Any first time hop growers in Northeast?

[epateddy]

Hey all.

Trying my hand at hop growing this year, and I'll admit I'm getting impatient. Planted one Cascade and one Kent Goldings rhizome about two weeks ago. Cleared out a nice, sunny, southern-facing area against my house. Buried them horizontally, with (what I assume was) the sprouts facing up, under about an inch of soil with a 1/2 inch of mulch on top. Mixed some compost and plant fertilizer into the soil when I prepped it also.

2 weeks have passed and I have not even a hint of a sprout peeking above the ground. I've been giving them water regurlarly without drowning them. What gives?

It has not been the warmest Spring up here in Mass (until this past week). Nights have been cool and there have not been many extended stretches of warm sun. (For what it's worth our garden has been slow to take off as well.) Is the weather the problem?

Anyone in this area experiecing the same? Any tips?

Thanks.

 

[ArtimusBeerimus]

Give it time. They're either going to "take" or not at this point.

I planted 8 varieties three years ago - the first broke thru after 5 days, but others took more than 3 weeks.

Let it grow.

 

[ArtimusBeerimus]

Also, sounds like you did everything correctly... Good luck!

 

[BrewingViking]

Planted mine 4 years ago and had the same experience. Cascade came up after a week or so. But my fuggles and northern brewer took 2 to 3 weeks to show anything. It wasn't even until last year that i was able to get any harvest from those two. Cascade will grow like a weed after your first year. Just give them more time and care. Hop growing is just like brewing. Patience.

 

[epateddy]

Finally!!

 

[gcdowd]

I'm in the Syracuse area and just planted 20 rhizomes. Here's to hoping!

 

[Larzean]

Albany area, I have a few chilling in my fridge awaiting the completion of my raised beds.. Last night we had frost warning so I'm glad I didn't get to them yet!

 

[gcdowd]

Albany area, I have a few chilling in my fridge awaiting the completion of my raised beds.. Last night we had frost warning so I'm glad I didn't get to them yet!

Tell me about it. This cold weather is making me nervous.

 

[Larzean]

It's supposed to warm back up later in the week, hopefully only 2 cold nights it'll be ok!

 

[bdowden]

I'm in north-central CT. I planted two cascade and two centennial rhizomes but unfortunately only one of each sprouted. The cascade is doing very well, although I'm worried that it didn't make it though the frost on Tuesday (I did cover it). The Centennial is very short but seems to be healthy.

I just got into homebrewing last year, going all grain in January (yes I brewed outside in 15 degree weather because, why not?). I decided to give growing hops a whirl. Hopefully it works out!

 

[ArtimusBeerimus]

Finally!!

Congratulations - it's a baby... hop!

 

[gcdowd]

So most of my plants have sprouted. The Chinook appears dead, the cascade and centennial are really growing nicely. Willamette is doing just so so. Here are some pics:

 

[gcdowd]

One more

 

[epateddy]

Thought I'd post an update on my hop progress. (Planted ~4/27.) After some initial concern, my hops are growing well. Or at least one of them is.

Cascade on the 2 left strings, Goldings on the 2 right.

I planted the rhizomes before I built the trellis, so I had to guess where the "middle" of each section would be. The Cascade landed right under the far left string and the Goldings under the far right. So there's more growth on the end strings than those in the middle. The Goldings doesn't want to grow too tall, either. Not sure if that's just the way this one grows.

Also seeing the beginnings of what I think are the flowers.

Anyone getting ready to harvest?

 

[Stand]

I planted Centennials and Goldings last year. I'm in the SE, but I can tell you the first year I didn't get much at all. They grew about 8-10 feet.

This year they grew twice as fast and I have at least 6 bines that are over 10 feet already, and they don't look as though they are ready to stop.

 

[epateddy]

Another update...

My Cascade plant reached the top of the 11 foot trellis, came over the top and back down a few feet. Harvested about 80% this week and got a nice sized bowl.

Check 'em out.

10.4 oz wet. They're drying now so we'll see what that turns into.

The Goldings are just about to the top of the trellis but no signs of flowers yet. Once labor day hits up here in Mass we'll only get a handful of truly warm, summer-like days. So I may be SOL with this plant for this year. Then again, I hear they prefer cooler weather. Their growth seemed to stall in late July / early August but they're rebounding now.

Always fun to see stuff grow in your yard in the Summer. Sadly, everything will be dead in 4 months.

 

[gcdowd]

First harvest, have yet to weigh them. Cascade and centennial.