Week 2 in the books...

Well, this past week the weather started off really good, but the last few evenings we've seen frost advisories. Call me cautious but my little fledgling hops are likely not ready for the cold, just yet.

Although, they've all shown a fair amount of growth. A steady bit of rain water has been beneficial too. 

I've kept them outdoors for the most part save for the last couple of nights. I've seen bine development on yet a 5th plant; Northern Brewer. That just leaves the "C" hops lagging; Crystal, Cascade, and Mount Hood. 

I mentioned earlier that I had found out you are supposed to plant the rhizome horizontal, not vertical. So I took a couple of minutes to resolve that with the ones that have shown no growth. While reorienting the rhizomes, I found each had buds on them and they all looked pretty healthy. So, with the Cascade, Crystal, and Mount Hood all replanted I think I can expect to see growth in the coming week.

My next step is fertilizer and repotting. I've decided for this year, at least, to keep the plants in containers. There are a number of folks who have had success doing this, and since the first year isn't about yield containers offer me the flexibility to place my hops while establishing them.

Check out this link: MSU for more information about fertilizing your hops. It would seem that our friends in Michigan are putting some serious thought into Hops.

Hop - Week 1

The first week with my hops in pots has passed. I have to say that the results are a bit mixed with an optimistic upside. So far I have about half showing excellent growth. Two have not shown any emergence and two others are just starting to bud from what I can see. The Cascade had buds when potted, but I've yet to see any emergence since that time. The Goldings are showing a single bud, so I'm hoping that one takes off in the coming week. Mt Hood, like the Cascade had buds on when I potted it, but I've yet to see much in the way of emergence. Lastly, the Crystal has shown no signs of growth to date. My previous post mentioned this one as the one I was most concerned about.

The two rhizomes from Oregon (The Thyme Garden) are showing the most vigorous growth to date. The Brewer's Gold seen here, has 5 bines emerging and all are now over an inch in height with the excellent weather we got this weekend. I find it incredibly ironic that according to my research, online, I found that Brewer's Gold has a tendancy to be a slow starter. According to Great Lakes Hops, it can be among the last to emerge and mature with Brewers Gold being ready for harvest late August to Early September. If you are interested in growing Hops or looking to improve your hop utilization take some time to learn about them from the Documents that Great Lakes has collected. Those folks really have a terrific collection of information.

The Yakima Gold only shows a single bine but it is almost 3" tall and has begun to leaf out. It's quite surprising to watch these plants grow, as it's almost something you can see if you sit still for a moment. Given these plants will grow about 20' in about 100 days it should not be a surprise.

The last picture shows the Fuggles emerging with a tight cluster of 3 bines. They appear healthy and show signs of vigor. I expect that while they won't necessarily catch up the to the Yakima Gold, they will spend much of the year chasing the other plant.

Our weather took a sudden jump this weekend, we saw temps climb into the upper 70s and even low 80s. The lack of cloud cover caused many a sunburn and the plants received nearly 14 hours of direct sunlight, as I put them outside to begin the acclimation process. Our overnight temps seem to be climbing, as well. We haven't dipped into freezing temps for a couple of days now. I think this second week with the hops will begin their overnight acclimation so I can get them in the ground in the next two to three weeks. I'd like them to be planted no later than Memorial Day.
With rain forecasted periodically throughout the next week the plants should receive plenty of water, though I plan to keep them semi-sheltered to prevent drowning. I have my doubts about the drainage in the pots.
After reading some more, I may have made a critical mistake: I planted my Rhizomes vertically. They should have been laid in the dirt Horizontally. I'm considering replanting at least two of those who have been slow to start. Perhaps I'll start with the Crystal, given that one has shown the greatest reluctance to getting started. Reorienting her (all the hops we grow are female) might just provide the encouragement to bud. After a week in the dirt, I am convinced this certainly wouldn't hurt the plant.

Growing Hops...For the first time

HOPS

I picked up 8 of these 8" pots from Big Lots! on the 28th, with the intention of making them temporary homes for my Rhizomes. I live in the cold climes of Southeastern Wisconsin and even at this late date we've seen some pretty cold nights. I received hops from Oregon and Michigan 2-4 weeks ago and had them in my 'fridge since then, so I wanted to get them in dirt and growing before their odds of successful planting dropped too far. I filled my pots to about 1" from the top with MiracleGro Organic Garden Soil. It's a bit on the rich side, very dark and has a distinct "Barnyard" smell. That must be the "organic" component. 

I labelled each pot as you can see from the top photo. I purchased a total of 8 varieties of hops. I know there are folks who cringe at that idea but I wanted hops that would cover a spectrum of purposes and flavors. I purchased two different main categories for the time being; American hops and English hops. I like brewing English styles so to me, it just made sense.

Among these two major families I purchased: Fuggles, Brewer's Gold, US Golding, Northern Brewer, Yakima Gold, Mt. Hood, Cascade, and Crystal. The Brewer's Gold and Yakima Gold were purchased from a neat site based out of Oregon (The Thyme Garden) and were the first to arrive in early April. They were shipped in clear plastic bags labelled and came with a nice pamphlet providing some details of how to plant and care for the hops. Thanks Rolfe!

The remainder of my hops came from the nice folks at Adventures in Homebrewing (AiH). They are located across the pond from me so their hops arrived a little later. I say that without prejudice because while the Lake is a nice heatsink and protects them, but their winters can be as brutal as our own in the Badger State. The guys at AiH have this excellent PDF for Hop care, Take a few minutes to check it out. It's a terrific resource. Anyway, AiH shipped their Rhizomes in black plastic bags with silver labelling. 

Anyway, back to my process: The soil from MiracleGro was tightly compacted in the bag, so it required some work to break it up, It's just something every little boy enjoys doing....playing in the dirt. From there I checked each Rhizome individually to look for budding and possible infection. These things were in my fridge for at least two weeks and who knows what may have shipped on them. You can't see everything coming out of the ground. I am positive health of the rhizome is critical for each of these suppliers, and I know they want you back as a customer so they'll do their best to ship a viable product. That said, it doesn't hurt to be sure.

Of all the Rhizomes, only the Crystal, shown here: Had no bud growth. I was a bit concerned but thought if all I lost is one, then I'll count myself as pretty lucky.

It could, also, be too early to tell if I've lost one or if it's a late bloomer. My research indicates that it is not, but only time will tell.

From here I watered all the Rhizomes with about a pint each and covered the pots with plastic wrap to hold some heat in. I perforated the plastic and brought everyone in the house to keep them a little warmer. It's my hope to find a trellis design that is cost effective, looks nice as this is going in my backyard, and functions well for growth and harvest of my hops.

The last thing I've done comes from making beer; I started a Hop Journal. It's my intention to catch any mistakes and search for successes in growing these hops and hopefully transfer that knowledge to the next batch of hops I grow. Here's hoping this works out!