2017 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hop Garden!

[Yob]

So starting a little early this year.. mostly because it's time NOW to prepare your holes or soil if potting..

I dug up my cascade today to raise it up and improve drainage, the improvement I did consisted of the following.

1 part soil from the existing hole
1 part compost material
1 part soil from the chicken coup

I got a bit tired of knocking the bricks loose so got a bag or mortar and busted out the old trowel



so by the time winter passes and spring hits, all that good nutrient will be broken down and available for the plant. I'll mulch it with a bit more compost soil after the soil has settled a bit.

Also note the irrigation.. Ive had enough of manual watering.. this year is gunna be painless.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You don't think the lime in that mortar is going to have a negative effect on the compost and chicken ****?

 

[Yob]

Nope.

 

[CheekyPanda]

Hi All,
I've managed to get some Cascade rhizomes. They are from 4 year old plants that were completely dug out due to the owners moving and putting there place up for rent. The original rhizomes were from a grower who is supplying Black Duck at Port Macquarie.
I've only previously purchased rhizomes that were 10-20cm in length so am not totally sure what to do with these monsters. My plan is to cut them into sections of 10-20cm where buds are present.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Yob]

To grow or sell?

If selling, perhaps put in the buy and sell thread?

30cm with a few sets of nodes is a good start.

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

I'm still cutting back last years growth which I let go wild as they were rhizomes. A good feed and a heavy mulch for winter is on order.

 

[CheekyPanda]

To grow or sell?

If selling, perhaps put in the buy and sell thread?

30cm with a few sets of nodes is a good start.

To grow.

If I have any left over I would be keen to swap but will post them in the for sale thread.

 

[Yob]

There are a lot there.. Big things I guess, hope you have plenty of room.

It's time now to do your mounds and soil work, add trellis and lines, you're also gunna need to keep those zomes moist and cold...

 

[Mardoo]

Looks like there may be a fair bit of root material in there. The difference is rhizome has nodes whereas the roots don't. You want the rhizomes. Also, some species have these tuber kind of things for nutrient storage. I don't recall Cascade being one of them. You don't need the tubers or the roots. Follow Yob's advice about 30cm with a few nodes.

 

[sp0rk]

To grow.

If I have any left over I would be keen to swap but will post them in the for sale thread.

I'd gladly take some off your hands

 

[Brownsworthy]

To grow.

If I have any left over I would be keen to swap but will post them in the for sale thread.

If you do have any to spare Panda just one zome would be great.

 

[Matplat]

So there were nodes poking out of the soil on my plants from last season, which I have now covered with a layer of chicken manure pellets and more soil.

Was that the right thing to do? Or should I leave the nodes exposed?

 

[Yob]

I'd have done mulch then compost then mulch in thin layers but yep, should be right, the nodes will push through when the time is right... Resist the urge to dig looking for them when it comes time.

 

[AJ80]

Sneaky annual leave Friday has given me a chance to get stuck into the hop yard. The existing varieties (Mt Hood, Cascade, Chinook and Goldings) all got some fresh soil, a good whack of cow manure and topped off with pea straw mulch. These are coming into their second season and I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much they've grown! A lot of nodes ready to go come spring.

Dug in two new varieties as well - Victoria as well as some wild rhizomes I collected down in the Otways at the end of Autumn (Canterbury Goldings if the Internet can be believed).

Having learned my lesson from last season, all varieties have already been bird protected to stop the damn black birds from making a mess of them again.

 

[Yob]

Correct, likely to be Canterbury Goldings, I've got one of those too.

 

[Yob]

Correct, likely to be Canterbury Goldings, I've got one of those too.

 

[kaiserben]

So I bought about a dozen cascade rhizomes which are currently keeping moist in the crisper section of my fridge.

I've got access to a bit of land with plenty of room to plant them on (in Sydney, with full sun).

Sounds like I should be preparing the soil now? I might do that on Monday. Any tips? (for starters, if I go to Bunnings, what soil & nutrients should I buy and roughly how much will I need for the number of rhizomes I have).

And what about protection from wildlife?

 

[bevan]

So I bought about a dozen cascade rhizomes which are currently keeping moist in the crisper section of my fridge.

I've got access to a bit of land with plenty of room to plant them on (in Sydney, with full sun).

Sounds like I should be preparing the soil now? I might do that on Monday. Any tips? (for starters, if I go to Bunnings, what soil & nutrients should I buy and roughly how much will I need for the number of rhizomes I have).
And what about protection from wildlife?

