2017 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hop Garden!

[Rocker1986]

I noticed it came over and had a look at the damage after I'd finished... :lol:

I have another one of these things to build for the Fuggles plant, so will probably make more use of the mound for soil for that one too.

 

[Benn]

Good evening,
Is it possible to overdo the fertiliser? Currently I'm prepping the holes ready for the rhizomes to be planted later in the year but I'm worried about going too heavy with the fertiliser. I've read up a fair bit but I'm still a bit lost.

I'll be planting about 6-8 hops I have:

6 x 25L bag of cheap potting mix
1 x 5kg bag of "Blood & Bone based fertiliser"
2 large boxes of Cow Manure (can get more from M&D's farm)
Half a small bucket of Dynamic Lifter
Full compost bin (grass clippings, ash from fireplace, leaf litter, kitchen scraps etc)
1 x tub of Osmocote fruit and vegetable slow release granular fertiliser
Powdered Potash fertiliser from last season
Seasol & Powerfeed
Sugar cane mulch

The soil around my yard looks pretty normal, probably lowish in nutrients given my location.
Tested the Ph with a $16 "Manutec" test kit from bunnings at it gave me a result of around Ph 6.5

I figure I can't go too wrong by digging a big hole, adding a bag of potting mix, some cow manure and some compost. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure of how much if t all I should be adding.
Any advice would appreciated.
Cheers,

 

[citizensnips]

For gods sake don't blend all those ferts together, or at least if you do use a tiny bit of each. If you were to mix them all up you would have a very 'hot' soil mix, which would more than likely cause root burn and stunt the growth of your plant. Really my recommendation for this kind of stuff is always stick with organic. It's a lot more forgiving to a novice gardener and in my opinion always produces much for flavourful and aromatic harvests, not just with hops but with a lot of fruits and veg.

Nonetheless with what you have I would blend your potting soil and a small handful of dynamic lifter (dependent on size of hole, but a handful should be more than enough). Get some compost and a bit of cow manure, maybe a shovel of each, blend that all together and if you have some garden lime, sprinkle a light handful of that in amongst it....this will help balance your ph. Make that the bottom 2/3 of your hole and let that sit for at least a month before planting. The top 1/3 use nothing more than potting soil and maybe a tiny bit of dynamic lifter or your fruit and veg fert if you can't resist. That will ensure young roots don't burn.

A month or so in use your seasol and powerfeed. Seasol is more of a soil conditoner and less than a fertilsier, hence you can use it more often and not risk burning your plants as you would with powerfeed.
Use your potash a few weeks out from flower and continue to use it through until a couple of weeks before harvest. You don't want to use anything other than water in your last couple of weeks.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

 

[Benn]

Thanks heaps Citizensnips,
Less is more wins again

 

[MastersBrewery]

Good evening,
Is it possible to overdo the fertiliser? Currently I'm prepping the holes ready for the rhizomes to be planted later in the year but I'm worried about going too heavy with the fertiliser. I've read up a fair bit but I'm still a bit lost.

I'll be planting about 6-8 hops I have:

image.jpeg
6 x 25L bag of cheap potting mix
1 x 5kg bag of "Blood & Bone based fertiliser"
2 large boxes of Cow Manure (can get more from M&D's farm)
Half a small bucket of Dynamic Lifter
Full compost bin (grass clippings, ash from fireplace, leaf litter, kitchen scraps etc)
1 x tub of Osmocote fruit and vegetable slow release granular fertiliser
Powdered Potash fertiliser from last season
Seasol & Powerfeed
Sugar cane mulch

The soil around my yard looks pretty normal, probably lowish in nutrients given my location.
Tested the Ph with a $16 "Manutec" test kit from bunnings at it gave me a result of around Ph 6.5

I figure I can't go too wrong by digging a big hole, adding a bag of potting mix, some cow manure and some compost. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure of how much if t all I should be adding.
Any advice would appreciated.
Cheers,

all you need to do is grab some diesel and you too can be placed on a no fly list.

 

[Benn]

Hahaha half the gear is from last season, I read all sorts of stuff on the net and when I looked at all the various ingredients together I just went "Nup" ...better consult the AHB Oracle.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

All that fertilizer you've saved from these tips you can just sprinkle around the surface grow area once a blue moon. Trickle feed for that rain addition or top watering etc. That stinky **** also deters certain pests like Possums, Blackbirds.
I'll hang an old hop sock full of that stinky **** on hop trellises just to be unwelcoming to say an opportunistic possum, or Parrot?

