2013 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hop Garden!

[Mr. No-Tip]

My cascade that started flowering in November was well overdue when I came back from NYE. Burnt on all cones and some quite brown. Stupid unseasonably early harvest.

 

[Mardoo]

Got back yesterday from a week in Brisbane.. had a house sitter who I gave specific watering instructions to..

:angry2:

Dry crinkly leaves on some, severely dehydrated... tis a sad time indeed, they were kicking along sooooo well...

That. Totally. Sucks. Next year get yourself some soaker hose and a timer. I did that this year knowing we'd be gone for over a week and I'm real happy I spent that $60. My plants are all close together so I just needed one length of hose but you could easily graft the soaker and some normal hose together to suit your setup.

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Is anyone else harvesting full cones yet? I remember proudly posting back here on the nats weekend that I already had flowers on my Cascade. Those same flowers were browning off when I posted the other day. Not sure if its a result of being overipe or inconsistent watering while I was away over NYE - thoughts?

I dried the slightly brown hops and they're now packed. No cheese and still a pleasant smell, so what they hey?

Today, I was looking up and its baby flowers, but through the sunset I spied for the first time a heap of mature cones. They were very close to the bine and had been missed. I pulled the rigging down and got a handful of very dry cones infested with what I think is spider mites: http://instagram.com/p/ivRju3S7rN/#

I've re-rigged and given the bines a little shower which will hopefully upset the spider mites (who like dry IIRC) but should dry off before rotting any hops. The infested and very dry hops I'll keep in the roof for potential lambic or berlinerweiss down the track. Anyone else get spider mites?

This is all a bit meandering, so for quoting and TL;DR purposes:

Does anyone have a harvest yet? Particularly a 'past it' harvest?
Would the cones be browning and drying out through lack of watering or simply leaving on too long? (I don't think I've underwatered save a day or two here and there)
Spider mites - do you get them? How do you treat them?

 

[waggastew]

Its been a warm year weather wise so if your hops took off in Sept/Oct theoretically some of the hops may be mature.

My Chinook took off very late (late Nov) but already has some full size hop cones with lupilin developing while other bracts are just forming. The commercial guys get around all this buy giving the plant a chop to ground level a few weeks after it springs so that the main hop bines all start at the same time.

Only real way to tell is to test the cones for ripeness (papery, smell like hops not grass clippings, lowest part of bract come off easily, lupilin glands are large and oily etc). In my few years experience I think you are better leaving them on a (tiny) bit too long rather than harvesting early.

Stew

 

[carniebrew]

Anyone in Melbourne seeing cones as yet? It hasn't been hot here at all, and none of my varieties are showing any signs of flowering as yet.

 

[unclebarrel]

I thought for a little bit I was getting cones developing, but I think its just laterals branching out ?!?!? :huh:

IIRC someone in melbs has cones appearing, don't remember who.


Could be waaaaaaay off.

UB

 

[Mardoo]

Not mine.

 

[unclebarrel]

Well, next week has a string of warm days….bring it on !!

:beerbang:

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

I'd feel privileged if I hadn't browned out the lot.

 

[Marybrew]

[SIZE=11pt]I am in Richmond, Melbourne Vic. and I have a 2 year old [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Wurtemberger hop growing well with many cones forming.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]It grew well last year also so this variety must like the Melbourne climate.[/SIZE]

 

[Marybrew]

Just worked out how to attach a picture.

 

[Mardoo]

Wow, cool. Never even heard of that one.

 

[of mice and gods]

Looks like we have quite the contingent of green thumbs here. Top work guys.

I wont even post photos of my hops because they look like ****. I have neglected them a lot this year (I didn't even both to train them). However they get a bit of a feed occassionally and are on automated irrigation so they get plenty to drink, I think my biggest problem is too many hops, not enough space. I've been mainly just building up the health of my crowns with plans to get them properly trained when we move out of this house and I have a little more space for next season.

Currently growing;
- Super alpha
- red earth
- cascade
- saaz
- tettnanger
- p.o.r
- cluster
- victoria
- hallertauer
- my brain tells me there is something else but I'm too lazy to walk down and check

I've got about 10 second year crowns of both super alpha and red earth if anyone in bris is keen to do a swap for a rhizome/cutting of a variety I don't already have?

cheers,
Al

 

[carniebrew]

[SIZE=11pt]I am in Richmond, Melbourne Vic. and I have a 2 year old [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Wurtemberger hop growing well with many cones forming.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]It grew well last year also so this variety must like the Melbourne climate.[/SIZE]

Isn't Württemberg (actually Baden-Württemberg) the state in Germany where the town of Tettnang is located? I'd hazard a guess they're Tettnang hops...

