Thinking of "Growing your Own"?

Here are some rough notes I have taken over the last year while putting our garden together...

Growing Hops

Cascade grow great everywhere

Plant with early spring Peas
Can withstand a little frost
If planted early, then throw a bit of mulch, leaves, or ground cover to protect from frost

Plant rhizomes immediately after arrival

Up to 6 rhizomes (actually this count is for the nodes) in one hole to make sure one yields
Mound in hills

Roots grow 12’ deep (yes, FEET) and can be very difficult to get rid of if desired. They die back every winter under the ground and then returns in the spring.

Never have standing water at the base

YES to compost

Won’t produce cones under if growth is 5’

Vertical Growth is the best, but Horizontal is ok.

Don’t overcomplicate

Bines (not vines) can climb up string even wire (twine is great) but not a wall.

They grow clockwise

Wrap them 2 times at base and it should continue

MAX Sunlight

15-18 hours is great

some varieties are less tolerable to heat

high bittering = more tolerable
less bittering = less tolerable

2-3 bines per string
6 best bines per plant

cut back the bush @ the soil which will grow @ the base to prevent fungul diseases
prune 2-3’ from the base up the bine

Bines can grow to 1” diam. Thick

We set up a 1000 gallon rain barrel at the base of the barn and would fill it with a descent amount of rainfall in a single day! A sump pump was placed inside and would run constantly with a drip line that carried the rain water to the garden. We spent a day trenching the line and have an automated watering system at a rate of less than? must confirm with literature.

Heavy watering the first year but not to the point of damp soil
No sprinkler (wet foliage)
Use watering can/bucket
Can water hops with spent chiller water

Fungal Disease / Pests
Powdery mildew kills hops (looks like powdered sugar) Can be pruned piece by piece but remove it from the growth site entirely

Spider-mites
Aphids (lady bugs will kill the aphids)

Harvest Time
Too early = really grassy (Green)
Too late = skunky (brown)
Very mature on the top
New Growth on the bottom
2 week window period for picking duration
look for the yellow glands = prime = very pungent , cone drys out and becomes papery drys out a bit. Don’t pick them all…pick some and leave some during the first year to get a feel for what is prime growth. Experiment the first year and be prepared to make mistakes.

“go to your friends garden and squeeze their cones” learn the right feel/touch

Don’t under-dry
Don’t over-dry (yellow glands should still hold together)

At dying season, cut back (they will appear dead at this point) after being cut they will suck back in to the ground and return in the spring.

DRYING
100-140^ f > below 10% moisture to prevent mildew
weigh before and after (try to over dry vs under-dry)
maybe try a few and find a crumbling point.
dry in dark to prevent oxidization (out of sunlight)
about 24 hours at approx. summer weather day with circulating air (garage, with screened frame, and fans)

plant horizontal (it’s the way they were growing naturally)


Don't even think about taking our hops....we have a big Guard Dog!

Before you know it...Hops you will be a baggn!