 

[Judanero]

Good evening,
Is it possible to overdo the fertiliser? Currently I'm prepping the holes ready for the rhizomes to be planted later in the year but I'm worried about going too heavy with the fertiliser. I've read up a fair bit but I'm still a bit lost.

I'll be planting about 6-8 hops I have:

image.jpeg
6 x 25L bag of cheap potting mix
1 x 5kg bag of "Blood & Bone based fertiliser"
2 large boxes of Cow Manure (can get more from M&D's farm)
Half a small bucket of Dynamic Lifter
Full compost bin (grass clippings, ash from fireplace, leaf litter, kitchen scraps etc)
1 x tub of Osmocote fruit and vegetable slow release granular fertiliser
Powdered Potash fertiliser from last season
Seasol & Powerfeed
Sugar cane mulch

The soil around my yard looks pretty normal, probably lowish in nutrients given my location.
Tested the Ph with a $16 "Manutec" test kit from bunnings at it gave me a result of around Ph 6.5

I figure I can't go too wrong by digging a big hole, adding a bag of potting mix, some cow manure and some compost. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure of how much if t all I should be adding.
Any advice would appreciated.
Cheers,

Can definitely over fertilise!
For 6-8 zomes you will need more potting mix/soil.

If you're not planting the rhizomes out until later in the year you can spread the blood and bone out a tarp so that it gets weathered by the elements for a couple weeks (if you can get it to ~ 5-10cm thick and keep turning/mixing it), same goes for the cow manure.

Rhizomes love well aged compost and cow manure, 3:1:1 Potting mix: compost: manure is good for prepping if you're being pedantic, and remember that the soil will settle quite a bit before you plant the rhizomes so build it up a bit higher to allow for it.

Definitely hold out on anything else until the bines are well and truly thriving, and then I like to give them a bit of seasol or nitrosol/powerfeed (you can also soak lawn clippings for a few days and use the water to help fertilise) while they're growing, and add a little more compost and manure or worm castings when the burrs come in. Sugar cane mulch is also what I use mostly but have also used pea straw to mulch, both great once they break down as well.

Honestly these things grow like weed(s), N during vegetive growth, P & K during flowering, keep the water up to them especially during the warmer months (but make sure the soil is well draining), mulch for water retention/ weed management.
Easy.

 

[Benn]

Thanks heaps for the advice guys, much appreciated

 

[Benn]

Edit: Double post

 

[kaiserben]

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!

20160612_163917.jpg

If I wanted to put in a simple trellis design like the one in that photo, how do I do it?
I assume you can't buy it pre-fabricated and that I need to buy all the bits and put it together myself?
How are the posts at each end put in the ground securely? Concrete?

 

[Alex.Tas]

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.

I'm not having a dig at you (har har)... but will those uprights be secure once the plants grow? I get a fair bit of wind where I am, so maybe i'm overly cautious, but i would be concerned that a gust of wind in jan/feb could ruin your week.
maybe look at some rope stays? You could even incorporate them into more growing area for your bines.

all else aside, looks like a nice clean planter setup

 

[mofox1]

I'm not having a dig at you (har har)... but will those uprights be secure once the plants grow? I get a fair bit of wind where I am, so maybe i'm overly cautious, but i would be concerned that a gust of wind in jan/feb could ruin your week.
maybe look at some rope stays? You could even incorporate them into more growing area for your bines.

all else aside, looks like a nice clean planter setup

I was thinking the same thing... wind caused me much trauma this year and I don't really have the option for guy ropes.

This year I'm thinking of using galvanised steel tubing. About 5m high and fixed to some very solid red gum posts up to around 1.5m.

Haven't exactly worked out how to fix the T on top... heard getting gal steel welded is not that nice, so trying to work out some nuts and bolts options.

 

[Mardoo]

If you have a look round at chain link fences there's a T junction made that fits into the top of a fence pole and allows a horizontal to be fixed to the top.

 

[Rocker1986]

They should be ok I think, we don't really get much strong wind here being down in a valley/gully area and with a lot of trees around the place. They're pretty securely bolted to the sides of the planter box. However, with that fence being right there it wouldn't be hard to tie them to it just in case. Will see what happens when the plants are really growing.

Last season I had them in pots with a couple of 2.5 metre garden stakes jammed into the soil opposite each other with a chicken wire type mesh attached to them and they stood up ok during storms and such. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Judanero]

Looks nice and neat mate, maybe add a couple wire lines to the corners of your planter box just in case, once those lines are full of bines and lats it'll end up being like a sheet in the wind.

I'd add a bracket to the corners of that cross beam too, with a few kgs weight pulling on the beam you may get a little sagging, would be **** if it came undone.

