2018 Hop Plantations

[N3MIS15]

After 6 weeks of harvesting and selling rhizomes, I'm finally getting back to the hop field. Making room for Columbus and Centennial, fertilising and mulching between rain storms at the moment. It won't be long before they start poking their heads up here in VIC.

If you end up with any spare Centennial zomes, I would gladly purchase 1 from you. I planted Columbus and Cascade last year and have been on the hunt for a Centennial zome this year without any luck.

 

[fungrel]

A couple of additions for the garden .. have now potted:

1 x Saaz
1 x Tettnang
1 x Cascade
1 x Super Alpha
1 x EKG
2 x Whitebine Wildings

Will be interesting to see which varieties handle the warm climate best. The wildings have taken off the fastest.

View attachment 107708

I had zhomes in pots that size last year, the root system grew out from the pot almost a metre... are you looking to transfer them in their second year?

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Yes probably will split the rhizomes (if they are big enough) and put them in the fridge to simulate dormancy before replanting in more pots next year... I'm not expecting all to survive, if it's a wet/humid year up here they will be susceptible to disease.

Edit: Many crops traditionally thought of only being suitable for cool climates (e.g. blueberries) are now extensively grown in northern NSW and QLD. The berry growers are moving towards 'grow bags' and pots in spanish tunnels. These guys (e.g.) Costa group are making a killing supplying fruit at times of year when the southern growers simply can't compete. . Where there is a will (and more importantly a market) there is a way.

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

If you end up with any spare Centennial zomes, I would gladly purchase 1 from you. I planted Columbus and Cascade last year and have been on the hunt for a Centennial zome this year without any luck.

My 3 rhizomes from last year are now 6 plants. I'll probably do some cuttings this year and bury some bines to convert to rhizomes, so will hopefully have some next year. I'm hoping to build stock for myself but potentially may have some spare.

 

[Mardoo]

My Victoria in sunny Melbourne have started shooting!

 

[homebrewnewb]

i will be off to inspect the garden tonight!, j/k its 9C and raining... bit of a hurry up to get those rellis' in though. i think the Goldings like a later start but some of the C's should be about.

 

[Stinger]

I have just split up some Monster Cascade Rhizomes and have some for sale if anyone is interested.
range of sizes available from small, large to one absolute big mother.
$10 for a small about 6 inches long, $25 for a large much thicker rhizome with multiple buds and $50 for the big mother. The larger ones will definitely be quite productive in year 1 (as long as you have prepared the planting area with plenty of compost and manure)
Attached photo at harvest time this March and I will chuck in a 50gm of dried Cascade whole hop flowers with each purchase so you can try before you get a harvest, I generally use commercial pellets for base bitterness and use them for dry hopping straight into the fermenter.
I am not sure about quarantine restrictions sending to other states so I will just limit sales to WA and can deliver locally around Albany, Denmark, Mt Barker, Jerramungup areas

 

[Mardoo]

Got my Mt. Hood planted today, a little crown I mentioned earlier in the thread. I was a bit concerned about how long it had been in the fridge, but it looked as fresh and vital as a young athlete would to a Vampire. So I planted it in my coffin.

I also planted a Pride of Ringwood 'zome. Happy to have one of those now that they've been pulled from most commercial production.

Started pulling away the soil in the pot of Willamette, to put the soaker hose under the soil, and there were so many shoots that I broke two with a random swipe of the hand, while listening to Lowrider. Decided to let her be.

 

[clickeral]

Got my Mt. Hood planted

I also planted a Pride of Ringwood 'zome. Happy to have one of those now that they've been pulled from most commercial .

Hey if you split next season I would be keen on a Mt Hood and a POR

I have cascade, victoria, super alpha, chinnok and cluster

 

[Mardoo]

PM me next June

 

[N3MIS15]

I have 3 small por rhizomes and was wondering what the best plan of attack might be. I have a garden bed prepped (about a meter square). I was thinking of either putting them in pots to see which takes the best, or just putting them all in the garden bed and letting them ride. Thoughts?

