The Homegrown Hops Thread

~ month...+ or -

 

Thanks. But if more bines keep on growing throughout the year (or at least until the cooler fall weather) I should still expect to see more cones develop, right?

 

Bummer year for me. I planted Sterlings last year that did great, got a handful of cones and everything. This spring rolled around and nothing! I planted some Chinooks in their place instead and so far no shoots or anything yet Granted I did put these in pretty late - afraid of some cold evening temps...

Willamettes at my folks place in WI are coming back fierce though. This will be year five for them.

 

How close are you guys keeping your crowns pruned?

 

My experience has been after the main harvest ... you get puny onesie-twosies suited the glass.

 

yes...at least for my Chinook : )

 

So one of my second-year Centennial bines made its way beyond my trellis and underneath the shingles on my roof. From the second floor porch I tried to pull it down and snapped it off (just the tip) leaving the end of the bine on the roof.

The leaves on that bine look a bit shriveled a few days later... Should I expect that this one is going to die off? Obviously a bit nervous because it was the tallest bine I had.

Cheers!

 

usually when the tip of the bine snaps, it starts sprouting secondary shoots.
not sure if i totally understand your question but no, the entire bine will not die just because the tip broke off (this always happens to my plants during strong wind storms.)

 

You are going to want to harvest them all at once - when the majority have reached that sweet spot of a crunchy paper feel. Cut down the whole thing at once to then pick them off easier, unless you really love standing on a ladder for hours on end.

Which in Southeastern PA has been late August/early September. My Cascades have typically been ready 2 or 3 weeks earlier than my Nugget.

 

Yep, that answers the question. Thanks man!

 

I grow Columbus, Centennial, and Cascade in south west PA. My Columbus is the biggest beast. Already have a ton of cones and it's not even July. 3rd year plants.

 

For each of my plants, I run two ropes up the trellis, and I train 2 bines on each rope. So other than those 4 bines, throughout the summer I keep the rest of the crown pruned to the ground every time new bines shoot up.

I also had read that good air movement at the base of the plants can help prevent mildew and other issues. So I prune all of the leaves off of the bottom 2 feet of the bines.

 

Columbus, Cascade, and Hersbrucker are my hardiest this year. Hersbrucker has burrs on it already, but none of the others do. Blisk is behind this year for some reason, and so is Santiam? I'm surprised that my 4 year old Chinook isn't bigger. Centennial and Crystal are super small. Need to fertilize them all in the next week or so.

 

I have a small "crown" of foliage at the base of my plants, and three bines per support. My second year centennials are 13 and 18 feet, the "tips" blew off the shorter of the two and the side shoots are going bonkers. Tons of spurs, the taller plant has little side growth as the bines are still going up. I think the ladder will come out this weekend so I can dock the bines and induce the sides to start out. My first year chinooks are about eight feet and still growing as well. I'm not expecting much from them this year though.

 

shows the difference in our growing climates. Mine topped out by the end of May, and the Cascades already have full cones.

 

I could harvest my first cutting of Chinooks right now also. I'm not a commercial grower (and retired), so I tend to harvest when the hops look primo.

 

currently growing cascade, Columbus, chinook, nugget, brewers gold, tettnang, goldings, fuggles and willamett.
love growing them and brewing with them. nothing like having 20 pounds of hops in the freezer ready to go when I want. this year maybe 22 lb.

now if I could only nab a rhizome of citra, ammarrilo and simco.

sorry for the spelling!

 

I started harvesting Cascade cones a month ago, and they'll continue to produce until October or November, depending on our weather. Do not cut them until they die. As the summer progresses the bines will start to produce laterals, that's where you'll get the best production by far. Your hops are just getting ready to start gearing up for some serious production, let them do their thang.

 

Had a hard freeze and feet of snow on mothers day. My 4 ft bines got killed back. Minor setback

 

Here's how mine are looking as of yesterday - these are 3rd year Cascade and Nugget, 2 of each that share a trellis.