 

[Alex.Tas]

If you have a look round at chain link fences there's a T junction made that fits into the top of a fence pole and allows a horizontal to be fixed to the top.

ive got a cunning plan (much like bauldric) to utilise one (or perhaps more) on the top of each post, with a small pulley wheel threaded onto the tightening bolt. a rope will co up the centre of the gal post, over the pulley and out one of the open end of the T clamp. the end of the rope will then be tied to the "boom".
the benefit of this will be that i can raise and lower the boom with ease, for harvesting ripe cones as they appear (ive got multiple varieties on the one boom currently) and then raise it back up again.
the rope that will allow me to do this will be isolated from curious bines that would love to climb around and tangle them, as it will be hidden inside the pipe.

I've got a similar system already, without the pulleys. the rope just pops out of the gal pipe at the top. It works, but the rope doesn't like being dragged over a 180° steel corner. The use of the pulleys should reduce the drag but not eliminate it. Another "T clamp" connected after the first may reduce it even further, but u'll see how just the singular one goes first.

 

[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)

Finally completed, bad ass layer of rocks in the base and 2 inches of 'chicken coop' soul and wood chips for mulch surrounding the crown. Im expecting evil things from this crown this season.

 

[blekk]

If I wanted to put in a simple trellis design like the one in that photo, how do I do it?
I assume you can't buy it pre-fabricated and that I need to buy all the bits and put it together myself?
How are the posts at each end put in the ground securely? Concrete?

I used a couple of post stirrups from bunnings concreted in to the ground then bolted the posts to them. Probably about 1-2hrs worth of work digging the holes, mixing the concrete and setting the stirrups. If I want to remove the hops/garden bed I have the concrete far enough under the soil level that I can cut off the stirrups with an angle grinder below ground level and cover it with soil so you wouldn't even know they were there instead of trying to dig up a 20kg concrete bell

 

[Rocker1986]

Looks nice and neat mate, maybe add a couple wire lines to the corners of your planter box just in case, once those lines are full of bines and lats it'll end up being like a sheet in the wind.

I'd add a bracket to the corners of that cross beam too, with a few kgs weight pulling on the beam you may get a little sagging, would be **** if it came undone.

Yeah not bad ideas actually, will look into it especially the brackets. The idea of the 6 lines is to try to more evenly spread the bines across the thing, but anything to help keep it sturdier and together can't be bad!

 

[Matplat]

Anyone else got new shoots breaking the surface yet? These plants dont seem to understand that its supposed to be winter at the moment.... it is QLD though.

 

[drsmurto]

I got started today.

13417670_10154276909082959_8946218636893466596_n.jpg

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).

A bit late but I'm hoping you have only 1 variety of hops growing in all those holes. I wouldn't be planting different varieties within 3m of each other, preferably more. Once they get tangled up, and they will, you'll never be able to identify them.

 

[Exile]

Anyone else got new shoots breaking the surface yet? These plants dont seem to understand that its supposed to be winter at the moment.... it is QLD though.

Mine did this time last year, then went dormant for a long period of time before flowering.
This year most of my hop leaves have gone but some still remain.
Still wearing a tshirt tho. not quite cold enough, must be a green house thing. too many cows farting or something

 

[kaiserben]

A bit late but I'm hoping you have only 1 variety of hops growing in all those holes. I wouldn't be planting different varieties within 3m of each other, preferably more. Once they get tangled up, and they will, you'll never be able to identify them.

Yep. Just Cascade at this stage.

If I get my hands on another variety I'll do a similar row, but a good 3 metres away on a separate trellis. I have a nice spot picked out just for that.

 

[Rocker1986]

Anyone else got new shoots breaking the surface yet? These plants dont seem to understand that its supposed to be winter at the moment.... it is QLD though.

Yep my Hallertau plant did this back in April when I cut the bines off at the soil a few weeks after the last harvest. A week or two later there were new shoots popping up, but it was still quite warm then too. They haven't really done anything though, still just small shoots. I wonder if they'll die back again with this cold snap we're getting currently. Maybe when or if they acclimatise to our weather they'll stay dormant all through the winter months.

 

[60.lewdogg.9]

Does anyone here use the 2 part canna fert for their hops?

 

[BottloBill]

Does anyone here use the 2 part canna fert for their hops?

Used in my first year of growing with good results.

 

[blekk]

Does anyone here use the 2 part canna fert for their hops?

Try the Medi-One nutrient

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

Spent the last few weekends weeding and feeding. Composted horse **** & sheep ****, blood and bone, and pelletised chicken manure on top of the mounds. I'll mulch the tops soon.

 

[Mardoo]

Miles and miles of little brown piles...that's some good looking ****!