All my 10 varieties of hops are second years and the rhizomes came from freshhops. They had a tough year last year (had to be moved, got buried in a landslide, knocked down in storms, overwatered…)
They came up strong in early May for me (Northern Virginia) and I’ve got a Galena that’s probably 17 feet x 5 bines, my Cascades and Centennials are 8 feet or so, Chinooks 12, etc.
I’m wondering if the veterans could comment on what I’m seeing, which is a ton of flowering activity. My Galena (no pic) is healthy and stout, but flowering like mad. Hundreds of burrs. Is it confused and giving a fall harvest early or is this just a huge early season output?
My Chinook has already given me the hops you see in my hand. Far fewer cones there, but I hope that isn’t the extent of what I can expect.
Oddest yet is my Perle (top two pics). It’s male. I have read that cascades and centennials can go male due to stress, but this Perle hasn’t had a lot of stress. It’s pretty comparable growthwise to the rest of mine right now, and we had a cool spring, fairly wet in big storms, dry in between, with a few 90 degree days mixed in and some 40s for lows. Variable, but hardly stressful. But I’m not a hop.
Anyone ever seen their plant go male? Do I need to hack it up? Just pull the flowers? Or do you think Freshhops sent me a male by mistake?