Hop Growing

[lexuschris]

I planted some Centennial hops in Sedona at my father's ranch back in April... one of them is taking off.. yeah!

He is now asking me about planting a half-acre.

I have little clue what i am doing ... but I'll plant something if I can! Just got to stick to high-temp dry climate hops ... worth a try for a few plants at least...
--lexuschris

edited by BYB to display image instead of link

[backyard brewer]

Very cool. There was a guy a while back who was recruiting here for a hop-growing group on Yahoo if I remember. Those guys will be able to help select varieties and such. High trellises are a must, 18' or so if you can.

[dhempy]

Bill Velek was his name ... here is the link.

Dan

[lexuschris]

Excellent! Thanks for the link!!
==LexusChris

[dhempy]

When I get a minute .. I'll snap and post a pic of my hops .. I have several bines that are already 15.5 feet tall (top of my trellis).

Dan

[backyard brewer]

Dan,

That's the guy I was thinking of.

[dhempy]

Yeah ... I signed up for GrowHops and get the daily journal ... I don't always read it but it would appear that there is a lot of activity on that board.

Dan

[dhempy]

Long overdue but here is a pic of the hops I've got growing ... we're harvesting soon.

Dan

hops2009.jpg

[jward]

Excellent!

[backyard brewer]

wow!! Very cool!

[lexuschris]

Wow Dan! Very nice! What are the construction elements of your trellis there? Did you just drive the wood posts into the ground, or did you pour cement footings?

Impressive! Thanks for posting that!
--LexusChris

[dhempy]

HI Chris:

I built the trellis similar to the one detailed in BYO a few months ago. The 18' posts sit in a 4' plastic sleeve that is set in concrete 2.5' deep. I can lift the trellis out and fold it down for restringing (and if all of the hops are ready at the same time, harvesting).

I transplanted all of my hops this year ... the Cascades and Sterlings really didn't care, the Liberty, Tetnanger, and East Kent Golding are still recovering from the shock. I've also got a Hallertauer that is growing pretty well on it's own temporary trellis.

I think we're going to harvest the Sterlings tonight.

Dan

[lexuschris]

2010 update:

Well, I have ordered my rhizomes and plan to plant them in early April. Using the pole design simliar to Dan's, I will have 10 poles in the ground, and 4 plants per pole.

12 Cascade
12 Centennial
8 Nugget
8 Willamette

So, 40 rhizomes... and all of mid-season maturing varieties. In Sedona, it gets quite hot in late summer, and the monsoons come through in August. I'd love be harvesting in early August, before the humidy really climbs! We will see...

Thanks for the links... they have been helpfull in planning a bunch of stuff. However, I think this 1st year will be the real test.

--LexusChris

[JonGoku]

Whats the expected yield you think you will get?

[BrewMasterBrad]

Sounds like we need to take a road trip to Sedona in early August for a harvest.