Just a heads-up, the farms will be digging up rhizomes toward the end of next month and that means new planting will soon follow. Good luck to all with this wonderful obsession....

Awesome to hear....

Hopefully we don't end up with snow in June here...
It's happened...LOL

WA, any aerial pics of the farms for the year yet?

Also what do you see when flying over in the off season... do they just let weeds come in or is there another crop that gets planted out there?

No pics right now but will get some soon.
The fields stay clean during the winter. They shut off irrigation a week before harvesting the field so everything dries out and very little weeds.

I'm interested in seeing that ,WA

For thise that are new... WApilot is our resident hop field observer.... He's provided some nice pics in the past.

That's cool, I was thinking of utilizing the space between my mounds for carrots and some other veggies..

Thanks for the update. I am definitly getting excited for my third year Mt. Hoods. They are so hardy. Got really good growth this past year and think I will add some Cascades. Hopefully the Saaz will limp along too. I shouldn't have moved them last year.

WA....

We love you for the HOP News

Did anyone attempt to fold over a bine and bury it to generate rhizomes for this year?

I folded over my cascade and mt hood, hopefully it worked. I have several people looking for rhizomes so I think sharing is in order...

Sorry for the delay. Been away doing some training for work.

Poop-
I'm just trying to spread the obsession
As soon as I have some pics, I'll post.

j-
I take my early cuttings and place the ends in water and they shoot roots. A little dirt and some food and they start going. Bend over to snap a bine and put the hop juice in your mouth, instant cotton-mouth. Absolutely insance experience.

I am hoping to get some hops sewn this year. I just need a spot.

Right on, thanks for the update.

i buried the bine of my cascade last fall but won't know if it worked until this f-ing snow goes away,mid march i'm hoping

It will be the third season for my mt hood hops, 2nd year for the cascade and centennial. I'm thinking of planting either Amarillo or Columbus.

This will be my first year planting and growing Hops.

Question? > What kind of Yield has everybody been getting from your hop plants.

Some have reported several #'s once established a couple years. First year is usually barely enough for a batch...

My bines are now going into year 2. Last year I got ~.85 Oz Cascade and ~3 Oz Mt Hood. Both have already broken ground this year... Should be plenty bountiful this year..

Okay...so to highjack this thread.... I'm thinking about starting rhizomes in a pot this year, so that I can scope out the best location for them and then transplanting them into the ground next year. Has anyone tried this approach? If so, was it successful?

My pops started growing hops 2 years ago, and I'm looking to expand the operation. I'm thinking about planting 1-2 dozen rhizomes in the spring. any growers in Wisconsin with advice about what will totlerate the weather best? I'd like to plant Cascade, Willamettte, Northern Brewer and some cuttings from wild hops vines that grow in the forest near my house.

Besides the weather, my other concern is constructing a trellis. I'm thinking that six 12 foot 4x4's sunk two feet deep and spaced about 5 feet apart with hooks sunk in at the top to accommodate removable crosspieces that will have strings tied up top, trailing down to the ground. hopefully this would make it easier to harvest, eliminating any need for a ladder. If anyone's tried anything similar I'd be interested to know about your results.

Uli B-
I've potted 1st year before and transplanted the next. Results were good but not as good as straight to earth the 1st year, but it still works. I understand about finding the right spot.

Brewman-
Where did you find the Amarillo rhizomes?

I've had great yields with 1st year plants. Each hill produced 1-2lbs dry. The seasons after that only increased to 3-4lbs each. I definatly see larger cones as the plants mature.

evenchunkiermonkey-
If you find a way of harvesting w/o a ladder, you're rolling down easy street. We didn't have a ladder at our first house until I planted hops.

WA pilot - thanks for the info. I put 3 Cascades in pots tonight. We'll see what happens. My brother-in-law hooked me up.

Three Cascades, how big is the pot? I made cedar boxes as pots incorporating a false bottom, 14"X14" with four rhizomes(they too were Cascades) and the next season it was pretty root bound. They are now sitting in earth and enjoying it.

