficient watering.

 

[felten]

They love a deep watering. There's an interview with a commercial hop grower on the beersmith.com podcast and he talks about irrigating them for something like 12 or 24 hours at a time.

 

[kalbarluke]

I have been giving my plants a good soaking every day because the temps have been 36+. I also used Thrive for the first time (had been using Seasol). The hallertaur and goldings seem to be really loving it and look healthier than ever.
This is a much drier summer than recent years. Last year we had heaps of rain and humidity and never really needed to water them much. I wonder if these conditions will affect the taste of the flowers.

 

[stevemc32]

Woohoo! I think I spy my very first ever hop flowers starting to show on a Chinook plant. It's been a long wait!

 

[stux]

I'm almost in tears over ma hops

46C+ day the other day. All the growing tips are shriveled and dead, half the bines are dead. All the leaves are burnt and I think the burrs are stuffed.

Gave each plant 2 buckets of water in the morning before the heat got insane, but when you have the hottest day on record.


Was looking good too

 

[tricache]

I'm almost in tears over ma hops

46C+ day the other day. All the growing tips are shriveled and dead, half the bines are dead. All the leaves are burnt and I think the burrs are stuffed.

Gave each plant 2 buckets of water in the morning before the heat got insane, but when you have the hottest day on record.


Was looking good too

Mine are struggling too and we are only getting the 35+ heat here on the gold coast...still not good for most of my plants!

 

[adryargument]

46C+ day the other day. All the growing tips are shriveled and dead, half the bines are dead. All the leaves are burnt and I think the burrs are stuffed.

Mine are looking quite withered, however i have already pulled off 300g mt hood and 150g chinook wet.
Hopefully the rest of the season prevails, even though i think 300 buds of hersbucker just killed themselves.

 

[hoppy2B]

It seems the taller the variety the more water they require.
2 buckets of water isn't a lot for a 46 degree day Stux. You kinda should be giving that amount any time the temp is about 30 degrees for best results. And then increase the amount as it gets hotter. It helps if you water several times a day in the really hot weather.
That said though, I would expect 46 to do some damage to the tops of the taller bines at the very least.

 

[stux]

Right, wasn't predicted to be a 46C day, couldn't do much while at work

Just mid thirties I think

 

[BPH87]

So I seem to have a fair few cones on my goldings 200+. If I don't have any fresh wort to preserve them in, what is the next best way to store them??? I am not sure if they are ripe, but some parts of the cones are starting to die off.

 

[felten]

Dry them. You can lay them out on some flyscreen out of the sun, somewhere with some airflow, or put a fan on them. Then vac bag and freeze.

 

[adryargument]

So I seem to have a fair few cones on my goldings 200+. If I don't have any fresh wort to preserve them in, what is the next best way to store them??? I am not sure if they are ripe, but some parts of the cones are starting to die off.

I have not had a problem with vac sacking then freezing without drying.

 

[BPH87]

Worthwhile using a dehydrator? Then vac packing them?

 

[fergi]

a bit early for this malarky I thought until I did a bit of weeding this morning...

cascade.JPG

Cascade

POR.JPG

POR

Tett.JPG

Tett

WTF?? I guess they know what they are doing? I think I will just chuck some compost over them for now and see what happens..

I'd better pull the finger out and get to work on the trellis MKII

Yob

yob i notice you have quite a few cubes of beer stored there , do you have any problems storing them over time.
fergi

 

[fergi]

I'm almost in tears over ma hops

46C+ day the other day. All the growing tips are shriveled and dead, half the bines are dead. All the leaves are burnt and I think the burrs are stuffed.

Gave each plant 2 buckets of water in the morning before the heat got insane, but when you have the hottest day on record.


Was looking good too

Stux i think you need a lot more water than that, down here in adelaide we had a 46 deg day, i have drippers on mine so i let the water run on them for 2 hours the night before, gives them time to suck up all the moisture, then i have thick pea straw mulch about 6 inches thick all around the root area, in the morning early i watered the pea straw again and really soaked it, did it a few times during the hot day. hardly any damage , but luck yours have got a hiding mate, i know you put a lot of work into them, hope you can salvage something out of it.
fergi

 

[Yob]

yob i notice you have quite a few cubes of beer stored there , do you have any problems storing them over time.
fergi

Ive only ever had trouble with 1 cube Fergi, it was a cube that had a very slow leak in the tap, not in the threads but from the barrel itself.. something got into it and the cube swelled up like a pregnant lady... smelled rancid...

Some of those near that one had been there I rekon for about 3 months.. you know how it goes, you brew another, like the recipe more and ferment it forst, the other gathers dust.

Overall Id have to say no, in over 40 cubes, the 1 fail aint too bad... and TBH if I had of paid due attention I "should have" fermented that one before quite a number of other ones and it would have been saved.

:icon_cheers: