1st attempt at growing hops

[Robin54]

I stuck a cane (well, a hazel stick) in my pot yesterday as you suggested before, and in 24hrs its already completed a full extra turn around the cane and is already now 30cm up the cane. The 2nd shoot is much more compact & slow growing though.

The way I see it, is that hops need to go through a dormant phase after a hard frost. Thats when you plant out. If you do this indoors, i.e. conservatory, your plants may get a lot of very tender shoots and not hard growth, which is what you need. You wouldn't plant your hanging baskets out now would you?? Me thinks its better to plant outside in a sheltered spot and perhaps covered with some fleece. Ill let u know how mine got on this year

 

[dan125]

The way I see it, is that hops need to go through a dormant phase after a hard frost. Thats when you plant out. If you do this indoors, i.e. conservatory, your plants may get a lot of very tender shoots and not hard growth, which is what you need. You wouldn't plant your hanging baskets out now would you?? Me thinks its better to plant outside in a sheltered spot and perhaps covered with some fleece. Ill let u know how mine got on this year

I was hoping that the rhizome has already been through its dormant cold phase before I got it at the end of Jan??
I've only got 2 shoots so far, one of which seems to be racing away, and I I've been putting the pot outside during the day on sunny/mild days to try and harden it up - although I'm not really sure this is the best thing to do. We've had no frosts here in Kent for a couple of weeks or so now, although I know we could still get a cold spell so I thought it would be best to wait it out a while before plating out - do you mean it would be better to plant out now and protect from frost?

 

[Robin54]

I was hoping that the rhizome has already been through its dormant cold phase before I got it at the end of Jan??
I've only got 2 shoots so far, one of which seems to be racing away, and I I've been putting the pot outside during the day on sunny/mild days to try and harden it up - although I'm not really sure this is the best thing to do. We've had no frosts here in Kent for a couple of weeks or so now, although I know we could still get a cold spell so I thought it would be best to wait it out a while before plating out - do you mean it would be better to plant out now and protect from frost?

Thats a good question and I really don't know the answer Dan. Personally Dan I would be inclined to pinch out the growth and and see what happens.:thumb:

 

[Godsdog]

Got a hop plant planted in the ground last year had some hops off it and when it was finished last autumn I cut it back to around 2 feet and covered the ground around it with leaf mulch.now I have 3 new shoots coming through,so do I cut the rest of the old vine right back down to ground level as I don't think they are gonna be of any use this year

 

[Robin54]

Got a hop plant planted in the ground last year had some hops off it and when it was finished last autumn I cut it back to around 2 feet and covered the ground around it with leaf mulch.now I have 3 new shoots coming through,so do I cut the rest of the old vine right back down to ground level as I don't think they are gonna be of any use this year

Mines got 3 shoots just poking through at the mo. I will cut it back if it goes mad in the first year but I think this will be unlikely.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Got a hop plant planted in the ground last year had some hops off it and when it was finished last autumn I cut it back to around 2 feet and covered the ground around it with leaf mulch.now I have 3 new shoots coming through,so do I cut the rest of the old vine right back down to ground level as I don't think they are gonna be of any use this year

Yes, cut all last years growth down to gound level.

 

[MagnusTS]

I was hoping that the rhizome has already been through its dormant cold phase before I got it at the end of Jan??
I've only got 2 shoots so far, one of which seems to be racing away, and I I've been putting the pot outside during the day on sunny/mild days to try and harden it up - although I'm not really sure this is the best thing to do. We've had no frosts here in Kent for a couple of weeks or so now, although I know we could still get a cold spell so I thought it would be best to wait it out a while before plating out - do you mean it would be better to plant out now and protect from frost?

If it's growing then it's probably had its cold dormancy and should be fine. I think you'd be OK leaving your pots outside full time now (once you've hardened). If you have them next to the house you are unlikely to get a hard enough frost to kill the rhizome. They get their growth on from April to June, so maybe best to get them to their final position in the next few weeks if you can.

I put my new rhizomes into pots and left them outside in December. They are only just starting to shoot now, so I am a few weeks behind your indoor hops. I'm going to clear some space on the allotment and plant them out in a couple of weeks. Still wondering how best to train them. Thinking of training them to spiral around some kind of bamboo cane wigwam maybe.

Happy twiddling.

 

[foxbat]

Still wondering how best to train them. Thinking of training them to spiral around some kind of bamboo cane wigwam maybe.

