Growing Hops in Central Florida

[plusultra]

I can not say enough good things about Michigan Hop Alliance. The sold me massive hop rhysomes(sp) with crowns in mid February. I got nugget, centennial and cascade. I have new pictures on my facebook page. I live in port saint lucie florida. I will get some pictures on here in a few days. I noticed last night that my largest plant(cascade) 11' tall is producing hops already. I can't believe it.

 

[chaos99]

I let mine go uncut for a while. Two or three vines will eventually end up growing faster and stronger than the others. The plant will shoot up vines the whole season. I was consistently pruning in the second season.

The first season however was pretty slow so I didn't prune much. I think it's best to help the plant to build up a strong root system the first season, so not a lot of pruning.

 

[Breadontap]

So here are my day 10 pics. The centennial is still rocking but the cascades are catching up.




This one is a close up of the centennial. It's about 7".


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[LostDogBeer]

It's been 22 days since planting. So far, so good. I've been watering them almost every day, however, because since these are not in pots the soil dries out very quickly. Everything I've read online says don't overwater, but I'm assuming that that is advice for more northern areas. Our soil drains so quickly that it's dry almost by the end of the day. They look healthy to me.


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[Breadontap]

Wow, they look great. You about 10 days and a foot ahead of me.

I'm happy to see that there are two different approaches being taken.

I'm keeping mine in pots and watering sparingly. At least until they need a trellis. Keep us posted.


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[chuckcomm]

Tomorrow is hop planting day for me. Im a bit behind so will be doing the prep and planting at the same time. Cascade and Centennial in Kissimmee.

 

[plusultra]

Again I got my hops from Michigan hops alliance in late February. The cascade is in the middle and is producing hops already and the one on the left is nugget and it is not far behind. Cenntennial is on the right and is moving slowly. I used potting soil with a little manure and compost mixed in + some more perlite that I had. I water 2 x per week about 1.5 gallons with miracle grow mix. I did just get some sea minerals that I put in the water instead of miracle grow and I also put some in a spray bottle for foliage. Here are some sideways photo's.

 

[chuckcomm]

Finally got my cascade and centennial planted today. I chose an area along my privacy fence so hopefully they will enjoy climbing along it.

I dug the holes about a foot deep and added a mixture of miracle grow potting soil and garden soil to each hole. I did one vertical and one horizontal planting of each hop to see which works best.

 

[Breadontap]

Day 15 of hops in pots.

I've only been watering every 4 days or so. I can't go too much longer with out a trellis.

Something has been eating the leaves on my cascade. Any idea what it is?








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[plusultra]

use a flashlight and check the leaves at night to look for insects that might be eating them. I haven' had a problem with that but some of the leaves have gotten some brown sections in the leaves. I think it is a fungus but I have not sprayed it with anything. I'm just trying to stay consistant with watering and fert.

 

[Breadontap]

I finally put a trellis up in the back yard. Nothing fancy but it should work. They are 2x4x10's that I put 2' down so call it 8'. I did note that even 2' down I really only have sand a no real soil. I'll have to build a raised bed for the next year.






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[plusultra]

I've heard you have to be careful when planting in the ground as there are some insects that will attack from underground. I think they are nematodes.

 

[Breadontap]

We will see. Lostdogbeer has his in the ground. If he has good results this year I'm going to put mine in the ground next year.


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[atsorrento]

Hello all! Great thread. First time hop grower here. I basically purchased 30 gallon pots since I have everything known to man in my yard (nematodes, mole crickets, moles, etc... you name it). I don't trust planting in the ground but have seen others successfully do it. For s&g's I did plant one in the ground by my chain link fence and already have ants trying to make a home!!! Sprinkled some cinnamon on them.....we'll see if that helps

 

[Breadontap]

I'm out if town. I've heard the rain has been really bad. Has anyone's hops been getting the crap beat out of them?

I'm afraid I'm gonna come home to destroyed plants.


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[chuckcomm]

Rain has been pretty hard here the past two days. Mine are just popping through the ground and none of the soil has washed away. Not sure how vines would have held up. Hope yours are ok.

 

[LostDogBeer]

Thankfully, mine are established enough to resist the extra rain. They look like they are still doing well.


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[plusultra]

We just got rain yesterday but mine have been growing since late February so they are fine. I going to have to start picking soon.

 

[atsorrento]

We just got rain yesterday but mine have been growing since late February so they are fine. I going to have to start picking soon.

How many harvests do you get per year? Also, do you cut them down from Oct to Feb?

 

[plusultra]

This is my first year trying this so I will just pick the ones that are ready and keep the vines up until it gets cold(December I guess). I think they will produce more than once but I really have no clue. Chaos would know better.

 

[Flboy]

What kind of plastic jugs? Like milk containers or something else?

