My wife and I are moving to Kent and we are looking at the area we want to move to. We were driving around many winding country lanes and spotted through the hedgerows a hop farm!
We went to the farm and had a conversation with a friendly lady and asked her advice on growing hops in the garden. This may be obvious for a lot of you, and some of it I did already know, but here's what she said:
Hops need a lot of sun and water, and they will only grow flowers on areas of the bine which receive enough sunlight. So stringing up the bones so they get maximum sunlight will optimise flower growth. It's important as well to only let 3 or 4 bines grow out the rhizome, and all other shoots should be cut back. The cut shoots are edible, cook with a lot of garlic because they are very bitter.
Wind the bine around string/trellis in the direction the plant follows the sun.
This is not a be all-end all guide to grow hops, but interesting to hear what "the professionals" have to say about growing them at home.
She was carrying a huge load of Phoenix ready to sell, stank heavenly.