I use a wigwam arrangement to get them started. It works. You'll need to make plans for what you're going to do when they reach the top of the wigwam which they'll do before you know it.

 

[Godsdog]

I use a wigwam arrangement to get them started. It works. You'll need to make plans for what you're going to do when they reach the top of the wigwam which they'll do before you know it.[/QUOTE

I threw a homemade grappling hook over a high tree branch attached to a length of nylon rope and anchored back to ground level,sorted as they have 20 feet to climb and can be lowered back down at harvest time

 

[dan125]

If it's growing then it's probably had its cold dormancy and should be fine. I think you'd be OK leaving your pots outside full time now (once you've hardened). If you have them next to the house you are unlikely to get a hard enough frost to kill the rhizome. They get their growth on from April to June, so maybe best to get them to their final position in the next few weeks if you can.

I put my new rhizomes into pots and left them outside in December. They are only just starting to shoot now, so I am a few weeks behind your indoor hops. I'm going to clear some space on the allotment and plant them out in a couple of weeks. Still wondering how best to train them. Thinking of training them to spiral around some kind of bamboo cane wigwam maybe.

Happy twiddling.

Thanks Magnus - the pot's been outside full time now for a few days as the weathers been pretty good. I'm keeping an eye on the forecast though.
I've still only got the 2 shoots on the plant but they are looking healthy.
I'm planning on sorting out my twine and fixings in the next week or so and plant out at the start of April.
Will you be able to go high enough with a bamboo wigwam?

 

[MagnusTS]

Will you be able to go high enough with a bamboo wigwam?

I had a plan to grow them round and round a wigwam rather than straight up. I thought if they did enough turns they could do maybe 20ft in a spiral up the wigwam. But I'm having second thoughts now, and not really sure what would be best.

I got the spiral wigwam idea from this bloke's hop blog:

http://draftmag.com/how-to-grow-your-own-hops/

Some photos from his blog attached:

By the way, I just read something about "bull shoots" Apparently you can get early vigorous hop shoots that grow really quickly and get really long, but they don't end up with a good yield of hop flowers. Hops folks call these 'bull shoots' and cut the early fast growing shoots off. I'll see if I can find the link...

 

[sdt7618]

Well my four are now starting to poke above ground here in south west Scotland. Not sure how they will go, but nothing ventured.

Have cascade, Saaz, northern brewer and target in the ground.

 

[Honk]

How's everyone's doing? Just one shoot off my EKG so far but it's coming on, a bit smaller but with 3 shoots showing is my Prima Donna growing in a big barrel shaped pot.
Never loaded pictures before but hopefully they will appear.

 

[dan125]

How's everyone's doing?

Well, the growth on mine has slowed down since being outside full time



But I got some twine up today - not easy to see in the pic sorry - well impressed with the coir twine I bought from the master ropemaker at £5 for 50m its much thicker than I thought it'd be - I'm thinking of planting out next weekend or maybe the weekend after???




:

 

[Honk]

They are doing well, looks like mine have some catching up to do.

 

[MagnusTS]

My English varieties (Challenger and Prima Donna) are looking quite strong, with 4 or 5 thick shoots, maybe 3" long now. But my American varieties (Nugget and Cascade) are not looking so good: just 1 or 2 spindly little shoots. I'm hoping they'll get going as it warms up a bit.

I think I'll plant them out when they get to about a foot or 2 foot long, so maybe in a few weeks. That'll give me time to rethink my wigwam support.

I didn't realise that hops are very toxic to dogs, apparently they can cause a lethal rise in body temperature. I'm not sure how likely dogs would be to eat raw hops off the vine, but spent hops are also toxic and dogs have died after eating sugary spent hops from compost heaps. My labrador is a little dim and he eats anything, so I'm going to make sure I keep him well away from my hops.

 

[Fil]

double check but you may find it beneficial to cut back all but 3 shoots off each root.

And dont be disheartened by those plants that seem to be lagging behind it usually takes 3 years for hops to fully establish themselves.. have patience and dont over water

 

[Godsdog]

double check but you may find it beneficial to cut back all but 3 shoots off each root.

And dont be disheartened by those plants that seem to be lagging behind it usually takes 3 years for hops to fully establish themselves.. have patience and dont over water

4 for me,so two apiece can climb the two twines:whistle: