Anybody growing hops?

[alb]

I just ordered some cascade hops rhizomes. My back deck is about 6-7 feet off the ground, and I figure I can run trellis lines up beyond that, following the deck rail.

Anybody got any general advice? (i know, I know, I should be careful issuing such an open invitation!)

[bpgreen]

This is a good place to start.

[John Sand]

I grow cascades for a few years now, it's not hard.
While the ideal commercial height is 16-24', the bines don't know that. I grow mine on a nice 6' trellis, they go over the top and down the back. I only harvest a little from the one trellis, but throw them into APAs. The hard part is deciding when to pick. There are plenty of sites and videos. Keep us posted.

[BlackDuck]

Alb, my deck sounds very similar to yours, and I've been considering doing the same thing.

[MrBandGuy]

The 2nd story deck is exactly what I use. I ran a twine through an eye hook at the top of each post. Then I let it out every couple weeks so the top of the bine was always climbing up. I read that on a "growing hops in a pot" article somewhere. Seemed to have worked.


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[mashani]

I tried last year, and epically failed. Something kept eating the plants down to the ground every night.

[alb]

The 2nd story deck is exactly what I use. I ran a twine through an eye hook at the top of each post. Then I let it out every couple weeks so the top of the bine was always climbing up. I read that on a "growing hops in a pot" article somewhere. Seemed to have worked.

Thanks, I looked that up and found it in BYO from 2009. He says he lets the bines curl up on the ground but I think I could hang some hose storage hooks down from the base of the deck to keep things more tidy.

[ScrewyBrewer]

My post does not have to do with growing hops, but rather it is about using home grown hops. In 7 years of brewing I have only used whole hops one time, so I really do not know what to expect from using them.

A member of our brew club gave me 6 ounces of Cascade whole hops that he grew. After storing them in the refrigerator for a week, when I opened the bag to add them to the beer I brewed yesterday, some of them had turned yellow/brown. The hops smelled 'grassy' and no way near as pungent as the Cascade pellet hops that I had bought. In the end I decided not to use the whole hops, I made the correct decision right?.

[berryman]

I just ordered some cascade hops rhizomes. My back deck is about 6-7 feet off the ground, and I figure I can run trellis lines up beyond that, following the deck rail.

Anybody got any general advice? (i know, I know, I should be careful issuing such an open invitation!)

I'm only on my third year growing hops but have some observations on growing them.
1} My first year I had a 6' high wire and it wasn't long they out grew it, so I let them go horizontal but had to help do that. They will climb up a rope on their own (with a little help in the beginning) but not sideways without doing it manually. The second year I have them on 18' poles and a cable and some of them wanted to climb higher then that.
2} Not sure if you are thinking of planting in the ground or container.. I have never grown hops in a container but I have a lot of experience on container grown vegetables mainly tomatoes and peppers. Growing in a pot or container the plant has limited root structure so is more dependent on a even moisture amount, where as a plant grown directly in the ground pulls its moisture from a larger area and can do good on its own up to a point...What I'm saying is if I was to grow hops in a container I would have a drip system on them and I think they would do good....
3} Try to grow them in a location that get's maximum sun light per day.
This a thread that I had back awhile ago and some very good input from the borg though out: http://beerborg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=4352

[Dawg LB Steve]

Willoughby Brewing Co. has hops growing up around an outdoor area similar as to what you describe. In early June they are just at the railing level, they string something to get them about 8' above the deck and then string lines across to the building, by August the hops are overhead, like a natural pergola. Current brewer and owner have no idea what hops they are and they are basically decorative. They're kind of leery to do a mystery IPA.

[John Sand]

I love mystery IPA.

[alb]

I love mystery IPA.

Me too. And when it's gone, it's gone.

[bpgreen]

Willoughby Brewing Co. has hops growing up around an outdoor area similar as to what you describe. In early June they are just at the railing level, they string something to get them about 8' above the deck and then string lines across to the building, by August the hops are overhead, like a natural pergola. Current brewer and owner have no idea what hops they are and they are basically decorative. They're kind of leery to do a mystery IPA.

They're missing an opportunity.

There's a brewery in Utah that brews one batch a year using native and naturalized hops found growing in random places throughout the valley. They don't do any testing and the beer can vary dramatically from year to year.

[brewnewb]

I grew 2 cascade up my corner deck rails in our old house. In the 2nd year, the harvest was huge. All I did was run twine from a tent peg to top of the deck post. I trained one vine and snipped off the rest. That thing grew like crazy.

Note: they almost took over our flower garden in yr 3.

Here's some pics below.

Maybe 12 ft from ground to top



I let this one go nuts - tons of cones



The bounty

[BlackDuck]

Damn....that looks awesome. I just might give this a go this year.