Growing Hops In Pots

[QldKev]

Can't remember the source, but one 'confined space' grower had pots lining his driveway. Each barrel/pot had a two metre stake with an eyelat at the top. He fed a few metres of cord/rope up and threw the eye. when the hop grew up to the top he would untie the rope and let in drop to the ground. He kept repeating this until the rope was fully 'covered'. He stated he was initially worried about heat/bugs/ect but he didn't have any problems and had a harvest.

Hmmm....

It's on byo.com

QldKev

 

[MarkBastard]

Okay I had a brief look in KMart last night and they have 45mm wooden pots that are sort of made to look like half wine barrels though obviously not as big.

Not sure I'll go down that path but they may be good for someone else in a similar situation.

kram I don't think plastic should matter. If anything it should be good? I heard Terracotta needs a special potting mix because it absorbs water into the pot or something. At least plastic doesn't do that. I don't know what I'm talking about though so don't take this as advice.

 

[Batz]

Plastic rubbish bins $10.00 at Bunnies

Batz

 

[sav]

I planted my rhizomes today in pots I got them from bunnings they are black 52ltr with a good amount of organic vegi mix cascade and goldings fingers crossed .


sav

 

[jurule]

Same here mate 52L pots from there also, should be interesting to see how they go. Heres my setup with cross hatched twine to make the most of lack of vertical space.

 

[Bats]

I have 2 questions relating to growing hops in pots as a first time hop grower.

1. I read Here that when the shoots start to show through, you should cut the first 2 back and wait for the healthier third shoot to show. I'm nervous about doing this as I already have a first shoot about 20cm tall and a smaller one showing, but no third shoot. This one is a Chinook hop. Also, I have a saaz plant that has bout 8 shoots all the same size (about 6-8cm). Which (or should I?) cut back?

2. I have limited height space and plan on training the hops vertically along the pool fence. Any probs with this method or pointers in vertical hop growing?

 

[barls]

dont bother, its mainly from the commercial growers that this has come from.

as for training hops grow normally vertical. i think you mean horizontal. the only problem with this is having to manually train the hops as they wont normally grow that way.

 

[Bats]

dont bother, its mainly from the commercial growers that this has come from.

as for training hops grow normally vertical. i think you mean horizontal. the only problem with this is having to manually train the hops as they wont normally grow that way.

Ha ha. Yeah, horizontal is what I meant.

Had a few last night so the brain's a bit fuzzy.

 

[Golani51]

Ha ha. Yeah, horizontal is what I meant.

Had a few last night so the brain's a bit fuzzy.

I would probably string some .....string across it to give it something to grab hold of.

Also, what I have done at the back of my place where I have a fence only 5 feet high is to zip tie some wooden poles to the ends, with a wire going across the tops, and strings going down from this cross wire to the plants. They now have 4m heights. Easy to remove and cheap to make.

 

[Eggs]

I tried growing in pots last year. I bought 2 small rhisomes, quality mix and potted them in 40 liter pots. by the end of summer they were realy struggeling. i couldnt keep them wet. we went way for 2 weeks in feb and i left instructions that they should be watered but it didnt happen so that was pretty much the end. when i tiped them out at the end of autumn the pots were solid fiberous roots. even as small as they were they filled the pots completely. so my advice is BIG pot and pretty much daily water. lots of room to climb.

 

[Golani51]

I tried growing in pots last year. I bought 2 small rhisomes, quality mix and potted them in 40 liter pots. by the end of summer they were realy struggeling. i couldnt keep them wet. we went way for 2 weeks in feb and i left instructions that they should be watered but it didnt happen so that was pretty much the end. when i tiped them out at the end of autumn the pots were solid fiberous roots. even as small as they were they filled the pots completely. so my advice is BIG pot and pretty much daily water. lots of room to climb.

Make sure you put lots of mulch on top. Even when you think they are dead, the rhizomes can come back to life. It is also possible to add water crystals of you are forgetful about watering. Mine all survived the heat and missed waterings. Don't forget the constant watering spikes(stick a plastic bottle on it and it sits upside down or auto timer (cheap now). There are so many ways to go about it.

As a side note, remember that potting mix can dry out quickly. Always mix it with mulch, some regular dirt etc. One trick I learned was to put a large bowl (cheap dollar store salad bowl is fine) on the bottom before filling with the mix, so that it will always have a nice reservoir of moisture for those missed waterings. The roots will aim for it and always have access.

 

[real_beer]

By the pics you can see I have great success using terracotta pots, but its an expensive pain in the ass when your harvester driver is pissed on the job!

 

[Drew]

That last post is hilarious, and for a whole year remains with a response!!

So good.