Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

[terrym]

Yesterday I picked all of the Prima Donna (First Gold) cones from my two three-year-old plants which are in large pots. The good news is I think I was spot on in terms of picking them at the right time. The not-so-good news is that I only got about 500g of 'wet' hops from the two plants, which is unlikely to yield the 200g of dried hops I got last year. As this was the third year for these hops I reckon I should have got a dry yield of about 250g plus of dry hops, but I will not get that. Anyway the hops are now being dried off, since I decided against a green hop beer.
This year I invested a lot of time and effort watering and tending the plants, and drying will take up a lot of effort too to get it right. But if the yield is as low as 100g all that effort has to be balanced against a packet of First Gold hop pellets with known %AA and quality which I can buy from CML for £4.25 for a click of a button and takes up next to no room in the freezer.
I have a feeling that both plants may have vermicillium wilt which affects hops as well as other plants, since I lost a lot of low down leaves over the late spring and summer, and if that is the case that may explain the decreased yield.
I am not a person to give up easily and will put effort into projects if its worthwhile , but all this points to one last attempt to grow hops from these plants next year and if it is as bad as this year or worse I shan't bother again. If the plants are infected with wilt they may well be doomed anyway.
So if anyone is considering growing hops be warned, there is no guarantee of success and you may be disappointed.

 

[jMac]

Yesterday I picked all of the Prima Donna (First Gold) cones from my two three-year-old plants which are in large pots. The good news is I think I was spot on in terms of picking them at the right time. The not-so-good news is that I only got about 500g of 'wet' hops from the two plants, which is unlikely to yield the 200g of dried hops I got last year. As this was the third year for these hops I reckon I should have got a dry yield of about 250g plus of dry hops, but I will not get that. Anyway the hops are now being dried off, since I decided against a green hop beer.
This year I invested a lot of time and effort watering and tending the plants, and drying will take up a lot of effort too to get it right. But if the yield is as low as 100g all that effort has to be balanced against a packet of First Gold hop pellets with known %AA and quality which I can buy from CML for £4.25 for a click of a button and takes up next to no room in the freezer.
I have a feeling that both plants may have vermicillium wilt which affects hops as well as other plants, since I lost a lot of low down leaves over the late spring and summer, and if that is the case that may explain the decreased yield.
I am not a person to give up easily and will put effort into projects if its worthwhile , but all this points to one last attempt to grow hops from these plants next year and if it is as bad as this year or worse I shan't bother again. If the plants are infected with wilt they may well be doomed anyway.
So if anyone is considering growing hops be warned, there is no guarantee of success and you may be disappointed.

Will be picking my EKG tomorrow. They were close to ready the end of last week, but have been away the weekend so hope they’re still ok .

I agree that the yield from homegrown hops is not great. I think if you’re growing your own to try and replace even a small portion of your yearly hop needs, you’re always going to be disappointed. I think 100g dry is going to the upper yield from a single mature plant, so if you ever achieve that (as you did last year) you’re doing very well. A yield of 50-75g dry per plant is far more likely. So, unless you’ve got an allotment to give over entirely to hops, growing your own is always going to remain a bit of fun. It’s still quite satisfying to have a single brew each year where you’ve used your own hops.

 

[Cwrw666]

Don't think I'm going to get a crop at all this year (from 6 plants) due to the early start to the season followed by several batterings of 40 to 60mph winds. The cascades had a few cones developing a couple of days ago but it's 50mph out there now - I think they'll be shredded. The prima donna gave up weeks ago - looks like it already thinks it's autumn.

Hops picked and dried - all I got was 60g of cascade, enough for flameout hops for 2 brews. What a bummer!

 

[Oneflewover]

Will be picking my EKG tomorrow. They were close to ready the end of last week, but have been away the weekend so hope they’re still ok .

I agree that the yield from homegrown hops is not great. I think if you’re growing your own to try and replace even a small portion of your yearly hop needs, you’re always going to be disappointed. I think 100g dry is going to the upper yield from a single mature plant, so if you ever achieve that (as you did last year) you’re doing very well. A yield of 50-75g dry per plant is far more likely. So, unless you’ve got an allotment to give over entirely to hops, growing your own is always going to remain a bit of fun. It’s still quite satisfying to have a single brew each year where you’ve used your own hops.

This is the way I see it, just a bit of fun / interest

 

[Sandimas]

My Cascade and Styrian Goldings are still out, I wouldn't normally pick them for a good few weeks yet, around mid Sept. Whilst fully formed, they don't yet seem to have much aroma when rolled between your fingers.

I'll keep looking each day, it is a fine art to figure out when to pick. If you've already picked yours, are they early or do you usually pick them in late Aug?

 

[jMac]

I'll keep looking each day, it is a fine art to figure out when to pick. If you've already picked yours, are they early or do you usually pick them in late Aug?

Mine are definitely a few weeks earlier than last year. I think it’s the early start to summer during lockdown and the recent more autumnal weather. I have to keep telling myself it’s still August!

As I said earlier, it’s looking like a good crop this year as well - am hoping fir that elusive 100g dry . Been an easy growing year as well, not had to do much except select shoots and train them. I did have a couple of weeks of aphid infection, but daily soap spray seemed to hold that back until the ladybird nymphs arrived.