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Just found two big green fat caterpillars chewing one of my whitebines...

After some manual 'squishing' this-morning I'm going to employ some chemical warfare after work.

edit: probably some Yates tomato dust as that is what i have in the cupboard ... it should take care of the caterpillars.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

I have 3 small por rhizomes and was wondering what the best plan of attack might be. I have a garden bed prepped (about a meter square). I was thinking of either putting them in pots to see which takes the best, or just putting them all in the garden bed and letting them ride. Thoughts?

What type of soil is in your garden bed? Is it nice well drained (possibly mounded?). If so, maybe just chuck them in the ground.

 

[N3MIS15]

The soil is good. It's a raised bed. My concern is with planting the 3 rhizomes in close proximity.

 

[fungrel]

I have 3 small por rhizomes and was wondering what the best plan of attack might be. I have a garden bed prepped (about a meter square). I was thinking of either putting them in pots to see which takes the best, or just putting them all in the garden bed and letting them ride. Thoughts?

If I want to split them next season, i would choose the garden bed.

If I want to plant out the crown next season and not split, i would choose the pot.

I have planted a few different varieties in different spots in the yard so i can work out which grows best and then go from there. I have also planted the same varieties in garden beds so that when i work out which variety is best, i can split a crown. I intend on making a privacy screen in the coming years.

 

[Stinger]

The soil is good. It's a raised bed. My concern is with planting the 3 rhizomes in close proximity.

No problem putting them in close proximity other than they might get a bit tangled together if you want to dig them up and split them later.
If you are running 4-5 bines up wires from each rhizome then you would want to space them apart to allow for each bine to grow 4-5 metres long, if you don't have the height then horizontal wires is a good way of training them to allow easy harvesting.

 

[abyss]

Made a couple of posts and chucked in a new POR ( thanks Curly79 ) and last years potted Cascade.
Asparagus and lettuce in between
Next year I hope to move the posts to the top of the hill for extra height.

 

[AJ80]

Checked my hop yard yesterday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to see my new fuggles has already poked its head up out of the soil. This is a new rhizome and everything else is still well and truly dormant. Surprised given I'm still getting 3-4 frosts a week where I am.

 

[Yob]

I've a potted EKG that needs a good home, will need to bring a pot to transplant it into.

Needs to be soon as possible as it's starting to show. I'd bring a big pot.

Pickup Ringwood

 

[Rocker1986]

I'm back growing my hops again for another season. I've moved house in the last few weeks, but the hops have stayed at the olds because I am not gonna be dismantling and carting planter boxes and trellises around everyfuckinwhere we move.

Anyway, I have the same three varieties; 2nd year Cascade and 3rd year Hallertau and Fuggle. I'm not expecting much from the Fuggle, that one I'm more just keeping alive until it can be put into a bigger home, but hoping to get at least one batch worth of hops from the other two plants. The Hallertau yield last season was ****, and I haven't even used them yet.

I have one question though. The soil obviously compacted over the past year or so and is needing to be topped up. I've already done the Cascade, and will be doing the Hallertau on Saturday. I found it near on impossible to pull the roots out to lift them up a bit, and both plants had a number of shoots popping up. The Cascade ones were buried under the new soil, probably about 250mm deep. Will this cause any issues or will they just climb up through it to the surface?

 

[abyss]

I'm back growing my hops again for another season. I've moved house in the last few weeks, but the hops have stayed at the olds because I am not gonna be dismantling and carting planter boxes and trellises around everyfuckinwhere we move.

Anyway, I have the same three varieties; 2nd year Cascade and 3rd year Hallertau and Fuggle. I'm not expecting much from the Fuggle, that one I'm more just keeping alive until it can be put into a bigger home, but hoping to get at least one batch worth of hops from the other two plants. The Hallertau yield last season was ****, and I haven't even used them yet.