I got pointed to this article, should answer some of your questions.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/articles/article91.html

 

[LiquidGold]

Once a year I get a ute load of horse manure from my local pony club for $10, good cheap way to add organic matter to the soil and I leave what I don't use right away in a pile to break down further and use throughout the year.

 

[Benn]

Moved the Compost bin along with all the compost from the previous house owner this arvo. Removed about half a bucket of lollie wrappers and other foreign objects.

You can see the bin in its new location in the background. Nice evening for a fire, a few CPA's & a couple of Homies when the CPA's run out.
Tomorrow I'll be on the shovel prepping Zhome sites.

 

[blekk]

Reshaped and mulched the Red Earth mound today. Didn't get any cones this year but had some really nice bines so fingers crossed for next year!

 

[kaiserben]

I got started today.



Started a bit late in the day, so only got 4 of the holes done (the ones in the background). Aiming for 14 holes (2 rows of 7). The half-finished fencing is because there are various animals that might like to dig in dirt. (Perhaps it might be better to lay the chicken wire over the ground).

Will put up a trellis eventually.

Each hole has a thin layer of mulch, then a few handfuls of chicken poo, then another thin layer of mulch, then a thick covering of potting soil.

I'm using those green things (Greenwell) to raise each hole area (like a mound).

 

[Judanero]

Looking good KB, even if you raise the height of each mound a bit you'll find it'll all be well by the time the first shoots spring out (as decomposition occurs the level drops quite a bit), chicken wire over the ground would be enough to stop the digging animals until the first shoots pop up, I made little boxes from chicken wire the first season I grew but found it unnecessary every season after.

Winter is the ideal time to prep for the upcoming season, a bit of work here goes a long way to helping come harvest time- compost and mulch are an easy investment.

All the best looks like a great plot.

 

[kaiserben]

One thing I'm not sure about despite reading a few how-to guides: Are my rhizomes (currently kept moist and in the crisper section of my fridge) better off in the soil or in the fridge?

 

[Judanero]

Six of one, half a dozen. IMO fridge until late August (gives your garden time to decompose any manure/ compost if not already well aged) but if put into the ground sooner rather than later it's not a problem either.

Once established, and you will learn quickly- hops are very hardy and grow quickly.... keep the water and nutes up to them and even first year (apparently first year is more about establishment than flowering) you will get a good return from the outset. I never cut back any of my bines once the first shoots pop up, I also rarely cut them back at the onset of winter... Just let them die off over winter and the new bines climb over the old ones at the beginning of spring.

 

[Mardoo]

One thing I'm not sure about despite reading a few how-to guides: Are my rhizomes (currently kept moist and in the crisper section of my fridge) better off in the soil or in the fridge?

If you keep them in the fridge long-term be sure to check them every few weeks or so, change the wrapping, and make sure the wrappings are just damp, but not saturated. Otherwise mold and drying become the issues. If you're in an area that doesn't freeze much, I'd go for storing them in pots if you can't get them in the earth just yet. If you are putting them in very large pots then freezing shouldn't be such an issue. But they will do fine in the fridge as long as you keep the wrapping fresh. When I overwintered my rhizomes in the fridge on occasion, I just used damp newspaper.

 

[hoppy2B]

I like to plant them straight away because you can see the roots growing when you have them out of the ground.

 

[Yob]

Ive finally done something to help this poor Shame of Ringwood that Ive had confined to a pot for far too long..

I really only grow it as ornamental but I feel bad for it every year stuffed in a a pot getting dried out.

Im going to line the sides of the planter on the inside to keep it 1: isolated and 2: help with water retention.. thinking of throwing a few (clean) nappies in the bottom of the planter as well.. ***** and giggles...

with any luck, the poor ******* thing can get the love this year B)

 

[Rocker1986]

On Saturday I got the first of my larger garden bed things built, with a trellis on it as well (about 3.5 metres tall), and transferred my Hallertau plant into it. I had nine 65L bags of potting mix, and the rest of the soil came from a turkey mound on the other side of the yard, which contained some good ****. The plant had sprouted some shoots while it was still in the pot, so not sure whether to chop these off or just leave them be. Looking forward to hopefully getting some better growth and yield this season. The mesh is over it to stop things digging it up.

 

[Yob]

That scrub turkey is gunna be pissed...