billvelek
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The recommended latitude for growing hops is from 35 to 55 degrees in both the northern and southern hemispheres, but hops can often be grown outside that band. I have broken this post down into labeled sections in case you prefer to go straight to your own area of the world. After reading about your area or country, please continue with my "EVERYWHERE" section at the end of this post for additional information. Sections are as follows:
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
U.S.
Canada
Europe
Asia
Australia:
In the southern hemisphere, the same recommended latitude band of 35-55 degrees applies. In Australia, only the southern portion falls within it -- south of a line from about Adelaide to Canberra -- but Perth and Sydney are well within that addition area above 30 degrees in which hops can be grown in the U.S., so perhaps it works there, too.
New Zealand:
All of New Zealand is in the preferred band.
South Africa:
For all practical purposes, all of South Africa lies below the preferred band, with most of it even lower than the marginal 30-35 degrees where hops are sometimes grown successfully, which is why electric lights are usually used to supplement daylight, as will be explained below.
U.S.:
Contrary to the impression that many people have, cultivation of hops is not limited to the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. -- Washington, Idaho, and Oregon -- despite that this is where commercial hop farming is concentrated; hops have been grown, with varying degrees of success, throughout _most_ of the continental U.S. Hops do _prefer_ latitudes between 35 and 55 -- which is everything in the continental U.S. that lies north of a line that runs from just north of Los Angelos and goes east across the Texas panhandle through almost the center of Arkansas and almost along the southern border of Tennessee and includes most of North Carolina; however, we do have reports, within my Grow-Hops group, of successful growers in South Carolina, Georgia, and even as far south as Austin, Texas, which has a latitude of about 30.25 -- and which is farther south than ALL of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, and all but the very bottom of Texas and Louisiana and the Florida peninsula. We also have a successful grower in Hawaii. So, hops should be _capable_ of growing in nearly all of the continental U.S. with the proper care, if anyone is interested in giving it a try.
Canada:
The recommended 35-to-55 latitude band covers probably 95% of Canada's populated area, including everything south of a line that runs east-west through _about_ the middle of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and includes most of Ontario and Quebec. Unlike the additional 'marginal' band in the south (see U.S., above), I will be surprised if hops will grow _much_ farther north than latitude 55 degrees because of late frost days and cold temperatures which can't be remedied as easily as short daylight. But we do have a member in Sweden who is going to try, and I believe we also have members in Scotland (most is N of '55').
Europe:
The recommended latitude band of 35-to-55 includes almost all of Europe, including all of Spain, Italy and Sicily (although they are not known for growing hops), and excludes only part of Northern Ireland, and most of Scotland, Denmark, and countries around the Baltic Sea and north of Poland. However, we do have a member in Sweden who is going to give it a try.
Asia:
I'll mention part of Asia, too, since I've read a _few_ posts in brewing forums from homebrewers in Japan and South Korea -- almost all of those two countries lie within the preferred band, with the rest being inside the marginal band, so hops should grow there, too. China, of course, is a major grower of hops with plenty of area in the preferred band.
EVERYWHERE:
The problem with latitudes which are much below 35 -- actually probably below '30', since they apparently will often still grow okay from 30-35 -- is that the length of daylight is too short; yes, despite the hotter climate, 'daylight' is actually shorter in places closer to the equator because during summer in the southern hemisphere, it is lit 24 hours/day at the South Pole and dark 24 hours/day at the North Pole. But there is still a reasonable solution even below latitude 30 for any diehards out
there; in South Africa, for instance, which also has daylight which is too short, growers use electric lights to trick the hops into thinking that the daylight is longer, and the number of lights and their wattage is not as high as one might think would be necessary. In other words, for just a couple of bucks worth of electricity, you can still grow many times that amount worth of hops. However, an added problem in warm climates is 'vernalization' already discussed in another thread. More detailed info is available about all of this in our discussion forum.
