Grow My Own Hops?

Thinking about growing my own hops but don’t know where to get seeds or plants. Don’t even know what styles are available, if any. Does anyone know where I should first go to get started in growing hops in the backyard? I know they need about 20 feet of trailing rope or climbing wire. But, I’m going to give it a try up the south side of my house. Just need to know of a good place to learn more about the subject. Thanks.

Oh, just found a good thread on the subject.

Here
http://www.crannogales.com/HopsManual.pdf
is a quick little read.

Whatever you end up doing here is my totally limited advice:

1st year let anything that will grow, grow. Don’t cut anything back.

2nd year let only the 3 strongest bines per rhizome/plant grow and cut everything else back.

I’ve only been growing hops for 2 years and have found that although the majority of my hops have grown like wildfire and produced an abundance of hops, I didn’t cut anything back BOTH years. I feel as though (from looking at others pictures and threads) that if I’d only let 3 vines/bines grow this past second year, I’d have ended up with a better hop product.

Did I get a shiteload of hops from my second year ‘let everything grow’ bines? Yes I did.
Did I get the best lupilin productions and the best hops from those bines? NO

I’ve brewed 4 or 5 batches with my own homegrown hops and it’s left me wondering why I have a green/grassy flavor to the beer. It eventually goes away, but I believe that it stems from the plants putting too much effort into making more vines/bines versus into the hop product.

Just my 2 cents. Enjoy growing your own hops. It, like gardening, is a wonderous adventure that puts a smile on my face. I just layed about a foot of leaves on top of my vegetable garden today. I’m already scheming and planning my next year garden and hop production.

Chris/SolomonsCommune

Edited to add: Baratone, have you put your garden to bed for the winter yet? I’ve still got some kale and some turnips and some Broccoli plants (that didn’t produce/planted late) still going, the rest is covered in leaves.

Thanks, Barratone. That looks like a great read. Will print it out and read it tonight.

Appreciate the advice, SomCom. I’ll give that a try when I plant next year.

Do it! Plant, plant, plant. :smiley:
Hops were the best thing I ever planted(pretty much the only thing) and I enjoy them tons every year. It is addicting, just warning ya.
I went from a few hills(plants) to currently 41. I can hoppily say that I’ve not had to buy hops for 4 years.
If you grow them, water is a huge thing during the hot summer days and they love to grow vertically(18+ feet) so give em plenty of room.
You’ll find tons of info out there and enjoy.

Nope. Still have plenty of turnips left in about half of my garden. Have been harvesting them for several weeks now and probably still have a week or two of harvest left. Everything thing else is ready for winter.

I have a bunch of hops plants about 4 years old, and between the pests (aphids, mites) and disease/fungus, I haven’t really gotten a good harvest. It is an interesting conversation piece but for me, the pound or two of sub-par hops I get each year are not worth all the effort if I think of it as a crop. So, I think of it as ornamental! :cheers:

[quote=“Central WA Brewing”]Do it! Plant, plant, plant. :smiley:
Hops were the best thing I ever planted(pretty much the only thing) and I enjoy them tons every year. It is addicting, just warning ya.
I went from a few hills(plants) to currently 41. I can hoppily say that I’ve not had to buy hops for 4 years.
If you grow them, water is a huge thing during the hot summer days and they love to grow vertically(18+ feet) so give em plenty of room.
You’ll find tons of info out there and enjoy.[/quote]
What do you use to provide growing support? I’m having a hard time justifying putting up tall poles for mine. I guess I just start out with a few rhizomes next to the sunny side of my house. It’s about 15 - 20 feet high and I can connect eye-hooks to rund the strings. Advice?

[quote=“Baratone Brewer”]Here
http://www.crannogales.com/HopsManual.pdf
is a quick little read.[/quote]
Excellent, very informative read on the subject. My mind is now officially blown and I haven’t even drank a single brew today!

[quote=“monk-e-business”]
What do you use to provide growing support? I’m having a hard time justifying putting up tall poles for mine. I guess I just start out with a few rhizomes next to the sunny side of my house. It’s about 15 - 20 feet high and I can connect eye-hooks to rund the strings. Advice?[/quote]

That’s the perfect place for them. Here’s a picture of my shed with second year cascades on left and a magnum bine that always lags behind for some reason. This is in June of this past spring/summer. They love the sun!

