Hey, didn’t we have a sub-forum for growing hops before??
Anyone seeing shoots yet? I haven’t seen anything on my plants yet, which is kind of surprising considering the mild winter. However, I have about 60 of these little guys here:
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Pssstttt… Careful, the DEA may be monitoring the forum.
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I mounded up a little compost on mine last weekend. I’m expecting the first shoots to come up any day… it has been a bit dry.
And if anybody doubts their ability to grow hops, I’m a terrible gardener. I’ve never successfully started a tomato from seed, and I got four usable radishes last year out of all my raised beds, but hops are essentially virulent weeds that take care of themselves in spite of my black, dank thumb.
I noticed shoots last weekend, so I plopped a mound of compost of them.
HEY, there are from the same family too!! I sent my hops away to a fella whom has alot of sun… We’ve 100’ tall trees around, so mine didn’t do so well, poor little hops… Oh yeah, them deer like the taste of the leaves too! Sneezles61
I was hoping to pick up some new rhizomes from my LHBS this afternoon but they weren’t in stock yet. Still preorder at the moment. Figured it was getting nice out I could plant a couple already. Had a late start last year. Rushed it and my location wasn’t the best. Magnum grew well but my Cascade did poorly. One rotted and the other grew about 4 feet. Looking to plant Cascade and Centennial this year something I could actually use for aroma additions.
I’ve thought about getting some rhizomes, but I can’t get past the risk to the dog. I know dogs tend to avoid hops unless they’ve been sweetened by the wort, but she’s a 3-yo Labrador, and labs are some of the least discriminating about what they eat.
True story, we all laugh today, but it was nightmare at the time… A couple years ago my sister’s yellow lab pup ate an entire jalapeño that bush her husband was growing. He ate the jalapeños despite there being more edible vegetables growing in the garden. No long-lasting effects to the dog, but the flaming sharts nearly turned her “mud room” into an EPA site.
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My first shoots showed up about a week ago. A couple weeks behind last year, but Spring has been cooler this year.
I still have ice and snow covering mine. Probably won’t see anything break through for another month.
Dang! You must have gotten hit by that late winter storm? In northern michigan, the snow has been gone for weeks.
It’s just been a damn lingering winter. Never too horrible but never warms up for more than a day or two in the 40s. I also tap a few trees and those have been running for a day or two at a time then freeze solid for a week ever since back the last week of January. The maple syrup pros are complaining that this is shaping up to be a sucky year.
Oh well, it all evens out. It has been a good year to do lagers!
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That’s why I tapped my birch trees this year. The maple sap was lousy, so might as well give it a try. Those little suckers give a lot of sap!
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I finally got a chance to get into my hop garden last weekend and saw some shoots on my Cascade. Nothing on the other varieties yet. Now there’s an inch of fresh snow out there. I’ve never seen them freeze when they are still in the shoot stage. Supposed to be 60 and sunny tomorrow. Gonna have to get out there and do some weeding and composting.
I’m still waiting to receive my rhizomes from Home Brew Supply. It’s been an early spring in Iowa. I’m ready to get those things growing!
And they’re off!
I had to trim a few stragglers. I’m trying to give them away to locals on a Facebook group.
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So those are hops from seed? Can you tell male from female (without peeking under the roots ;))?
Yeah, hops from seeds. I found them growing wild while on a hike last fall. I saved some of the largest, most aromatic cones and picked out the seeds. I’m sure they’re a descendant of cluster, but they smelled awesome!
As far as I know, the only way to tell the boys from the girls is to wait for them to flower. But hey, I thought it would be a fun project.
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Do you have to deflower them?
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HEY, none of that talk here!!! Sneezles61