I have one question though. The soil obviously compacted over the past year or so and is needing to be topped up. I've already done the Cascade, and will be doing the Hallertau on Saturday. I found it near on impossible to pull the roots out to lift them up a bit, and both plants had a number of shoots popping up. The Cascade ones were buried under the new soil, probably about 250mm deep. Will this cause any issues or will they just climb up through it to the surface?

I reckon they will be fine mate they should love it.
Here's a pic of half of last years first year Saaz crown. It was the size of a pencil when first planted last year and after hacking it out of the pot (60l) I split in half with an axe.
I use heaps of mushroom compost with blood and bone plus any other **** I can find, also small amounts of water water crystals.

 

[Mardoo]

They'll be fine. I just chuck a bag of mushroom compost on top of my pots when the soil has compacted. If I can be arsed I do a proper soil blend.

 

[Rocker1986]

View attachment 107902

I reckon they will be fine mate they should love it.
Here's a pic of half of last years first year Saaz crown. It was the size of a pencil when first planted last year and after hacking it out of the pot (60l) I split in half with an axe.
I use heaps of mushroom compost with blood and bone plus any other **** I can find, also small amounts of water water crystals.

I'm guessing that's what mine look like as well. The Cascade started from a similarly sized rhizome last year, and now has tree trunk like roots around the crown from what I could see. It was started in the planter box though so it had a much larger area than the Hallertau in its first year which was grown in a pot as well. Anyway, if they'll be fine then I'll just carry on as planned on the weekend and wait for them to poke their heads up.

 

[pcqypcqy]

I bought off the guys here at AHB back in May, and have been storing them in damp newspaper in the fridge since then. I planted out a few weekends ago, probably 3 weeks now. It's warming up in Toowoomba, still getting the odd frost but should be largely done by now.

The Fuggles must have been thicker crowns as these shot up very quickly, only took a week to sprout. I also have Mt Hood, Goldings and Hersbrucker, most of which are starting to shoot out and break the soil now.

For a trellis I have strung up a sturdy rope from a tall tree in the back yard to the back of the house, over a garden bed. I've attached pulleys to the rop, and have individual lines of doubled up baling twine pegged down to each. I can either lower the whole lot together with the main rope, or individually drop each vine for harvesting. The idea with the pulleys was to let me drop a vine and then pull it back up again for whatever reason, such as periodic harvesting.

The garden bed runs N/S, and it's against the eastern fence. The last photo was taken around 7am, so once they achieve some height they should be getting full sun all of the day. Certainly from 9am through to evening they're in full sun. The garden was just prepared by turning over as deep as I could to break it all up (hadn't been done in years, so was rock hard), and then mounding up as shown. Mulched with lucerne.

Watering will be via drippers that I will install soon. Water for that will either be relatively clean gray water from the kids bath, or from the water tank. From what I can read, hops need around 37.5mm rain equivalent per week. I've worked out that for my garden bed this is around 40 litres per day, which is not insignificant.

 

[AJ80]

Checked my second year Victoria yesterday and it has started going nuts. 6-7 bines poking through already. Mulched the crap out of them as the weather is still crap where I am (snow predicted for tomorrow). Still have just the one bine through on my first year fuggles and everything else is still well and truly asleep. Have others growing Victoria also found it to be an early riser??

 

[Mardoo]

Yep. Mine has three just out of the ground. They're moving slowly, but definitely moving.

EDIT: Make that nine just out. Six since yesterday. Wow.

 

[Helles]

Finally got the hops gardens done
Hops in mostly cascade with some victoria Hersbruker and 1 chinnook
Needs more mulch
First time growing these at a new house

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Dr Rudi has decided to make an entrance.

 

[twinathon]

All ten of my plants are still snoozing below, though it has been cold where I am so not surprising.

 

[drsmurto]

Victoria is always the first out of the blocks but if you are growing Chinook for the first time, beware, it will wait much longer and then fly out of the blocks and outgrow anything else. Fecking weeds. [emoji1]