Newbie at growing Hops

[nathan33]

Hey everyone. I have become a hophead in the last few months of homebrewing. This is producing great beer...pliny and heady clones that I am doing, but has raised the cost of my homebrewing. My significant other has agreed to let me grow hops along with our garden this year to try to help cut my costs.

I know that the south wall is the best place to place my hops to let them grow, but I live in north central Arkansas where it can get very hot and humid. I have been thinking about putting the rhisomes on the east side of my house where they get plenty of morning sun but not so much in the heat of the day. I am looking for any general ideas about this as it will be my first attempt at growing my own hops. I have 2 cascade rhisomes because they are suppose to be easy to grow in any climate, but I also have 2 centennial rhisomes....which I would be very happy if they made it. If all goes well I hope to add Columbus and Chinook next year. Any general ideas on the location and pointers for successful growing in the Arkansas climate are very appreciated.

 

[Jayhem]

I'm in Central Virginia which also has a very hot and humid summer climate. Last year was my first year growing hops and I had success with Cascade, Centennial, Nugget and Saaz. All my first year rhizomes grew to be 10-15' bines by September! I even harvested 3 dry ounces and used it to dry hop a pale ale. You don't usually get much if any harvest the first year because the first year they are mainly establishing root systems. Year 2 is when the magic is supposed to happen!

I grew mine where they have full sun from sunrise till about 2pm in July and it was perfect for them, they were very healthy and grew very fast. Soil pH is important you don't want something too acidic or alkaline. I tested my soil pH at 7.0 before planting. Fertilized them once at planting and side dress fertilized in June.

This was my hops in about May last year:

 

[nathan33]

I like the setup here. I was thinking of putting eyebolts on the eave of the house, but I may try this. Are all of these the same type of hop in the picture. I will have to find a way to grow 2 cascade 2 centennial and a Chinook and Columbus now. I was curious on how you run them together if it is the same hop on each pole running together or if they even reach each other?

 

[corkybstewart]

With the humidity of Arkansas you might want to move them away from a wall to increase air circulation around the plants. For the first 2 or 3 years I had mine against a barn wall but they never really took off. The next year I built a trellis out in the open and the plants went crazy.

Keep them separate so that you know which hops you're using. I have Cascades at one end, Centennial at the other, and lots of space in between for new varieties

 

[nathan33]

Ok. How tall should I make the trellis? The one pictured above doesn't look very tall

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[Jayhem]

I like the setup here. I was thinking of putting eyebolts on the eave of the house, but I may try this. Are all of these the same type of hop in the picture. I will have to find a way to grow 2 cascade 2 centennial and a Chinook and Columbus now. I was curious on how you run them together if it is the same hop on each pole running together or if they even reach each other?

I have Cascade/Centennial on the close side and Nugget/Saaz on the other end. I put a 18" x 12" x 1/8" thick sheet of aluminum buried in the ground between the two types of hops on each side to prevent the rhizomes from overlapping below ground so at least once the bines come up I know which kind it is and can train it up it's own twine run. I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to distinguish the Cascad and Centennial once they get huge and side bines overlap on the twine runs but that's why I kept similar hops together. I will use my hops mostly for late hop additions in IPA/APA/EPA so I'm not that worried about it. It's always best to bitter with store bought hops so you can be sure of the Alpha Acid %.

My twine trellis is 8' high and then I will let the bines run horizontally once they get higher than that. I have a feeling it's going to be a huge mess of bines this year but that's all part of the fun!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Ok. How tall should I make the trellis? The one pictured above doesn't look very tall

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As tall as you reasonably can, they will grow as tall as you give them.

Water them properly and fertilize them properly and you will get a good harvest the first year, i got over 1# dry from three plants last year on my first year.

Half dose of Miracle gro every other week once they get going, and bloom booster or some other type of high phosphorus fertilizer once a month once they start flowering is all i did and ended up with this ridiculous cascade plant by the end of August

 

[nathan33]

Nice. Thanks everyone. I can't wait to try this now

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[randomgnarkill]

nice:rockin:

 

[musicmd]

Also new to forum
I live in Richmond VA- lots of craft micro brews here!
sarting to home brew and grow hops in Mathews Va.
I just dug up a row to plant hops this spring and was thinking about 5 hills with 2 plants of the same variety per hill- 5 different varietis.

Does the high heat dry out the oils before harvest- will heat adversely affect quality of hops?

Anybody have any suggestion about which hops varieties to plant based on location and heat?

 

[Jayhem]

Also new to forum
I live in Richmond VA- lots of craft micro brews here!
sarting to home brew and grow hops in Mathews Va.
I just dug up a row to plant hops this spring and was thinking about 5 hills with 2 plants of the same variety per hill- 5 different varietis.

Does the high heat dry out the oils before harvest- will heat adversely affect quality of hops?

Anybody have any suggestion about which hops varieties to plant based on location and heat?

I live about an hour northwest of you (above Charlottesville) and I grew Centennial and Cascade very successfully last year and it was hot! I planted my hops where they had afternoon shade from tall trees so they only get full sun from sunrise till about 1pm then they are in the shade. They loved it and I even got hops the first year! I expect a huge harvest this year as the shoots are just now breaking ground!