I too run twine up to the peaks of my roof and also have landscaping structures they grow on creating a beautiful privacy wall for our front yard
Vermont has probably got more sun than Oregon or Washington state in the Pacific NW where much of our hop supply comes from.[/quote]
Don’t kid yourself the PNW gets plenty of sun in the summer which is why so much of the hop supply comes from around here.
The side of my house faces South, so that works. My front porch faces the morning sun to the East. Do you think that would be sufficient for any style of hops? I have the perfect height (about 25 feet) there. But, it’s only going to get morning to noon direct sunlight. But, it does stay around 90 degrees F. here from June to early September.
You can always start some hills there, and then decide next year to move them if the other spot does better. I planted some around my deck this past year that didn’t do too well. A couple I will keep here, but the others must go elsewhere…
[quote=“monk-e-business”][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?[/quote]
We get plenty of sun most of the year- and thanks to the earth’s tilt, get more than you do in the summer. Right now the days are pretty darn short though. Getting dark at 4 pm as I was finishing a batch outside.
So, is it an absolute necessity for them to climb that high?
Or could they be run horizontally on a trellis, ala grapevine style?
I’ll scope out the link, but any knowledge if they will grow well around 7800 ft. elevation?
[quote=“Stealthcruiser”]So, is it an absolute necessity for them to climb that high?
Or could they be run horizontally on a trellis, ala grapevine style?
I’ll scope out the link, but any knowledge if they will grow well around 7800 ft. elevation?[/quote]
Not sure about the elevation issue, but from what I’ve learned, you want your hops to grow vertically, all the way to 20 feet or more. They perform a lot better than trying to grow them on along a fence or other horizontal line. Best.
We have a lot of folks who grow hops around here (4800-6000’ depending on where you are in the valley). Our bines don’t get quite as tall as they would at lower elevations, but they grow just fine. The university has a small plot, mostly Cascades I believe, and the bines never quite reach the top of their trellis… ~20’ or so.
You could try to train them to grow horizontally, but they’re always going to want to climb up given the opportunity. I’ve seen folks plant them in 20+ gallon flower pots & put in an 8’ 2x2 post along the edge. They still use 20-30’ of twine - attach the bottom normally & tie it off at the top of the post. When the bine reaches the end, they untie the twine & re-tie it a couple more feet up. You end up with your hops in a big coil as you move the twine along, but from what I’ve heard it’s not too hard to deal with. The coil likes to collect moisture but it sounds like picking it up & repositioning it is about all you need to do to keep it under control. I’ve never tried that method, but I’ve heard a number of folks using it with good success. Perfect if you have a small apartment/patio as well.