Our 'Grow-Hops' Yahoo Group is less than nine months old but already has 1,012 members as of this post, and has been growing very rapidly in the past couple of months due to rising interest among homebrewers trying to find ways to ensure a supply of the hops they want at reasonable prices. If interested, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grow-Hops
Cheers.
Bill Velek
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa
U.S.
Canada
Europe
Asia
Australia:
In the southern hemisphere, the same recommended latitude band of 35-55 degrees applies. In Australia, only the southern portion falls within it -- south of a line from about Adelaide to Canberra -- but Perth and Sydney are well within that addition area above 30 degrees in which hops can be grown in the U.S., so perhaps it works there, too.
New Zealand:
All of New Zealand is in the preferred band.
South Africa:
For all practical purposes, all of South Africa lies below the preferred band, with most of it even lower than the marginal 30-35 degrees where hops are sometimes grown successfully, which is why electric lights are usually used to supplement daylight, as will be explained below.
U.S.:
Contrary to the impression that many people have, cultivation of hops is not limited to the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. -- Washington, Idaho, and Oregon -- despite that this is where commercial hop farming is concentrated; hops have been grown, with varying degrees of success, throughout _most_ of the continental U.S. Hops do _prefer_ latitudes between 35 and 55 -- which is everything in the continental U.S. that lies north of a line that runs from just north of Los Angelos and goes east across the Texas panhandle through almost the center of Arkansas and almost along the southern border of Tennessee and includes most of North Carolina; however, we do have reports, within my Grow-Hops group, of successful growers in South Carolina, Georgia, and even as far south as Austin, Texas, which has a latitude of about 30.25 -- and which is farther south than ALL of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, and all but the very bottom of Texas and Louisiana and the Florida peninsula. We also have a successful grower in Hawaii. So, hops should be _capable_ of growing in nearly all of the continental U.S. with the proper care, if anyone is interested in giving it a try.
Canada:
The recommended 35-to-55 latitude band covers probably 95% of Canada's populated area, including everything south of a line that runs east-west through _about_ the middle of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and includes most of Ontario and Quebec. Unlike the additional 'marginal' band in the south (see U.S., above), I will be surprised if hops will grow _much_ farther north than latitude 55 degrees because of late frost days and cold temperatures which can't be remedied as easily as short daylight. But we do have a member in Sweden who is going to try, and I believe we also have members in Scotland (most is N of '55').
Europe:
The recommended latitude band of 35-to-55 includes almost all of Europe, including all of Spain, Italy and Sicily (although they are not known for growing hops), and excludes only part of Northern Ireland, and most of Scotland, Denmark, and countries around the Baltic Sea and north of Poland. However, we do have a member in Sweden who is going to give it a try.
Asia:
I'll mention part of Asia, too, since I've read a _few_ posts in brewing forums from homebrewers in Japan and South Korea -- almost all of those two countries lie within the preferred band, with the rest being inside the marginal band, so hops should grow there, too. China, of course, is a major grower of hops with plenty of area in the preferred band.
EVERYWHERE:
The problem with latitudes which are much below 35 -- actually probably below '30', since they apparently will often still grow okay from 30-35 -- is that the length of daylight is too short; yes, despite the hotter climate, 'daylight' is actually shorter in places closer to the equator because during summer in the southern hemisphere, it is lit 24 hours/day at the South Pole and dark 24 hours/day at the North Pole. But there is still a reasonable solution even below latitude 30 for any diehards out
there; in South Africa, for instance, which also has daylight which is too short, growers use electric lights to trick the hops into thinking that the daylight is longer, and the number of lights and their wattage is not as high as one might think would be necessary. In other words, for just a couple of bucks worth of electricity, you can still grow many times that amount worth of hops. However, an added problem in warm climates is 'vernalization' already discussed in another thread. More detailed info is available about all of this in our discussion forum.
Our 'Grow-Hops' Yahoo Group is less than nine months old but already has 1,012 members as of this post, and has been growing very rapidly in the past couple of months due to rising interest among homebrewers trying to find ways to ensure a supply of the hops they want at reasonable prices. If interested, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grow-Hops
Cheers.
Bill Velek