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Anyone Else Growing Hops This Year?


PhilboBaggins

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Hey Lusty,

I got mine from eBay. There were a lot sold out as I expected by this time of year so I just went with the Fuggle and Hallertau ones.

 

lol Yeah, shouldn't be too hard. As long as they have good soil and adequate nutrients/water/sunlight they should go well. Which they should get in their current location when this overcast crap goes away.

 

Cheers mate! happy

 

P.S. I've read the first season yields aren't the best' date=' but the yields improve dramatically in the following years.

[/quote']

That's alright, if I only get enough off them on the first season for one brew each I'll be happy. smile Now just to wait for the things to start growing!

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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Yeah' date=' love to grow some , tried to find some last year but failed .If anyone has some to sell I am interested ,need to suit this climate i suppose .ie,Geelong .Victoria.[/quote']

 

Hi "Old Bill,"

 

I also live in Geelong. Planted 8 Cascade cuttings and 6 mixed variety rhizomes during Winter this year and all are growing well. Cuttings quite small but healthy, rhizomes - several now between 6 & 8 feet of vine already, some cones beginning to form. All doing as well and as expected for first year in ground. So far, so good. Our location suites hop growing, just need to keep fertilizer and water requirements to keep plants happy.

 

AJs Dad.

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It pains me to admit it but I ripped up all my hops 4 weeks ago. This was the second year and they were feral. As I dug them out it was easy to see why they were declared weed and banned in England. I doubt that I got them all as they had spread like wild fire under the earth, so I will probably have to spend the next couple of years getting hop free.

 

I can say I have been there and done that, but it will be hop pellets from here on in.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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Cheers John happy I had a look at it just now again and it's grown bigger and looking much healthier than the first one did. It has also sprouted a third shoot just near the one in the last pic there. Also the Hallertau is finally pushing up a shoot now too which is good to see.

 

That's a shame to hear Scottie. sad I hope mine don't end up taking over the whole yard, maybe I'll be able to contain them, I don't know yet... but in saying that the yard is a 1/4 acre so there's plenty of room in it.

 

Edit: thought I'd get another picture of them, there are actually two extra ones there. The biggest one is the one I posted yesterday, and then there is the smaller one right next to it and the blurry third one. Hope they keep going now!

 

12187688_10208373660287687_5072332070491148056_n.jpg?oh=5eedd70e0eaaf7fffda175fbaf929c4a&oe=56ACC2B1

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Today I went to Bunnings and picked up four 2.1m stakes, and 5m worth of "flower mesh" or something, which was very handily held together with a length of wire that made for a great way to attach the stuff to the stakes. Anyway, I stuck two stakes in each pot on the outer edge, and then cut two 2.5 metre lengths of the mesh to attach to them. All in all it was pretty easy to get it all set up and in place.

 

The Fuggle shoots look to be coming along nicely now which is good, and the Hallertau has sprouted two more as well, so both pots have 3 shoots. I wouldn't be surprised if the two buckets of rain they've had this week have helped them a fair bit too. The Hallertau aren't as far along, so I haven't taken a pic of them, but here are a couple of pics of the Fuggle shoots and the two pots set up.

 

12063556_10208378610731445_6279982919250248059_n.jpg?oh=a9cf2f4e78cb7c38670f6ac3f5d7b7b9&oe=56C49F38

 

12191002_10208378614531540_2987141612827227650_n.jpg?oh=11b9b05f4f096849615d2437e099bd6c&oe=56C0552D&__gda__=1456119416_68639f220e6b639ca85de37fa49838f2

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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These plants are coming along now, slowly but surely. They have had a fair bit of rain over the weekend too which is good. I'll post another update in a week or two when they start getting bigger; they're still quite small probably only about 3-4cm at the moment. There are more shoots sprouting up in both bots too, but only got pics of the main plants today. In any case glad to see them growing. happy

 

Top: Fuggles

 

Bottom: Hallertau

 

12193623_10208396147769860_6217756156331588467_n.jpg?oh=8f707aafbd9c7c42a8733887799d99ab&oe=56F45B60

12191974_10208396151649957_7594433934666667353_n.jpg?oh=3a2c03638ccff1f9c7000cff8d04ce3f&oe=56BABB37

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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Here's an update on my Cascade rhizome at three months since planting in early August.

 

It's a bit hard to see them among all the potatoes that sprang up but I have three bines going nuts up the baling twine at the moment (see the red arrows for the twine).

 

Pic was from three days ago and they have grown another six inches since. So today I extended the twine up almost to the top of the water tank tower so they have about 18 feet of growing room now.

 

joyWB6M.jpg

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Looking good mate. smile Hopefully mine start climbing up the mesh soon. Not having grown hops before I don't really know how long they take to really take off' date=' but they are getting bigger slowly.[/quote']

 

Thanks mate biggrin

 

I'm pretty happy with them so far but then I'm also not expecting much from them this first year from what I've researched.

