Hop Growing in the garden

[chuffer]

I just bought an East Kent Golding from these folks. These are their English hop varieties:

http://essentiallyhops.co.uk/acatalog/English-Hop-Varieties-ENGLISH.html#SID=7

Best plan is to phone them and talk about what they still have left as it is getting rather late in the season now. [email protected] 01227 830666

I ordered my hop by phone and they were helpful. The package arrived two days later.

Cheers

Looking at the advice on that website it suggests planting in winter....with this in mind what are you going to do now with the ones you've just ordered?

 

[Tony1951]

I'm going to plant it. I just planted three First Gold about a month ago and they are now poking above the soil. They were dormant in the cold and have just started to grow as it begins to warm up. Even now it is rather on the cold side for them up here in Newcastle upon Tyne. I had advice from another experienced guy who advocated keeping them dormant until May and planting out then. In the first year all you are going to achieve is to get the plant to establish with a decent root system. There may be a few flowers, but it is in year two that you can expect a crop. So far, my first gold have been VERY slow. The shoots appeared about two weeks ago and have only grown an inch since then. |I now have some tiny leaves. I reckon my EKG will soon catch them up as the temperatures have just started to rise here.

It may work - it may not. Plants are always like that in my experience.

 

[Notlaw]

Could you plant hops in a polytunnel? Would they benefit from the extra warmth?

 

[Bigjas]

I have just been given a Hop plant today from a work colleague. He has no idea what variety of plant it is, but he said it grows really well even though he cuts it right back to the ground every year. I am hopeless at gardening and growing plants, so it will be interesting to see if it survives! Looking at the responses on here, I'll keep it in the pot for a year before planting it and in a couple of years time I might have some crop. By that time I might of got the hang of brewing beer and can use it in my brew.

Jas

 

[chuffer]

I'm going to plant it. I just planted three First Gold about a month ago and they are now poking above the soil. They were dormant in the cold and have just started to grow as it begins to warm up. Even now it is rather on the cold side for them up here in Newcastle upon Tyne. I had advice from another experienced guy who advocated keeping them dormant until May and planting out then. In the first year all you are going to achieve is to get the plant to establish with a decent root system. There may be a few flowers, but it is in year two that you can expect a crop. So far, my first gold have been VERY slow. The shoots appeared about two weeks ago and have only grown an inch since then. |I now have some tiny leaves. I reckon my EKG will soon catch them up as the temperatures have just started to rise here.

It may work - it may not. Plants are always like that in my experience.

Sod it - I've joined you, just ordered a Prima Donna Dwarf:mrgreen:

 

[BeerCat]

Am i correct that you cant grow Hops from a cutting?

 

[jceg316]

@notlaw I would imagine the extra warmth would mean you could grow some higher alpha varieties quite successfully, as long as sufficient light was also getting in. Once the wife and I are settled I want to get a polytunnel and a hop rhizome is going straight in there!

@beercat you can grow from a rhizome cutting which is how hops are split and sold commercially, but you are right in that they can't be grown from a bine cutting. At most planting one of these will provide compost for the bed. Growing a hop from seed can cause the flavours to dramatically change from the plant it was grown from apparently.

 

[Tony1951]

Sod it - I've joined you, just ordered a Prima Donna Dwarf:mrgreen:

Did you do the deed on the website? On the phone they told me they were sold out of Prima Donna (First Gold). Maybe they got some more since, but I only bought mine about five days ago. That's why I ended up with EKG. EKG is a much bigger plant than Prima Donna of course, but they are both great English brewing hops.

 

[Tony1951]

Could you plant hops in a polytunnel? Would they benefit from the extra warmth?

A while ago, I used to shoot rabbits up on a farm in the North Pennines. The place was at 1100 feet above sea level and cold as hell most of the year. Amazingly, they had a poly tunnel with a peach tree in it and it was laden with luscious ripe peaches in July. I once went up there and the woman asked me to take as many as I wanted. The tree was laden and they were dropping off onto the ground. I was gobsmacked that they could get a crop off a warmth loving tree like that up there. Just shows what a bit of plastic poly tunnel can do.

 

[Godfather50]

Planted three rhizomes last year. Got about 10 very small hop flowers Very cold in NW Scotland. This year decided to give them a good start.

