Growing Hops??

[Northern Brewer]

you get seeds in with brewing hops when you buy whole hops, anybody tried to grow plants from them? Not sure if the drying process damages them?

 

[evanvine]

Brewing hop seeds are normally infertile.

 

[Northern Brewer]

I knew there would be a catch! I thought it would be just getting viable seeds and selecting a female plant however this is a bit more fundamental! :whistle:

I think I will get a rhizome cutting

 

[evanvine]

I think I will get a rhizome cutting

That is the best way, they always grow true!

 

[Northern Brewer]

Just thinking about buying rhizomes of the following hops, I selected them because they are mildew resistant and its always wet where I live.

Fuggle
Zenith
Redsell's Eastwell

It's still freezing up t'north in the Pennines, less than 5c last night so possibly still OK to plant? I have grown an ornamental hop to hide a shipping container I had while rebuilding the house so I think they should grow up here.

I have the gable end of a barn to grow up, first six foot is stone so I 'll put some kind of trellis for them to grow up, above that there is about 20 foot of yorkshire boarding which I hope they can get purchase on without trellis.

An thoughts before I press the buy button?

Cheers
NB

 

[hedgerow pete]

just out of intrest what do you lot grow your hops up ?

i was going to use a 6 metre tree of cut for now a bit of a very long bean cane !

the standard is i suppose a pair of telegraph poles and a steel wire haweser top with rope droppers, but i have acces to two telegraph poles and steel wire ,

and if i did find them the shoulder wont carry a 250 kg pole anymore :shock: :shock:

i do have a son but his shoulders are no way near my size, he needs a few RSJ sandwiches

i was thinking of a pair of scaffold poles but they will need guide ropes to them,

so what do you guys use

 

[jonewer]

Fuggle and Phoenix are planted in the lawn which is 6 feet below the deck outside the back door. They grow up this and then up the railings. At that point I start to wind them about the railings to make a lovely green wall.

I have an admiral which I am trying to train up four 8 foot bean poles with mixed success - when they get to the top them tend to unwind and slip back down again.

Golding just grows over the picket fence and the moment and is likely to be problematic in the coming years. Its going to start strangling the shrubs! I may have to glyphosate it at some point. :hmm:

 

[Northern Brewer]

My hops have just arrived, I'll be planting them tomorrow. This is what they will eventually grow up, not sure if they will need much support this year. Its a very clay soil so I'm going to put them in a raised bed with lots horse manure.

 

[johnnie]

I may have to glyphosate it at some point. :hmm:

I'm a gardener, never use glyphosate on a plant to kill off unwanted growth. Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide, i.e. spray it on the leaves and it is absorbed and translocated to the rest of the plant including the roots, which in time will kill off the complete plant. You may be lucky and the plant will survive. The best thing to do is cut out the unwanted growth, even though it may be a hassle. Would you want to put hops in a brew with herbicide running through it's veins? :hmm:

 

[jonewer]

I may have to glyphosate it at some point. :hmm:

I'm a gardener, never use glyphosate on a plant to kill off unwanted growth. Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide, i.e. spray it on the leaves and it is absorbed and translocated to the rest of the plant including the roots, which in time will kill off the complete plant. You may be lucky and the plant will survive. The best thing to do is cut out the unwanted growth, even though it may be a hassle. Would you want to put hops in a brew with herbicide running through it's veins? :hmm:

Haha. Thats the whole point. What I'd do is dig out some roots and replant in a better location (I may even guerilla plant some in the woods, cue mission impossible theme tune), then kill off the original as the position is really not suitable.

 

[Mark1964]

If you use roudup biactive it will be plantable in a week as it is bio degradeable and wont stay in the ground.

 

[Northern Brewer]

Roundup is glyphosphate under a different name.
Monsanto say it completely biodegradable so it can be sprayed on crops genetically engineered to be resisitant to it so just killing the weeds.
Problem is that there are suggestions from other tests that glyphosphate is not as biodegradable or safe as suggested. There are loads of links and some pretty scary videos of the town where Monsanto started.

Not sure if the roundup biactive is just another marketing name for glyphosphate or a completely new product

I'm not a ludite but if you can't trust the bio companies to be truthful then I'd rather not have genetically modified food laced with weed killer with a dodgy providence. :sick:

 

[jonewer]

Roundup is Monsanto's proprietary name for glyphosate.

Its almost certainly not quite as innocent as Monsanto make out, but its still a whole lot better than any other herbicide.

Northern Brewer - not to get into a discussion about GM foods here, but you would be surprised at the quantity of herbicides and pesticides you eat everyday.

Most of them are quite natural and far more dangerous than any licensed synthetics on the market today. Dont forget that some of the nastiest and most toxic substances known to man are naturally occurring. Think botulinum toxin, with a lethal does of 1 nanogram per Kg, 4kg of it would wipe out the entire population of the earth!

 

[Muddydisco]

I put down a ton and half of horse sh*t for my hops they taste Great :thumb:

 

[Northern Brewer]

Sorry, GM is a completely different thread, a very long one - don't want to hijack this thread. The relevent bit is that Roundup is not athe lovely cuddly biodegradable product that its made out to be and IMHO should be kept out of the food chain until further independent tests have been made so I would keep it away from ground used for veggies or hops.

There's loads of info out there, you have to sift the wheat from the chaf as most is biased one way or the other - here's one that gives food for thought and is reasonably unbiassed, unlike the US food and drug adminstration who's new senior advisor is an ex- Monsanto lobyist - a process called revolving doors I believe.

Just about to get some horse dung for my hops. Horse probably fed on GM feed but oh hum :shock:

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

My Bramlin cross is growing like topsy in this warm weather. never used Bramlin though

 

[BIGJIM72]

My challengers are going mad as well.I think I can almost see them growing-about 3 inches a day at the moment.

 

[evanvine]

My Bramlin cross is growing like topsy in this warm weather.

Oh!
Goldings - 3.1M
Fuggles - 2.8M
B/Cross - 50mm!!!!

 

[Mark1964]

we had 2 progress plants given they are tiny just growing them on to plant this autumn

 

[hedgerow pete]

well my three are sat in a two tyre high ring covered in horse poo and soil and fed a gallon of water morning and night, they are just starting to grow again with the new roots kicking in, all i am hoping for this year is roots and a small crop for a start, but ready for next years monster crop