Growing Hops??

[jim80]

My fuggles and goldings in year two have formed burrs already, despite the late start.
I took cuttings from both, which are doing well but no burrs on those yet, same with the phoenix, first gold, and challenger I started from rhizomes this year.
The main problem with this hot weather seems to be the pests - I've been hit hard by spider mites and now aphids
I'm more or less resigned to not getting much crop at all this year (I'd hoped for a decent result from last years two, no expectations for the new ones),
hopefully they'll do well enough to get some more roots down and provide a bumper harvest next year though.

 

[screamlead]

Mix a small amount of washing up liquid in water and spray the hops that will sort out the aphids, even better catch loads of ladybirds and put them on the bines they will decimate an aphid infestation :thumb:

 

[jim80]

>decimate an aphid infestation
You need a bit more than a one in ten hit rate on aphids!
I had a sprayer full of the juice of the dry ends of my packets of golden virginia baccy boiled in water with a good shot of washing liquid.
Unfortunately, it had a worse effect on the leaves than the aphids, I may have gone overboard there. No real harm done though, I only tested a small section.
The spider mites are pretty hard, I hit them with some old school chemical that I found at the back of the garage that looked like it came from the sixties and probably did.
It worked. Gave them rapid onset cancer I'd imagine, I only used it on the new plants and I might look up what is was before taking any hops from those.
Very few ladybugs this year, 2 years ago I had hundreds of them everywhere I looked.
Cheers!

 

[DethApostle]

Holy Hop flowers Brewman!

These are Bramling Cross, but there are a few on the Target and the EKG too. I truly didn't expect any at all in year 1!
DA

 

[evanvine]

Your flowers are called "Burrs", the next stage will be the "Cones" and then harvest and drying.

 

[paddone]

I live just down the road from Castle farm in Shoreham, Kent

So Im lucky to have a seasonal supply of fresh fuggles grown by the pros.

http://www.hopshop.co.uk/hops/hops-to-eat-and-drink.php

 

[BIGJIM72]

Thats where my plants came from

 

[paddone]

I drive past most days to work. The lavender there has just been harvested but was looking amazing over the last few weeks. In the summer sun it's like driving through Provence! They have harvested about 1/4 of their hops already. They seem to harvest to order. I'm tempted to buy a bine to decorate the beams in my cottage.

Have you ever been to the hop farm in Paddock Wood? If not it is defiantly worth a visit if you are in the Home Counties.

 

[evanvine]

They have harvested about 1/4 of their hops already.

Mine are still at the Burr stage! :wha:

 

[paddone]

Theirs are all at least 3 metres tall and 1/4 of the rows are bare and wernt a few weeks ago. I assume they have been picked. I don't know why they would have chopped them down otherwise unless they where used for decoration.

 

[JKaranka]

Anybody harvesting yet? Since last week my bine has hop cones on it, they're about 2/3 of an inch long, but Brewer's Gold is meant to be a small sized cone. Should I wait longer or harvest this weekend? Rubbed one and it's hoppy, but not as pungent as dry hops. They're nice, dry and papery, though.

 

[evanvine]

when 1 or 2 show a hint of brown, then is the time to harvest.
A few may be over ripe and a few may be under ripe, but the majority will be on the button.
Normal time for me is 1st or 2nd week of September.

 

[fbsf]

Here's my bramling cross plant, doing well considering its only been in for 7 weeks!

 

[pascal]

Mine (Fuggles and Challenger) here (Ess-ex) are about ready to harvest. Took me by surprise.

 

[StuAlban]

My First Gold hops (planted last winter) are now producing cones. I wasn't expecting too much in the first year but I'm not disappointed with a healthy, but dwarf, plant and and what's looking like a few fresh hops in a couple of weeks time.

 

[jim80]

I've had mixed results so far. My second year fuggles and goldings have grown better than last year, but not all that well and have not grown many hops at all. Their siting and the soil could be better I think.
The three new ones I bought in may this year haven't done anything at all, though I expected that.
What has surprised me are the cuttings I took from the fuggles/goldings in May. I have 5 in wiltshire at my parents place, close to the originals but in a slightly sunnier position. The fuggles have grown well, the goldings smaller, but all have grown about as many hops as their parents.
I took 2 fuggles cuttings back to my flat in London, where we have an abandoned dustbin area at the back, and planted them in 2 old plastic dustbins filled with a mixture of B&Q compost and some horse manure 50/50.
These have grown into bloody monsters, about 20 foot long and still going a couple of feet a week. They will probably break the feeble support I gave them when I thought they might reach 10 feet...
Yet those have not flowered at all as yet, I'm not sure if they will.
I'll see what happens.
I think next year I'll grab the remaining 6 or so old bins in London, get some more cuttings in them and build a trellis, they seem to do well there.

 

[godfrey]

just ordered some first gold plants, looking forward to next year :pray:

 

[Titus A Duxass]

just ordered some first gold plants, looking forward to next year :pray:

Where did you order them from?
I'd love to grow my own hops.

 

[godfrey]

I ordered them on eBay 3 x 1 year old plants for £15

but I believe you have a hop rhizome vendors in Germany

it is still early in the season for buying plants
start looking around October/November the market will be flooded :thumb:

 

[Asalpaws]

I've had a similar experience to Jim80, my cascade and challenger hops that are in pots are doing great but the fuggle and Ahtnum planted in the barren soil of North Wales look very poor this year. T