 

[chuffer]

Did you do the deed on the website? On the phone they told me they were sold out of Prima Donna (First Gold). Maybe they got some more since, but I only bought mine about five days ago. That's why I ended up with EKG. EKG is a much bigger plant than Prima Donna of course, but they are both great English brewing hops.

Website. All seemed fine....went for the dwarf due to garden space limitations but also after reading about their orange marmalade notes...sounds right up my strasse!

 

[Robin54]

I have just been given a Hop plant today from a work colleague. He has no idea what variety of plant it is, but he said it grows really well even though he cuts it right back to the ground every year. I am hopeless at gardening and growing plants, so it will be interesting to see if it survives! Looking at the responses on here, I'll keep it in the pot for a year before planting it and in a couple of years time I might have some crop. By that time I might of got the hang of brewing beer and can use it in my brew.

Jas

I t may me a garden ornamental variety. I had one which grew like weed and was almost impossible to kill, once it go going!

 

[Bigjas]

I t may me a garden ornamental variety. I had one which grew like weed and was almost impossible to kill, once it go going!

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye on it. Might get a known plant and see how I get in with that, I quite fancy using hops I've grown myself. Can anyone recommend where to get them from?

Thanks

Jas

 

[chuffer]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye on it. Might get a known plant and see how I get in with that, I quite fancy using hops I've grown myself. Can anyone recommend where to get them from?

Thanks

Jas

See earlier posts..

 

[TheRedDarren]

Mine are just poking their heads up.
I had Golden Tassels last year but for me it turned out to be an ornamental variety - some say its ornamental and some say for brewing - so I bought a Prima Donna to go in its place. Looking forward to a harvest brew day and BBQ with some friends all pitching in to help. :-)

 

[Math_thomas]

You guys put so much effort into your hops. When I got mine that I ordered online just before Xmas just gone. I put them in large pots with holes and stone in the bottom added the compost and placed the rhizomes in. They are coming along fine ATM. If any one is thinking about growing hops I say go for it.
Only issue I have had is all my labels Got blown away so have no idea what plant is what. I ordered Cascade, fuggles and challenger. Can any one tell the difference?

 

[Flyerstarter]

I got hold of a young hop plant at the end of 2014 (Whitbread Golding Variety). Last year it didn't do a great deal and only reached about 3ft in height, worried it may be in a poor position or in bad soil I did some research which explained that the first year is mainly root growth to allow the plant to establish itself. This year it is well on its way to be a heck of a plant, nice thick rich green shoots. Will hopefully get some photos up and record its progress this year.

 

[Robin54]

I got hold of a young hop plant at the end of 2014 (Whitbread Golding Variety). Last year it didn't do a great deal and only reached about 3ft in height, worried it may be in a poor position or in bad soil I did some research which explained that the first year is mainly root growth to allow the plant to establish itself. This year it is well on its way to be a heck of a plant, nice thick rich green shoots. Will hopefully get some photos up and record its progress this year.

Don't worry..
Next year you will have a triffid...
remember
Patience is th.........

 

[Tony1951]

You guys put so much effort into your hops. When I got mine that I ordered online just before Xmas just gone. I put them in large pots with holes and stone in the bottom added the compost and placed the rhizomes in. They are coming along fine ATM. If any one is thinking about growing hops I say go for it.
Only issue I have had is all my labels Got blown away so have no idea what plant is what. I ordered Cascade, fuggles and challenger. Can any one tell the difference?

Maybe you'll have to smell the dried flowers. I reckon I could separate Cascade and the other two that way, Not so sure I could distinguish between fuggles and challenger though, but maybe if you had the cones from a pack and compared them you can do it by nose.

 

[Spoon]

With regards to location how much sun do they need?

Our back garden was done out by the previous occupants and although it's big it's full of other plants that can't easily be moved (apple trees, grape vine, fruit bushes, etc). Which only really leaves the back wall of the house (SE facing) over the conservatory (relatively fine) which means growing out of pots and the front garden, which is ideal for growing (currently bare walls, soil borders right upto the walls) but obviously get's less sun.

The idea of constructing a 30ft high frame over the front garden and driveway has already been veto'd and allotments are full for this year. Part of me thinks just grow them in pots this year and get an allotment and build the biggest frame possible next year.