Also, when you dig your holes to plant, make sure you dig a decent size hole, amend the soil (with compost if possible) and don’t plant them too deep! 1 to 2 inches for my plants for depth. I had a friend who planted 4 to 6 inches deep and he lost half of his rhizomes. The others we had to dig up and replant them.

The bigger you make your hole and more soil work you do, the better IMO. Helps with watering. You don’t want your water to run off as your watering.

Have fun!

edited to add: I used fence style garden stakes in the ground behind the rhizome, then ran coir wire up to an eyelet on the fascia/overhang of the shed. It’s about 18 or 19 ft.

[quote=“SolomonsCommune”][quote=“monk-e-business”]
What do you use to provide growing support? I’m having a hard time justifying putting up tall poles for mine. I guess I just start out with a few rhizomes next to the sunny side of my house. It’s about 15 - 20 feet high and I can connect eye-hooks to rund the strings. Advice?[/quote]

That’s the perfect place for them. Here’s a picture of my shed with second year cascades on left and a magnum bine that always lags behind for some reason. This is in June of this past spring/summer. They love the sun!

Also, when you dig your holes to plant, make sure you dig a decent size hole, amend the soil (with compost if possible) and don’t plant them too deep! 1 to 2 inches for my plants for depth. I had a friend who planted 4 to 6 inches deep and he lost half of his rhizomes. The others we had to dig up and replant them.

The bigger you make your hole and more soil work you do, the better IMO. Helps with watering. You don’t want your water to run off as your watering.

Have fun!

edited to add: I used fence style garden stakes in the ground behind the rhizome, then ran coir wire up to an eyelet on the fascia/overhang of the shed. It’s about 18 or 19 ft.[/quote]
Thanks so much! That’s good advice. Where would your recommend I purchase my rhizomes? And, what would be a good style to start with. I like Belgian Tripels, and regular European pilsner beers.

Freshops

is a good source.

Thanks, BB. I’ve looked over their site. Got some really good information and products over there.

Do it. My best IPA ever was just brewed with completely homegrown Chinook and Cascade hops.

See if you can find anyone in your region to tell you what varieties might do well down there. I’ve got 13 varieties as my own little field trial and not all are doing well at 4 years in. I’m in Vermont which should be a good latitude for hops. For my yard, the classic American varieties seem to do best: Cascade, Chinook, Centennial. Mt. Hood and an old variety called Saxon are also coming along. Tettnang, Goldings, Perle, and Willamette are unimpressive and may eventually get pulled.

Please post results for your region if you can- I’d want to know variety, age, and yield (oz. dry per hill) to compare.
Have fun!

[quote=“chinaski”]Do it. My best IPA ever was just brewed with completely homegrown Chinook and Cascade hops.

See if you can find anyone in your region to tell you what varieties might do well down there. I’ve got 13 varieties as my own little field trial and not all are doing well at 4 years in. I’m in Vermont which should be a good latitude for hops. For my yard, the classic American varieties seem to do best: Cascade, Chinook, Centennial. Mt. Hood and an old variety called Saxon are also coming along. Tettnang, Goldings, Perle, and Willamette are unimpressive and may eventually get pulled.

Please post results for your region if you can- I’d want to know variety, age, and yield (oz. dry per hill) to compare.
Have fun![/quote]
Appreciate that. I’m gathering as much info as I can about the right ones for my area in North Carolina (Zone 7). I’ll keep this string updated. I figured hops needed more sun than is possible in Vermont. Do you get that much sun in the summer?

For the most part New England is snowy and clowdy year round. Except for mass.
:wink:

I am sorry, but that question made me bust out laughing. You have been out of NC, right Monk? :wink: Vermont has probably got more sun than Oregon or Washington state in the Pacific NW where much of our hop supply comes from.

I am sorry, but that question made me bust out laughing. You have been out of NC, right Monk? :wink: Vermont has probably got more sun than Oregon or Washington state in the Pacific NW where much of our hop supply comes from.[/quote]
Actually, come to think of it, when I was living in the Netherlands, we got a load of sun in the Summer. I’m guessing Vermont is at about the same latitude. Been back in NC for too long now!