Hop Irrigation System

[Steve]

and even that was too short - had to tie string from the top across to the gutter of the house for the rest of the plant to grow along. This year I will prune the main bine to promote side shoot growth.
Cheers
Steve

 

[TidalPete]

Another question for our horticultural type friends.

What adverse effects does growing the hops up a fence or the side of a shed have over the free stanning trellice? I have a shed (ala workshop, ala brewery) with a northeren aspect which is a good 4+metre high but am concerned about the radiant heat coming off the shed mid summer (it's cream coloured so does reflect a little heat).
Am I better to build a free standing trellice away from the shed or would a wire standing a little out from the shed but supported by it suffice. I want to give this baby it's best chance at survival but also what is easiest and cheapest for me to erect.

Any thoughts/direction?

Cheers

Borret

[post="67813"][/post]​

Borret,
I would think about two free-standing trellises as long & high as you are comfortable with & 4 metres or so apart (it you've got the room for this) both facing north\south as opposed to a trellis against your shed.
1 -- You will have more cones as they will be growing on both (sunny) sides as opposed to hardly any on the south side of a northern aspect.
2 -- The cones will be a lot easier to collect as you will be training them as they grow to join overhead by stringing training wires between the trellises.
3 -- If your shed has guttering there is less chance of dead leaves blocking and\or rusting your gutter & of course, less work & more drinking time for you.
4 -- In time you will have a great shady beer garden next to your shed to make good use of.

Of course, if part of your plan is to cool your shed down in the hot months then a free-standing trellis about 1 metre out from the side of your shed would be ok even if you got less hops.
North\south is the way to go. :super:

:beer:

 

[Borret]

Another question for our horticultural type friends.

What adverse effects does growing the hops up a fence or the side of a shed have over the free stanning trellice? I have a shed (ala workshop, ala brewery) with a northeren aspect which is a good 4+metre high but am concerned about the radiant heat coming off the shed mid summer (it's cream coloured so does reflect a little heat).
Am I better to build a free standing trellice away from the shed or would a wire standing a little out from the shed but supported by it suffice. I want to give this baby it's best chance at survival but also what is easiest and cheapest for me to erect.

Any thoughts/direction?

Cheers

Borret

[post="67813"][/post]​

Borret,
I would think about two free-standing trellises as long & high as you are comfortable with & 4 metres or so apart (it you've got the room for this) both facing north\south as opposed to a trellis against your shed.
1 -- You will have more cones as they will be growing on both (sunny) sides as opposed to hardly any on the south side of a northern aspect.
2 -- The cones will be a lot easier to collect as you will be training them as they grow to join overhead by stringing training wires between the trellises.
3 -- If your shed has guttering there is less chance of dead leaves blocking and\or rusting your gutter & of course, less work & more drinking time for you.
4 -- In time you will have a great shady beer garden next to your shed to make good use of.

Of course, if part of your plan is to cool your shed down in the hot months then a free-standing trellis about 1 metre out from the side of your shed would be ok even if you got less hops.
North\south is the way to go.
:beer:

[post="67842"][/post]​

TP

Did I read correctly


Doesn't this go against anything lse I have read on the net? I'm not saying your wrong, infact it might work better in the northern regions where the sun is higher in the sky <_< . I just haven't read that approach before.

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[Steve]

that'd be great if you have the room, make sure you put the wooden support poles a minimum of 500mm into the ground. Also get make sure you use coarse/rough twine instead of smooth wire so the hops can get a grip.

P.S. You forgot the picnic chair and table from your designs

Cheers
Steve

 

[Borret]

that'd be great if you have the room, make sure you put the wooden support poles a minimum of 500mm into the ground. Also get make sure you use coarse/rough twine instead of smooth wire so the hops can get a grip.

P.S. You forgot the picnic chair and table from your designs

Cheers
Steve

[post="67852"][/post]​

Sorry, Is this better


Swinging chair and backyard blitz would not be complete without a water feature. h34r:

I surpose you wan't topless beer wenches added now :lol:

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[Steve]

lol - na - just an esky will suffice

 

[warrenlw63]

Prefer this.

Warren -

 

[Borret]

Prefer this.

Warren -

[post="67857"][/post]​

Na that's the irrigation system.

This is the fountain


Borret

 

[warrenlw63]

Highly commendable.

Warren -

 

[Steve]

where does the water come from? :blink:

 

[TidalPete]

Oh dear! I was serious 'til all the fun started.
It should work up here all right Borret but not where I am as it's too humid & salty. Your sketches are great.

:beer:

 

[Borret]

where does the water come from? :blink:

[post="67861"][/post]​

My guess is the jug on the right, not the ones on the left.... it did come off a fountain website....realy it did.

Borret

 

[Borret]

Has anyone else installed there's in the dirt yet? Mine went in this afternoon. Have decided on a double overhead freestanding wire trellice arrangement. This is yet to be biult but is pegged out.
I actually noticed there had been some minor growth while they were in the fridge much like small eyes on a spud that sat in the cupboard too long. This surprised me. Hope this warm weather we have been having doesn't confuse the suckers and make em jump out of the ground too early... We shall see.

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[Doc]

I'm almost ready to plant mine Borrett.
I excavated the plantation area yesterday and will be buying some pots for them today (first year planting).
Thanks to all the feedback on watering them too. I won't be going for a continuous drip feed system now.

Beers,
Doc

 

[kungy]

Back to the watering, i use those watering spikes that you can get real cheap from bunnings. Before i go to work in summer i load a couple of 2L bottles with water, put the spike on and put them in the ground next to my plant.

Will

 

[Borret]

I am just handwatering a couple of times a week at this stage. However I did throw some of those water cristals in with the soil mix to try and combat the summer heat down the track.
As for the trellice I may be scaling back on my first plans after looking at the price of traeted pine. :angry: I am going for 2 poles about 6m apart and about 4m high and wire east west but the 1 plant I have will be about 1m from one end so that I can use the same trellice for new plants next year or if I propogate some more of this one. I found a hops article that talked about propogation and soil conditions the otherday but I saved the link at work not home so might post it sometime next week. Basically said that buring a healthy bine at the end of the season would create new rhizomes to dig up, cut and plant next season.
I also came accross this article that show a guy who has used pvc pipe for the trellice instead of wood or steel. It pulls down easy for winter so is a bit of a novel idea. May be worth considering if you can get PVC cheap. <_<

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[Borret]

Hops update.

Well it appears this warm weather the last week has comfused things and we are off to a galloping start (although I did notice they were starting to grow legs in the fridge before I planted them a few weeks ago). I first noticed 2 shoots on Monday and we have progressed to 4 shoots and 2 rows of leaves already.

Has any one elses started to sprout yet?

I have heard commercial growers will prune of early shoots to encourage a better crown, has anyone else had experience with this.

Now to get onto that trellice next weekend.

Cheers

Borret :blink:

 

[Gough]

Top hop work there Borret. Can almost smell 'em already...

Shawn.

 

[n00ch]

My hops have also started to sprout and actually doubled in size over the past week and a bit. A good 4-5 inches high now.

I would also like to get any info on pruning and what not. When it comes to gardening i need all the help i can get!

 

[johnno]

I wouldn't know about pruning them. These things grow like mad once they are established.
There was this thread here where ther are a few piccies of homegrown varieties.

johnno