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Can't grow hops in Florida Eh?

Northern Brewer General
#1

I posted this in the hop forum, but figured some of you might get a kick out of seeing hops growing where they’re not supposed to. These are first year Cascades going to town in South Florida. Everything thing I read, and every one I talked to said don’t do it, they won’t grow there. At any rate, they are 15 feet long, I’m already harvesting my first cones tomorrow, and hundreds more are sprouting out and should be ready for a huge harvest in about a month… Wooo Hooooo!!!

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#2

Wow! Thats great.They look nice and healthy.Please keep us posted as to the results of brewing using them. Please feel free to let us in on how you did it. Growing hops, now thats cool!
Good luck with them…

Gobrewyourself

#3

[quote=“gobrewyourself”]Wow! Thats great.They look nice and healthy.Please keep us posted as to the results of brewing using them. Please feel free to let us in on how you did it. Growing hops, now thats cool!
Good luck with them…

Gobrewyourself[/quote]

Will do! I’m going to brew a single hop Cascade IPA first. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Probably still going to use pellets for the bittering addition, but the flavor, aroma, and dry hops will all be my home grown stuff. I shall keep you posted!

#4

I live in Pensacola and have also started growing hops. The cascades are doing fine and are about 5 feet long. The chinook, however, did not make it. Good to know we can grow them. The love bugs ate a couple of leaves though, but I sprayed some organic bug stuff on em’. :cheers:

#5

I was wondering if there is a season to growing…that is best time to plant,harvest etc…for fla.How long before usable hops ?
Thanks…
& Gobrewyourself

#6

My Cascades are definitely doing better than my Kent Goldings. Cascades are at 15 feet with a TON of burrs as you’ve seen in the pictures. The Goldings are about 7 feet and growing nicely, but no burrs as yet. My biggest problem has been those damned June Bug Beetles. I finally eradicated them though :smiley:

#7

[quote=“gobrewyourself”]I was wondering if there is a season to growing…that is best time to plant,harvest etc…for fla.How long before usable hops ?
Thanks…
& Gobrewyourself[/quote]

Well, I planted my hops in late March, and the Cascades are about 15 feet long with a TON of burrs emerging, which means they will probably be ready to harvest in a month at most. My Kent Goldings are about 7 feet tall, with no sign of burrs as yet.

At any rate, if I had it to do over again, I would have planted them earlier, but you can’t buy rhizomes until March which is why I planted them late. Next year, my hops will already have been established, so no need to buy any rhizomes, and they will pop back out when they think it is right. I am guessing that will probably be February. I think hops get really confused down here when you plant new ones, so we’ll see if a seasoned veteran hop plant down here figures out what is best on it’s own. We shall see!

#8

I’ve tried growing hops in Orlando. I planted 4 varieties. The first year, the cascades did well. Hallertau grew for a while then stopped. The other 2 did nothing.

The second year, cascades did well again, but the hallertau died. Third year, the cascades started, but then died before I harvested anything. I tried to revive in year 4 but didn’t have any luck. Hopefully, you’ll have better luck than me.

#9

[quote=“sl8w”]I’ve tried growing hops in Orlando. I planted 4 varieties. The first year, the cascades did well. Hallertau grew for a while then stopped. The other 2 did nothing.

The second year, cascades did well again, but the hallertau died. Third year, the cascades started, but then died before I harvested anything. I tried to revive in year 4 but didn’t have any luck. Hopefully, you’ll have better luck than me.[/quote]

I was wondering if that might happen to mine as well eventually. I figured one of two things will happen. They will either adapt to the strange new climate eventually, or they will just give up after a few seasons of trying and die. I know it definitely get’s a lot hotter in Orlando than it does here in Palm Beach Gardens, so maybe being a little closer to the ocean will help. Only one way to find out!!!

#10

Well done! I grew some down here (key largo) last spring and had similar results. I grew mine out of big pots, not the ground, though, so I’m sure you’re will grow much better! Very curious to see how they do in beer.

#11

btw, do I detect a Canadian accent in your topic title?

#12

No sir, I am a Florida Native, but we do have a lot of Canadians living down here seasonally, so perhaps that is where I picked that up!

How was your hop yield last year?

#13

I’m a transplant from the great white north! 13 years down here.

Had a decent harvest. Didn’t really use them much, though. They didn’t smell as good as I’d hoped. I don’t know if I harvest too soon, too late, or there was too much dog urine soaked up in them! The vines were really just a good conversation piece. I hope you have luck with yours!

#14

[quote=“CCM”]I’m a transplant from the great white north! 13 years down here.

Had a decent harvest. Didn’t really use them much, though. They didn’t smell as good as I’d hoped. I don’t know if I harvest too soon, too late, or there was too much dog urine soaked up in them! The vines were really just a good conversation piece. I hope you have luck with yours![/quote]

Thanks, I’m giving it my best effort! I caught my girlfriend’s cat out there taking a squat in my hop bed and sprayed it with the hose… LOL

#15

I am doing both. I have both pots and some in the ground. They seem to be growing much faster out of the pots though.

#16

I started all of mine (Goldings and Cascades in pots) then moved them to the ground when they were about a foot tall. I used the same potting mix (miracle gro potting soil) and mixed that about half and half with the natural soil here, which is basically sand, when I planted them. They seemed to like it. I suppose only time will tell.

#17

Yeah, are soil here is mainly sand as well but they are all doing good so I can’t complain. I used moisture control potting mix from Lowes.

#18

Same thing I used, but it was a MiracleGro product from Home Depot… MiracleGro Moisture Control Potting Soil. We definitely don’t have any pooling water problems with the soil we have here in Florida! I think our main issue is keeping moisture IN. The potting soil mixed with our sand definitely seems to be ideal as far taking care of the roots. We’ll just have to see how our healthy plants deal with the heat and humidity when Summer arrives. Florida is BRUTAL during the Summer. But so far, all of my hop burrs seem to be digging the climate and are quite happily growing into cones.

:cheers:

#19

Oh, and by the way Keith,

I’ve always loved that Hemingway quote… I think we’ve all been down that road before. It is a completely accurate observation! LOL

#20

Yeah me too. I see it quite often, seems a lot of people really like it. I’ve also seen it on a few other forum members sig. It’s true though.LOL

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