WA pilot - It's three rhizomes in 3 separate pots - maximum flexibility in the location selection. They are probably about 5 gallon pots. I just want to see if I can get them started here in South Carolina. Probably need a year to talk my wife into a trellis setup in the front/side yard. Stay tuned!

One per pot, you're all good. Mine have 4-5 per pot and got cramped.

My 2nd year Cascades are already shooting out of the ground and are about 3 inches tall. Crazy. Still no sprouts from my Sterling or Goldings.

Vince - yeah, these Cascade cuttings had the white shoots coming out already. I was surprised since they were dug up about a week ago.

I just dug up my Chinook rhizomes and cut them back. I should've done this last year, at least! They went crazy last year, and I harvested several pounds of fresh hops (I'll have to check my notebook to see what the dry weight was). At any rate, if anyone is interested, I have several yards' worth of hop rhizomes that can be divided into 3-4" sections for planting. When I first planted them 4 years ago, they gave about 2oz the first year, and have just exploded ever since. I know Chinooks have a rep for tasting "grassy" but I can't say I have noticed that.

Anyway, drop me a line and I'd be happy to share some with you as long as they last! (Seattle area)

... I'm interested.

I'm sure if your willing to do the work others would like to join in... are you willing to do the shipping for them or are you looking for local pickup..?

I'd certainly prefer a local pickup. I'm willing to ship out a few, but I really do have to put a limit on it.

A warm winter due to El Nino means that my hops have sprouted already. About a month ahead of time.

Just to put this out there, I have Hallertauer and Cascade rhizomes that need trimmed this year. I won't be able to get in there until all the snow melts and I'm not sure how much I will be able to cut off but if anyone wants to trade or just wants one, shoot me an email and when I get out there I'll send you some.

As I said, I don't know how much I will get so it will have to be first come, first served. My email is in my profile.

Thinking about ordering 12-24 rhizomes from freshops.com (who seem to be already cutting and shipping), any customer reviews would be appreciated regarding quality and timeliness. Probably will build a trellis next week while I'm tapping for syrup. I've kind of described what i have planned out in an above post, but if youse guys have any advice I'd love it.

12-24 rhizomes, do you know how many hops that will produce? One rhizome on it's second year will produce 2-5 pounds if it is well taken care of. I have 6 planted now and I have trouble keeping up with them. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

I use Freshops to buy hops often and I've always had a good experience with them. I have never ordered rhizomes but I am sure the service is the same.

Thinking of growing my own this spring. How do you find out the AA% of your crop or is it trial and error? Do you just use the "Typical" AA for the hop variety?

You only use them for Aroma unless your feeling brave.

It cost's Thousands of Dollars to have them Analyzed.

I don't know about "Thousands of Dollars.."

http://www.rockhoppersbrewclub.com/forum/attention-fellow-hop-growers-get-your-hops-tested-aa-here




I don't grow hops and can't vouch for this site, but I'm sure someone has tried...I just don't think it's worth the trouble...Just use for flavor and aroma

That's a new one on me ,Robert

Now the secret is out

Check out this Thread:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.crafts.brewing/browse_thread/thread/45b59b268717df1/46600d8024d2df56?hl=en&lnk=st&q&pli=1

These guys are working it out for themselves

SWMBO is really into gardening. They do a lot of seed, graft, root swaps. She got some unknown hop rhizome in the mail in a swap.

It gets planted soon.

Not expecting much but we will see.

lupo, that's the point, plenty for me, my brothers, my dad and a bunch left over to sell/trade at LHBS. If there's too much for that, who knows how much I may feel like shipping out free. We ran out of last years crop about 3-4 months ago and I'd like to not pay $2 an ounce for something that I can grow myself, and with my chest freezer and a vacuum sealer, store myself But then again I belong to the "go big or go home" school of thought.

glad to hear that you've had positive experience with them, makes it easier to order without the nagging itch of buyers remorse.