Hay all, I know I have heard of some really interesting systems for growing your own hops so I thought I would open a thread for pictures of your hop system and 2013 growth! Here is my year two rhizome in a container garden (Earthbox) with simple manilla rope up to the fence, and more up to the corner of the patio. This is a Cascade and last year on the first growth I had three or four harvests of 1/2-1 gallon bags worth of fresh hops. The odd rope around the enclosure is to keep my dog out (who likes to eat things from my yard sometimes). WARNING: Ingested hops can kill your dog! I have an automatic watering system in the background there.
This is my first year putting hops in the ground. Got crowns from Great Lakes hops. Aside from my barn setup I have two teepee type setups on some telephone poles near my garage. Got 11 crowns 4 varietys. Glacier, Chinook, Zeus, and Sterling.
These are the anchors. I will be installing two 4x4x12 posts about 15ft feet away, and about 10ft apart. A length of Sisal rope will then be stretched between them, and twine will connect from the anchors to the rope. Cheers!
You've obviously read about what hops needs in order to produce. Light is extremely important. It's the reason why hops crops don't exist commercially below the 40th parallel. That's a good reason not to plant it near a fence unless it has southern exposure, especially in Florida. You'll spend a fortune on electricity for artificial lighting.
Going straight up. I just planted the rhizomes so I figure first year this should be tall enough. ~15 ft.
I guess it doesn't matter too much. Its not really about photosynthesis but actual hours of light exposure.
I got some eye hooks from lowes and a eye hook drill bit. Using wire to secure to each end so I can easily unhook the lines for harvesting on the ground.
I was worried about this too. I timed it though and they tend to get 8 hours of direct light with 4 of indirect. In the future (read: when my wife let's me) I am thinking of a vertical 20" trellis with a permanent, cement, subterranean base (see Basic Brewing Video). I need to work up some capitol for that one though. The more I look at my extension line from the top of my fence to my patio though I wonder if it is too severe an angle for the hops to grow up? Anyone know what the minimum angle is for hops to grow is? Last year mine went nuts and were everywhere (growing up, down, side-ways).
I found through experience that a short fence is OK as the hops will grow to find the light above and the fence will provide some support and wind shelter when they are especially young and tender.
Just finished mine this weekend. Pretty simple, conduit poles with pulleys attached. The line at the top is steel cable and the rope coming down is sisal. I used carabiner clips at the top so it will be easy to remove at the end of the season. The whole unit lowers for ease in harvesting. Its not the prettiest, but it functions well, and for about $60 to set up, the price was right.