Sorry, just saw your question. Yes, either milk or soda jugs-or anything! Depends on how much water you want it to hold.
Cut bottom off, poke a few small holes near the top and bury them upside down almost completely. You use this to hold water and it drips out. Biggest issue is gunk and bugs getting in the jug,
Another great tip I was given is to line your hole with a few sheets of newspaper. this acts to hold the water just a bit longer. You only use about three layers and don't have it sticking above ground.
Also build a small dam/dish around your plant to make watering easier.

 

[atsorrento]

We're supposed to have no rain for the next several days. Just wondering how often you all plan on watering.

 

[chuckcomm]

I didnt water today because of all the rain the last few days. I will water tomorrow they should at least stay moist from what I have read. I would say at least every other day with our heat but this is my first try so I just want to at least be sure the soil stays moist.

 

[Breadontap]

I have mine in pots with compost and potting soil mix so it holds water better than the native soil does. I only water every 3-4 days depending on the rain.

Everything I've read is that the easiest way to kill a rhizome type plant is to over water it. So be careful.


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[plusultra]

I water about the same. Mine are in pots and with the rain we got lately I haven't watered since Thursday but I am going to water today. I was watering about 1.5 gallons per planter 2x per week but it is getting hotter so it will be the same amount but 3x per week now unless it rains which will delay about 2 days after a good rain. We shall see. Best of luck to all of us hoppy people.:fro:

 

[Breadontap]

No pictures to add but I have noticed that with the heat, I have to water at least every other day now.

Mine are around day 30 and 1 is about 4 feet tall with like 5 shoots coming out of the soil.

The rest are 3 feet tall with only a few shoots.


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[LostDogBeer]

I am noticing that the height of each plant is inversely proportional to the amount of shoots. For example the tallest one here, the third from the right, is a cascade with a single shoot. The two on the left each have three shoots. I decided not to cut them to see what happens.


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[Breadontap]

I'm considering fertilizing them for the first time this weekend. From what I've read, a low middle number is best. I believe that is phosphorous. I found palm fertilizer at HD that has the lowest middle number I could see.


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[LostDogBeer]

I'm fertilizing with something called "CitrusGain". Like what you mentioned, it is also low phosphorus


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[plusultra]

I allowed 3 bines to grow on each plant. I have been watering with a miracle grow mix every time I water. I had the miracle grow in the garage so that is why I'm using it and it seems to be working. I am also using a sea mineral product every now and then.:rockin:

 

[kenglish427]

I am a first time Florida hop grower, In Jacksonville Beach to be exact. I put 5 centennial and 5 cascade rhizomes in the found on 4-27 and already have all 10 out of the ground, most are a few feet tall. I have the fortune of having a friend that owns a lawn spraying company, and he recommended using a 10-10-10 fertilizer for the hops. its more of an all around booster than feeding a particular nutrient. i used a 50/50 mix of potting soil and Spanish moss and stirred it in with the native soil/sand to help retain moisture, but also to keep the soil from packing tight, allowing for root development.

 

[LostDogBeer]

They look great! I really like your set up.


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[kenglish427]

thanks, its just a handful of screws and $5 of bailing twine. I think the will take a bit of training to make them go sideways on the twine, but it works for my limited growing space.

 

[Breadontap]

So I finally fertilized a couple of days ago and I started watering every other day instead of every three to four. The heat has been drying out the soil really fast. I guess 90s and no rain will do that.

The increased water and fertilizer has made a noticeable difference. Growth has sped back up.

Here is the fertilizer I've been using. It's 8-2-10


Updated pic of the vines:


And just to make everyone jealous here is a pic of the bottle of Pliny my brother sent me from CO.




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[plusultra]

Updated pictures

 

[plusultra]

I hope it worked this time

 

[chuckcomm]

So how are everyones hops doing? LostDogBeer?

Mine have reached the top of my privacy fence and are confused but traveling along the top of the fence since they have no way to climb higher.

Looks like side shoots will be growing soon as some have appeared....lots of rain this week

 

[plusultra]

I just picked some more hops yesterday. The aphids are horrible. I used neem oil to try to hold them off but lost a lot of leaves because of this. To date I have picked about 250 cascade, 200 nugget and last but least 35 centennial. Port Saint Lucie florida. I'm not sure how the rest of the season will go but aphids are the only real problem so far. Water 2x per week so far.

 

[Breadontap]

Mine are doing great. One cascade has reach 8+feet the other cascade is doing well. I have one centennial doing good and one that's a slacker. As you can see I've got some hops coming in on the cascade that's doing the best. Not sure as far as when to pick.

I've heard when there sound like paper but they haven't been there long and they already sound like that to me. I think I'm going to let the hang for a bit before I start picking.

If anyone has any info on picking please let me know.


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[plusultra]

That big one looks ready. Paper sound and they start to open up. jmo looks good.