Hi all,
My friends are brewers. I'd say I mostly enjoy their brews rather than brew myself. That said, this summer I was looking for a patio project for our 1 bedroom city apartment and got hooked on the idea of growing hops. I found your forum and with it the wealth of knowledge here - this only got me more excited. We're on the 5th floor and our balcony gets full sun exposure until about 3 in the afternoon. Because it's a balcony I can't have water draining all over our downstairs neighbors. This means plumbed boxes running off the edge into a gutter. Let's get started!
The Containers:
The medium:
The nutrients:
The watering method:
The Hops! Cascade, Newport, Teamaker, and an ornamental "Golden Hops"
The planter has been siliconed, plumbed to a drain line that runs off the edge of the deck, and lined with a rock fiber material to aid in oxygenation.
Liner in place
Expanded clay pellets were added to improve drainage.
The long box gets the same treatment.
In addition to NPK nutrients with added Calcium and Magnesium to balance the Ca Mg absorption properties of coconut fiber I'll be using Rooting Hormone (to stimulate root production), Biozyme (to kick start the beneficial bacterial cycle, and Mycorhhizae (to innoculate the substrate with beneficial fungi).
Cascade is first up, the roots have already taken off and look healthy and white when rinsed. When rinsing the roots I noticed that the cascade had a lot more ultra fine clingy roots than the teamaker or Newport. The white powder is rooting hormone (for the mold spotters out there).
The newport rhizome is looking even better! I'll be planting newport on the inside corner of the pot. This variety was bred specifically for mildew/mold resistance and so it can survive in the slightly more humid location.
Seated in a mixure of 5:1 coconut coir and perlite. Coconut coir is a hydroponic medium and has no organic potential. It's been rinsed and PH balanced prior to mixing.
Golden hops - also in a 5:1 coconut coir and perlite medium.
Spoon for scale (left golden hop)
Spoon for scale (right golden hop)
Teamaker will be planted in a 3 gallon "Smart pot" - a fabric container which provides even better aeration. Look at that root mass! It's already been trimmed from the top and has a massive crown - I have high hopes for this baby.
Teamaker sitting pretty in her felt pot. This strain has very low alpha acids and is sometimes used in herbal teas.
Our windowbox planted with daffodils, yellow irises, silver falls, and creeping phlox. This windowbox is also set up for hydroponic watering and has no soil - only coconut coir.
Example of the plumbing added to all the boxes.
My friends are brewers. I'd say I mostly enjoy their brews rather than brew myself. That said, this summer I was looking for a patio project for our 1 bedroom city apartment and got hooked on the idea of growing hops. I found your forum and with it the wealth of knowledge here - this only got me more excited. We're on the 5th floor and our balcony gets full sun exposure until about 3 in the afternoon. Because it's a balcony I can't have water draining all over our downstairs neighbors. This means plumbed boxes running off the edge into a gutter. Let's get started!
The Containers:
- 1x ~half barrel container for 2 rhizomes
- 1x 3 gallon smart pot for 1 rhizome
- 1x 40" wooden planter for 2 ornamental hops plants
The medium:
- Coconut Coir
- Perlite
- Expanded clay pellets
The nutrients:
- House and Garden 2 part nutrient designed for coco coir
- Kelp Meal
- Mycorrhizae
- Bacterial starter
- root hormone
The watering method:
- Blumat automated irrigation system
- 5g resevoir
- 1x 100 GPH pump
The Hops! Cascade, Newport, Teamaker, and an ornamental "Golden Hops"
The planter has been siliconed, plumbed to a drain line that runs off the edge of the deck, and lined with a rock fiber material to aid in oxygenation.
Liner in place
Expanded clay pellets were added to improve drainage.
The long box gets the same treatment.
In addition to NPK nutrients with added Calcium and Magnesium to balance the Ca Mg absorption properties of coconut fiber I'll be using Rooting Hormone (to stimulate root production), Biozyme (to kick start the beneficial bacterial cycle, and Mycorhhizae (to innoculate the substrate with beneficial fungi).
Cascade is first up, the roots have already taken off and look healthy and white when rinsed. When rinsing the roots I noticed that the cascade had a lot more ultra fine clingy roots than the teamaker or Newport. The white powder is rooting hormone (for the mold spotters out there).
The newport rhizome is looking even better! I'll be planting newport on the inside corner of the pot. This variety was bred specifically for mildew/mold resistance and so it can survive in the slightly more humid location.
Seated in a mixure of 5:1 coconut coir and perlite. Coconut coir is a hydroponic medium and has no organic potential. It's been rinsed and PH balanced prior to mixing.
Golden hops - also in a 5:1 coconut coir and perlite medium.
Spoon for scale (left golden hop)
Spoon for scale (right golden hop)
Teamaker will be planted in a 3 gallon "Smart pot" - a fabric container which provides even better aeration. Look at that root mass! It's already been trimmed from the top and has a massive crown - I have high hopes for this baby.
Teamaker sitting pretty in her felt pot. This strain has very low alpha acids and is sometimes used in herbal teas.
Our windowbox planted with daffodils, yellow irises, silver falls, and creeping phlox. This windowbox is also set up for hydroponic watering and has no soil - only coconut coir.
Example of the plumbing added to all the boxes.