Chronicle of growing my own.

[John Sand]

Well, the snow just melted off of mine, so I don't expect much yet.

[Ibasterd]

My Cascades look the same as yours Phil. My Mt. Hood have not sprouted yet though. I'm wondering if they will, as they did much worse that the cascades last season. They seem less hardy. I'm hoping that last season (the first) helped establish them and this year I might even get some cones!

[philm00x]

I'm hoping that last season (the first) helped establish them and this year I might even get some cones!

This is my hope as well! I've though about replacing my bamboo stakes and twine with some tomato trellises cut into an open configuration so that they only have one side to grow on and won't block the sun for anything that might grow in the back.

[Ibasterd]

Not sure a tomato trellis will be tall enough. Even though I didn't get any cones last hear, my plants grew to the top of an 8' zig-zag trellis. I'm thinking of ditching my homemade trellises and making a taller teepee like structure out of some 10 or 12' bamboo.

[BlackDuck]

I was at a family reunion last year and saw the most awesome trellis for hops in a neighboring yard. I knocked on the door to the house, but no one was home. I am considering doing this myself. I'll try to explain the best I can.

It was made from two flag poles that were married together with a collar/joint of some sort. I am think the sticker on the pole said 12'. So that would be 24 foot high. And it looked like it was only about 18 to 20 foot high, so that would mean he buried 4 to 6 feet into the ground for stability. My numbers might be off, but you get the gist.

There was a metal collar at the top with 6 eye bolts on it. The collar had a rope/pulley that was strung down to the cleat on the flagpole a couple of feet off the ground, just like it would be with a flag. Each eye bolt had a cable connected to it that ran down on an angle and was secured to wood bases on the ground. The hops then ran up each cable. It was September so they were in full bloom of cones. It basically looked like a big pine tree. So when it came time to harvest, all you had to do was harvest what you could reach from the ground first, then drop the collar down the pole and let the hops collapse on themselves until you can reach the cones that were high up. No ladders needed to harvest. It was really pretty ingenious.

I hope I explained that good enough to get a picture in your head. I thought I took a picture of it, but I can't find it.

[Ibasterd]

That sounds awesome BlackDuck. The problem with that Idea for me and Phil is a matter of space. That is, we don't have enough. I don't really expect much out of my bines. More of a fun experiment. Not to mention that the Florida climate does not lend itself to growing hops. If I could get enough cones to do one small batch, I would be thrilled.

[BlackDuck]

It didn't take up that much space. I think the footing was about a 5' x 5' square (maybe a little bigger, 6' x 6') with the pole in the middle. So the majority of the space needed went up and didn't take up much ground space at all. Damn it all, I know I took pictures....and for the life of me I have no idea where they are.

[John Sand]

I don't get caught up in trying to grow to commercial heights. My trellis is 6' tall with some bamboo lashed on. I pick them standing on the ground. Remember that hops are a plant, and will grow where they can. I've read of brewers growing them along a fence.

[Ibasterd]

Spring has sprung!

[philm00x]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1426989258.074015.jpg (107.08 KiB) Viewed 1049 times

Yes it has!!

[John Sand]

Six inches of new snow here!

[Banjo-guy]

I just got 4 rhizomes in the mail. I wonder if It's ok to put them in the ground this week. I'm in Long Island.

[Ibasterd]

If you're past the frost and would plant tomatoes, I would think you're ok.

[Banjo-guy]

We're not past frost yet. Do you have to worry about friar with hops?

[RickBeer]

Tomatoes are not planted until Memorial Day here in Michigan.