My Hersbrucker is the best of the five I have planted, so maybe Melbourne is best for Noble stuff? it's growing massively, so much so I had to let down some of the string on my adjustable trellis yesterday to give it more room. The Columbus has all but given up I'm afraid, despite being an entire crown rather than just a rhizome. Cascade is getting really bushy down low, with a couple of bines growing tall. Chinook has 5 healthy bines, but they all seem to have stalled at about 1m. And the Hallertau I planted as an afterthought just to keep it alive has a couple of very deep green, healthy looking bines. No cones on any of these yet though (all 1st year hops).

 

[Yob]

Its hard to get a good angle on my row..



Not as bushy as they were prior to their being a bit starved when I was away, but coming back to health slowly

 

[Aces High]

My POR and poorly undersized trellis.

 

[unclebarrel]

You got some flowers though aces !
I have good growth but no flowers yet.

I really just want one, just one. To dunk in a beer.
It's not much to ask is it !?!?!

 

[carniebrew]

I'm pretty convinced this is a result of this "hottest summer in xx years" crap we keep hearing on the news. Apparently the whole of Australia set some new record for avg temps in 2013, despite our beloved Melbourne doing its red hot (not) best to drag everyone else down.

Next week will be our first real prolonged taste of summer, that should fire up our hops. I can't believe it's coming at the same time as my being away...I'm gonna have to rig up some kind of automatic watering system before I go....

 

[bullsneck]

Here's mine. Melbourne's summer is only beginning, so it's a bit late this year. The amount of laterals sprouting the past few days is phenomenal. I spotted 4 new shoots as well, so I put some more strings up. I'm hoping to get enough for a double batch of wet hop pale.

 

[ian4379]

i'm in vic and we're going to have 4 days next week in the high 30's/low 40's, will the hops survive?

obviously they will get a good soaking but i'm worried they'll bake. i'm trying to figure a way of shading them but they are pretty high.

 

[Yob]

Soak morning and dusk, they'll be ok.

 

[malt_shovel]

Hitting low to mid forties this weekend in Perth. Hope they survive!


The Chinook was first to have hop cones but the Cascade looks to be fast catching up.

The others are not doing nearly as well but am happy the red earrh is throwing som cones.


All first year in the ground

Red Earth hop emerging

 

[Dan Pratt]

My first year growing hops. EkG growing horizontally along the fence and starting to flower.

 

[CoopsOz]

Should I be cutting back the smaller bines?

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Currently growing;
- Super alpha
- red earth
- cascade
- saaz
- tettnanger
- p.o.r
- cluster
- victoria
- hallertauer
- my brain tells me there is something else but I'm too lazy to walk down and check

I've got about 10 second year crowns of both super alpha and red earth if anyone in bris is keen to do a swap for a rhizome/cutting of a variety I don't already have?

cheers,
Al

I have two 3rd year chinooks which you chop a rhizome off if you like. I usually dig them up at the end of winter.

 

[waggastew]

Should I be cutting back the smaller bines?

Nope. Commercial growers do this so that all bines grow uniformly and hops ripen uniformly. At a homegrown scale you can pick the hops when ready, even if thats multiple picks.

Other reasons is more leaves = more sugar = stronger rhizome for next year

 

[Wilkensone]

Hitting low to mid forties this weekend in Perth. Hope they survive!

Hey Malt Shovel,

Just wondering how you find growing your hops in Perth? I know I have missed the season this year but I am looking to get setup ready for next year as I have heard over winter is the best time to try find rhizomes.
Good luck with your harvest!

 

[sp0rk]

I'm getting a lot of little green grasshoppers on my hops
Anyone know any good natural/organic pesticides?
The Yates Naturalyte I'm using doesn't seem to be doing anything

Better throw up a pic, don't know if I'll get anything off it this year, it seems to be a lot smaller than all the other ones I'm seeing here

 

[Liam_snorkel]

I hate those bastards. They grow to be much bigger. EXTERMINATE~!!! Spend 1/2 an hour flicking them with your finger and pretend you're godzilla.

 

[SimoB]

I hate those bastards. They grow to be much bigger. EXTERMINATE~!!! Spend 1/2 an hour flicking them with your finger and pretend you're godzilla.

This is easily the most efficient way, sprays are for the weak.