 

Mine were looking like yours only about a month ago then they just seemed to snowball in speed. It'll be interesting to see how yours come along in the land of the banana bender tongue

 

From what I've read on the topic the latitude of where they're grown and how well they do has somewhat more to do with the length of the summer days more so than the climate.

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Yeah that seems to be the consensus that they don't produce a whole lot in the first year but after that they are better.

 

I think they'll grow alright, but I've read that they tend to get better crops down your way than they do up here. Time will tell I suppose, but I'll happy with enough for one batch each really. Planning on a German lager with the Hallertau when I get some cones. I've also read that it's more about the length of the daylight hours too. The plants themselves will grow just about anywhere but the yield itself depends on location.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well mine have started to make their way on to the mesh "trellis" set up in the pots now. They have been getting attacked by caterpillars so I got some spray yesterday to fix that issue. Seems to have done the trick, no new attacks happened overnight that I could see this morning. The Hallertau is going stronger than the Fuggles, in top and bottom pics respectively:

 

12278864_10208485777210540_7339522783992977066_n.jpg?oh=357df9240fbe62eaab8df63a8a6739b5&oe=56EF2914&__gda__=1458629113_8a2e6efa08854c77ca89935ec2c9ee32

 

12279203_10208485783890707_5267609799481772848_n.jpg?oh=47289c0d0af9cade111706a2f39f294f&oe=56FA666E&__gda__=1458748219_ecb9b3bb67495f339ef218063a8c03c0

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well two weeks since my last update and the Hallertau has really taken off. The tallest bine is probably about a metre now, maybe a bit more. There are 5 bines in total on it now, all at varying heights.

 

The Fuggle is getting there but slower. It ended up worse off after the caterpillars, as they'd actually chewed the stems off as well. annoyed However, the stronger plant is going pretty well now considering, and the other plant has sprouted new shoots to replace the original stem, which are growing nicely.

 

Hallertau and Fuggle top & bottom respectively:

 

12316653_10208561542104615_2219362921465771789_n.jpg?oh=2878775cd2263acf4f905cbe6bb10bec&oe=56DFEBCC

 

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Cheers

 

Kelsey

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You want rhizomes rather than seeds. In any case you'll probably be lucky finding any at this time of year. The colder months are when they start appearing for sale. eBay is a good starting point.

 

FYI, you can't get Galaxy, legally anyway.

 

Funnily enough, Bunnings sometimes sell a hop plant called a "beer herb" which some folks on AHB did some questioning and research on. Turns out it's the US Cascade variety. So you could check there too.

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You want rhizomes rather than seeds. In any case you'll probably be lucky finding any at this time of year. The colder months are when they start appearing for sale. eBay is a good starting point.

 

FYI' date=' you can't get Galaxy, legally anyway.

 

Funnily enough, Bunnings sometimes sell a hop plant called a "beer herb" which some folks on AHB did some questioning and research on. Turns out it's the US Cascade variety. So you could check there too. [/quote']

 

Ah, okay. That is very helpful. I am somewhat new to all of this, so I appreciate the help. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled March 2016 onwards for hop rhizomes for sale.

 

I didn't realise you couldn't buy Galaxy, that's a shame, but fortunately there are plenty of other decent hops it appears you can grow yourself, so not a complete loss.

 

Interesting about the beer herb thing. I will definitely check that out, weird of all places that Bunnings would selling hops. I guess they sell everything else, so it really is not that much of a surprise.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like yer gunna need some skyhooks there Mr Blotto lol

 

I'm not home at the moment but my mum has been watering mine daily and says they're nearly at the top of my 18' twines. w00t

 

She also mentioned they look like something is starting to happen with buds forming, I'll try to get pics first chance I get. I just hope they can survive this mini 4 day heatwave down here.

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lol I think I'll just let them do whatever the hell they want once they get to the top of the mesh. At least at that height I can still harvest the cones without needing to chop them down or get a huge ladder.

 

That's a fair way yours have gone by the sounds of it too! 18 feet what's that about 5-6 metres?

 

 

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That's a fair way yours have gone by the sounds of it too! 18 feet what's that about 5-6 metres?

 

 

Something like that yeah. I have a big ladder so I can cut them down, from memory it's 24' to the top of the water tank hopefully they don't ever get all crazy up on that.

 

Yes I am surprised at how high they have gone too considering it's their first year, I was thinking they'd probably only go up a bit over head height.

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They probably will at some point. The things do tend to grow like weeds. Mine are well over head height too and they're in pots so a little restricted with root growth. Still going crazy but I won't be disappointed if they don't grow much higher, I didn't want roof high plants anyway really. lol (we're in a high set house).

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I'm starting to think I should give growing my own hops a go.

Like you Kelsey, I've got a bit of experience & training in gardening, (though not as much formal training as you).

I think gardening & home brewing are a great combination of skills, & clearly using both skills together to create hoppy beers is a real winner.

 

I'll have to keep my eye out next year for hops rhizomes, interesting that Bunnings have been known to sell them, but I've not seen them on the Bunnings website.

Perhaps some local nursery may be the go in the cooler months?

 

Cheers.

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