Container Setup in St. Louis, MO

[dirtyd90]

Finally finished getting my hops project completed and wanted to post some photos. I have 18 rhizomes total - 6 Cascade, 6 Centennial, 6 Nugget - in large containers (2 per) with 16 foot runs for them. I decided to utilize existing trees as "posts" in my backyard and plant in containers because we are moving in three years and I also wanted an easy way to harvest. I can just use my ladder and unhook them from the trees and lower them down. I still have 2 Nuggets, 1 Centennial, and 1 Cascade I need to find spots for (Northwest Hops gave me these for free with my order - ALL rhizomes have sprouted bines - a 100% success rate so far). We will see how the setups will hold to the strong storms we tend to get now and then. I did not see many examples of this type of setup on the forum or other sites so that is why I wanted to put this thread up. I will post more pics as the bines grow. Wish me luck!

 

[gadbrum]

Looks really great. Only tricky part is going to be harvesting those flowers from the top

 

[dirtyd90]

I will be able to just unhook them from the trees at the top and lower them down. Just hope they will not be too heavy, at least not the first year.

 

[gadbrum]

Yeah, I was just kidding. It looks really good and I think it leaves plenty of room for those vines to grow out and climb.

 

[FuzzyNegguts]

Hey! Nice utilization of the trees!

I just planted my first hop garden last weekend in those same tubs. You're a bit a head of me , looks like they're doing well!

I'll have to keep track and see how they do in the tubs, good luck!

 

[ekjohns]

If you cannot find room for
1 centennial I'll trade you something for it. I have yeast slants or some 2nd year home grown cascade. I am local

 

[Turdhammer]

Glad to see another MO hop grower. I am up in Macon Co.
You are a couple weeks ahead of us up here. i have my mineral tubs filled with dirt and waiting.
Rhizomes were shipped the 5th and have just now hit KC post office. Priority Mail my Pa-tooty.
Plan on planting in tubs myself due to our wonderful red clay they call soil up here.
Will be watching.

 

[dirtyd90]

My hops are ahead of our climate schedule because I started them indoors in one gallon containers in mid March. The weather cycle looked to be good but unfortunately we have some borderline temps hitting Friday night and Saturday night. I will have to cover them just in case. The good news is the setup held well during our severe weather that rolled through last night, sprouting tornadoes. So I am confident with the durability of the trellises but worried about the possible freezing temps the next couple of nights. Crazy Missouri weather! Our soil is hard clay too so hops are not a natural thing here. Good luck to all my fellow Missouri hop growers and will post more pics in the future. As for my extra rhizomes, I have decided to keep them just in case I lose a few already in my containers.

 

[dirtyd90]

Over 3 months later and the current results are better than expected. The Cascades and Centennials are doing well. I added two containers of Columbus and an extra Cascade to the mix. Lost one container of Nuggets due to disease (downy mildew I believe). It appears that I will have a decent harvest from the Cascades and Centennials, some from the Columbus, and Nuggets are just starting to throw burrs so not sure about those yet. I used neem oil weekly for the first two months and that really helped keep pests to a minimum. I stopped using it when the burrs were really starting to show on the Cascades and Centennials and have not had any problems since. I have been using Fox Farms organic liquid fertilizer weekly. Watering has been daily or every other day since the dry season hit in late June. Before then it was about every three or four days. Looking forward to the harvest!