First Year Hop Growers

[johnnyboy1965]

If you have planted rhizomes this spring they should now be well underway.
Now here comes the hard part....you have got to "stop" the leaders. This means cutting the leaders off. You should have 3 maybe 4 good bines, cut off the top 1ft.
"AAAAAHHHHHH WTF is he talking about"
By cutting off these bines the plant things " ****, something has happened and I wont be able to set seed (produce cones, for HBers) so it will use all the stored energy in the rhizome ( not exactly correct, as the plant is now taking all its food from the soil) to send up more and stronger shoots, dont worry you wont kill the plant, you will get a stronger plant.
And here is another pisser...as soon as the plant set flowers (cones) you should remove them and throw them away (new cones dont have any lupus)

No, Im not drunk...if you remove the flowers in the first year, all the energy goes back into the rhizome, so in growing year 2 you will get a bigger and stronger rhizome, so a better harvest
Believe me. HTH

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

I'd love to get into this, but unfortunately our back garden isn't very big and I don't think her indoors would be too impressed either!

 

[Tony1951]

This is a good resource about growing hops on a smallish scale, though to be honest, it's a much bigger scale than I can ever dream of:

http://careyinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Alison_OrganicHopsManual.pdf


I'm a bit bothered about the advice to cut off the growing tips of the plants. The plant makes its energy from its leafy growth. This DOES NOT waste the plant's energy or strength - it makes it. Every scrap of energy in a plant comes from the interaction between the sun and the plant's leaves. Roots suck up water and nutrients and in plants like hops they also store energy at the peak of the season, but ALL of that energy is made in the leaves. The roots grow in response to the overall energy of the plant and in the case of plants like hops with a rhizome, the plant also stores energy there for the next year and for spreading the plant by new rhizome production. See post #7, #8, & #9 of this discussion:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=313868

The less leaves a plant has the less energy it can make. In the first year of your hop plant it needs as many leaves as it can get so that it can grow a good root.

Cheers

 

[TartanSpecial]

yeah..I'd restrict the number of bines to 2 or 3 in the first year but I wouldn't cut them..you want as much growth as possible per Tony's comments.
also a byo article
https://byo.com/hops/item/725-growing-hops

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Google....The Chelsea Chop.

 

[Tony1951]

Google....The Chelsea Chop.

Morning Johnnyboy.

The purpose of 'the Chelsea Chop is to make plants more compact for aesthetic and structural reasons and to delay flowering. When you have just planted a butchered scrap of root like we have in the first year after planting a rhizome, we want that root to grow extensively and to store as much energy for next year as it can. This can only be done by letting the plant throw up stems and leaves which are its energy factories. If you cut these off, or limit them in year one, you will have a less energetic plant in year two when most of us will want flowers.

In year two we are interested in encouraging flower growth and that's why the usual recommendation is to cut back surplus or weaker stalks, but pruning to encourage flowers is not what we are about in the first year.

Anyway - as the old Gershwin song said, 'You say 'tomAters' and I say 'tomARtoes. Let's call the whole thiog off'. :)

 

[GHW]

Pinching out growing tips of plants is a relatively common thing to do for reasons similar to what Johnny states so I can believe it. Though I haven't looked into whether it's true for hops.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

This is a good resource about growing hops on a smallish scale, though to be honest, it's a much bigger scale than I can ever dream of:

http://careyinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Alison_OrganicHopsManual.pdf


I'm a bit bothered about the advice to cut off the growing tips of the plants. The plant makes its energy from its leafy growth. This DOES NOT waste the plant's energy or strength - it makes it. Every scrap of energy in a plant comes from the interaction between the sun and the plant's leaves. Roots suck up water and nutrients and in plants like hops they also store energy at the peak of the season, but ALL of that energy is made in the leaves. The roots grow in response to the overall energy of the plant and in the case of plants like hops with a rhizome, the plant also stores energy there for the next year and for spreading the plant by new rhizome production. See post #7, #8, & #9 of this discussion:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=313868

The less leaves a plant has the less energy it can make. In the first year of your hop plant it needs as many leaves as it can get so that it can grow a good root.

Cheers

By pinchng out the growing tip, you will get a "bushier" plant, same ammount of leaves only more managable. As you know, it is nearly impossible to grow a hop plant in a average garden. When you pinch out the growing tip, two more stems come from the axis of the next node down.
Im also a firm believer in the fact that you shouldnt plant your newly purchased rhizome straight into the groung, youve got too much to loose. They should be planted in a builders bucket (99p from BandQ).
The reason for this is that you can control the conditions better.
Why would you spend £15.00 on a rhizome and just hope it likes your garden, you wouldnt do it with any other plant.
I know its a bit too late in the season for telling everyone "How to Grow Hops" but this is for future reference.

Planting your rhizome straight outside, in its growing position.....dig a big whole ....2ft x 2ft x 2ft...I know its a big whole for a small rhizome, but its going to be there for a long time. Fill the bottom 6 inches with 10mm gravel. Mix the soil with well rotted manure and GP compost and horticultral grit...30/30/30/10, a handful of Blood, Fish and Bone wont hurt. Backfill the whole and plant the rhizome about 4 inches deep. Now soak it, but dont water it again until you see shoots emerging.

My prefered method of planting a rhizome is in a big black bucket. The reason for this is that you have more control over the conditions.
Take 1 builders bucket and drill lots of drainage holes. Fill the bottom with 3 inches of broken polysteyrine. Fill the bucket with a mix of John Innes No3, well rotted manure, and horticultral grit. Plant the rhizome 4 inches deep and water carefully (1/2 gl).
Place in a sheltered well lit position, but not in strong sunlight (ie greenhouse..its too hot). Do not water again until shoots emerge.
Year 1 ....just leave it alone, pick the bucket up..if it feels light then water.
Provide support when needed (a bamboo cane will do).
In late summer, when the cones start to form, cut them off.

Year 2...spring...when the first shoots start to show is the time to plant out.
Lay the bucket on its side and cut the bottom off. Pull away the polystyrene and plant the whole lot, bucket and all.

Growing hop bines is a 3-4 year project, before you get a harvest, sorry but that`s the way its. If you want something to practice with, try growing dahlias from seed. A cheap packet of dahlia seeds (£2.00) some compost and follow the instructions, though not the same plant as a hop, they do produce a rhizome and you will have some nice flowers.

Sorry for the long post but I had a gallon of coffee this afternoon and its my day off tomorrow.
HTH Johnnyboy