brewmasterthis
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Long time reader and first time post
I have 5 year old Cascade growing in a very large self irrigating planter (SIP). I built the SIP from a extra large plastic storage container and it should hold the root ball for a few more years. I've gone the chemical fertilizer route (I know some folks call this the devil's brew) but SIPs require well draining container mix (not soil) so it's mandatory not to add any material that clogs up. Besides, I got over 8 lbs yield last year so I think it does very well.
Can anyone recommend or provide hard numbers for a chemical fertilizer schedule? I calculated my fertilizer need and would appreciate a peer review.
Research turns up two references about fertilizer requirements for hops, a 1994 article published by OSU Extension and a more recent one from UVM Extension. They mostly agree on NPK requirements for high yielding hops, namely: 100-150 lbs/acre of N, 20 lbs/acre of P and 40-60 lbs/acre of K. Since I live in the Northeast, I used UVM's figures.
Excerpt from UVM Fertility Guidelines for Hops in the Northeast:
Cascade yields upwards of 2000 lbs/acre of cones and I assume that removes 150 lbs of N/acre per year. Based on this, I calculate my Cascade's Nitrogen requirement (C) to be:
C = (8 lbs cones) x (150 lbs N/acre)/(2000 lbs/acre) = 0.6 lbs Nitrogen
I use All Purpose water soluble Miracle Grow which has 24-8-16 (24% Nitrogen, 8% Phosphorus, 16% Potassium) because this ratio aligns well with the recommended needs published by OSU and UVM. From this I can calculate how much fertilizer (F) I need to use per growing season.
F = C x (lbs Fertilizer/lbs Nitrogen) = 0.6 x (100/24) = 2.5 lbs Fertilizer
This seems high to me so I'm going to stick with fertilizing with every watering until flowering for the remainder of this season.
My best guess at a fertilizing schedule is:
Plain water until June 1
Fertilize after June 1 until flowering
Add Potassium? once cones start developing (Potassium Sulfate 0-0-45)
Cheers,
Brewmasterthis
I have 5 year old Cascade growing in a very large self irrigating planter (SIP). I built the SIP from a extra large plastic storage container and it should hold the root ball for a few more years. I've gone the chemical fertilizer route (I know some folks call this the devil's brew) but SIPs require well draining container mix (not soil) so it's mandatory not to add any material that clogs up. Besides, I got over 8 lbs yield last year so I think it does very well.
Can anyone recommend or provide hard numbers for a chemical fertilizer schedule? I calculated my fertilizer need and would appreciate a peer review.
Research turns up two references about fertilizer requirements for hops, a 1994 article published by OSU Extension and a more recent one from UVM Extension. They mostly agree on NPK requirements for high yielding hops, namely: 100-150 lbs/acre of N, 20 lbs/acre of P and 40-60 lbs/acre of K. Since I live in the Northeast, I used UVM's figures.
Excerpt from UVM Fertility Guidelines for Hops in the Northeast:
A hop crop will require a substantial amount of nitrogen (N) to meet growth requirements. A high yielding hopyard can remove between 100 to 150 lbs of N per acre from the soil. Nitrogen application rates are often based on knowing your whole plant biomass yield. Higher yielding plants will obviously require more N per acre to promote plant growth and development. A whole plant biomass yield of 1000 lbs/acre will remove 80 to 90 lbs of N per acre from the soil. As the cone yield increases to 2000 lbs/acre the hop plant can remove 150 to 170 lbs/acre of N from the soil. Nitrogen rates should be based on yield but also soil organic matter level and/or soil type.
Cascade yields upwards of 2000 lbs/acre of cones and I assume that removes 150 lbs of N/acre per year. Based on this, I calculate my Cascade's Nitrogen requirement (C) to be:
C = (8 lbs cones) x (150 lbs N/acre)/(2000 lbs/acre) = 0.6 lbs Nitrogen
I use All Purpose water soluble Miracle Grow which has 24-8-16 (24% Nitrogen, 8% Phosphorus, 16% Potassium) because this ratio aligns well with the recommended needs published by OSU and UVM. From this I can calculate how much fertilizer (F) I need to use per growing season.
F = C x (lbs Fertilizer/lbs Nitrogen) = 0.6 x (100/24) = 2.5 lbs Fertilizer
This seems high to me so I'm going to stick with fertilizing with every watering until flowering for the remainder of this season.
My best guess at a fertilizing schedule is:
Plain water until June 1
Fertilize after June 1 until flowering
Add Potassium? once cones start developing (Potassium Sulfate 0-0-45)
Cheers,
Brewmasterthis