 

[terrym]

My Cascade and Styrian Goldings are still out, I wouldn't normally pick them for a good few weeks yet, around mid Sept. Whilst fully formed, they don't yet seem to have much aroma when rolled between your fingers.

I'll keep looking each day, it is a fine art to figure out when to pick. If you've already picked yours, are they early or do you usually pick them in late Aug?

I picked mine a few days later last year, but certainly no more than a week.
As with all things gardening you also have to factor in where you are as well. Years ago when I used to visit the Midlands regularly in the spring to visit family, it was noticeable how much further behind all the plants and trees were in term of their development compared to the South East, at least a couple of weeks.

 

[Dutto]

My Prima Donna is still in France fending for itself!

Plan "B", after numerous failures, is to visit it at the end of this month and see if a year of "leave it completely alone" has improved production over the single hop flower that it produced in September 2019! Here's hoping!

If you know what you are looking for, the flower is visible in the photograph!

Or maybe in this one???

 

[Henders]

I picked mine a few days later last year, but certainly no more than a week.
As with all things gardening you also have to factor in where you are as well. Years ago when I used to visit the Midlands regularly in the spring to visit family, it was noticeable how much further behind all the plants and trees were in term of their development compared to the South East, at least a couple of weeks.

Last year I picked wild hops on the 5th September, and my first year of Prima Dona and... the other one I forget, a couple of days later. But first years are as first years do!

This year my prima dona has performed worse than its first year, probably due to the pot being too small and perhaps I should have fed it things. Am looking at maybe 10g dry at best in maybe another week, though a few cones look and feel ready. The other one has performed even worse.

I'll go for a walk shortly and see if the wild ones are ready. I'll try and do a smell comparison this time and maybe tea!

 

[Henders]

Well! One colony of wild hops was past its best and the entire cones had gone brown. Managed to get a 3rd of a generic 'large' of the zip lock bag full. Second colony was spot on ready I think, got two full bags! My dehydrator is now full :).

 

[craft_ales_project]

Just wondering, I've never grown hops before this year, I planted progress, Hersbrucker & East Kent back in March on my allotment, the hops are looking ready, but have no hop aroma when crushed, so is this abnormal? I expected them to smell like dried hops, but have never seen green hops before, so can't judge for myself. Any ides?

 

[jMac]

That’s the first 300g picked. I actually think I’m a few days early, so still have a similar amount left on the plant to pick at the end of the week. That’s about half a 10L bucket worth (which will make about 60g dry). Should achieve my 100g from my single Goldings plant this year.

And here they are in the eaves of the garage to dry:

 

[terrym]

The 500g of ripe Prima Donna (First Gold) hops I picked two days ago have produced about 140g of dry hops, which is slightly more than I anticipated. I weigh the hops from time to time as I dry them, and when they get to the stage where the weight loss is more or less negligible that's when I call it a day as far as drying is concerned.

 

[AXW123]

Just wondering, I've never grown hops before this year, I planted progress, Hersbrucker & East Kent back in March on my allotment, the hops are looking ready, but have no hop aroma when crushed, so is this abnormal? I expected them to smell like dried hops, but have never seen green hops before, so can't judge for myself. Any ides?

My understanding is that it can take up to three years maturing until the full concentration of hop aroma/ oils are achieved.

 

[Henders]

Ah I didn't know that!

 

[jMac]

Just wondering, I've never grown hops before this year, I planted progress, Hersbrucker & East Kent back in March on my allotment, the hops are looking ready, but have no hop aroma when crushed, so is this abnormal? I expected them to smell like dried hops, but have never seen green hops before, so can't judge for myself. Any ides?

They’re possibly not ready yet. They won’t smell as strong wet, but there should definitely be a hoppiness left on your fingers when you roll a ripe cone between them. Are they papery and dry feeling and do they break easily when rolled? Try and look for some lupulin in the centre of the cone - should be a yellow powder where the cone petals join the stem. That should be the source of the scent.

 

[AXW123]

My first year growing hops trying to decide if they are ready to harvest they’ve got a very small amount of brown on them, they crackle to the ear, but do not pull away readily from the bine. They smell fantastic. Any views on whether they are ready?

 

[jMac]

My first year growing hops trying to decide if they are ready to harvest they’ve got a very small amount of brown on them, they crackle to the ear, but do not pull away readily from the bine. They smell fantastic. Any views on whether they are ready?View attachment 31873View attachment 31875

IMO you’re a few days to a week off them being fully ripe - they still look quite wet and green. At least some of the petals should be a bit more papery.

 

[craft_ales_project]

They’re possibly not ready yet. They won’t smell as strong wet, but there should definitely be a hoppiness left on your fingers when you roll a ripe cone between them. Are they papery and dry feeling and do they break easily when rolled? Try and look for some lupulin in the centre of the cone - should be a yellow powder where the cone petals join the stem. That should be the source of the scent.

Thanks, They aren't papery as such, probably too early I would surmise. A few on the East Kent are turning brown but the rest are a healthy green similar to the pictures in this thread. I'll give them some more time! I did read up on hop growing at the time, the theory as I understand it is that the plant spends its first year laying down roots that can go down up to 3m! If the experiment is a success, I'll take stem cuttings and plant a few more rows! I l o v e hops!!

 

[SamBrewster]

Lots of papery sounds and a few browning so stripped the bines today. Will leave in the shed to dry