Humulus (hops)

[farmerjim]

Hi all, its been a year since I last checked in here, didn't do much growing last year due to what was meant to be a move into my first house but the plan was scuppered by some banks

Anyway, in my absence I got in to homebrewing and im now brewing from scratch with grains, hops and yeast. My next move is to start growing my own hops as they are quite expensive to buy (average £5 for 100g) and some varieties are very hard to get hold of.

So my question is does anybody have any experience with growing these? I know they need to be planted now, but im just wondering about soil type, location, watering ect.

Any info is much appreciated.

Jim

[sarraceniac]

Hi Jim. I grow them but ornamentally. Bought some seed on ebay for a couple of quid. Before planting seed it needs cold stratifying. about 13 weeks in the fridge in damp sand or sphagnum moss should do it so you need to start now for spring planting. I planted 12 and 11 germinated and transplanted fine. You need to sort them when big enough 'cos you only want the female plants for brewing. The males can be dumped. If you google 'female hops picture' it will be easier than trying to describe it. No real problem with them, they grow like the clappers and if you cut them down early winter that just come back in spring. Hope this helps but really, apart from stratification, there is not a lot to it.

[Storm]

I cheated and asked santa to get me some plants for christmas. they came from here:

HOME


and the plants were in good health. I got 3 good brewing varieties: fuggle, phoenix and goldings.

buying plants is advantagious as you only get the females

they don't like frost so when you plant them put them in deep with the top several cm below the surface. I then covered mine with a layer of used compost from pots and leaf mulch for extra protection from frost. Once they're established they're usually ok. prune down to the ground in autumn. give them sun and air. they can get big!!! I have them growing up the back of the house.

[WrexTheDragon]

I have Fuggle, Goldings and Progress growing for about 2 years now.

I got mine as bare roots from Aplus Hops Planted in pots, then out in the garden later.

It is worth emailing them first before ordering.

Do not forget that these grow very high and need special training.

[farmerjim]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Im going to try and get some dwarf varieties so I dont have to worry about the height. Now I just need to find a neumatic drill to get them in the ground