Growing hops

[Newton]

I thought kiwis didn't like Australian soil much?

[Feral007]

I thought kiwis didn't like Australian soil much?

Haha, who told you that Newton? You can't move for tripping over kiwi's over here

[Patchninja]

I grew hops a few years ago just because they're pretty. We have very sandy soil and I grew them from seed - very easy. Never got watered. The problem was more about getting rid of them! They grow like weeds. I would have loved to be able to take the harvest along to a brewery and have a party hahaha

[PyreneesPlot]

We grow hops for beer - Brewer's Gold - as Mr PP makes a fine homebrew. All from scratch, none of your kit malarky.

The vine went in two years ago and we got our first harvest last year. We collected enough hops for at least half a pint.....

Bigger and better this year!

[snakeshack]

I planted fuggles last autumn bought from Willingham Nurseries .can't remember the price but the website is good and has a wide selection.
hops grow small in their first year as they establish a root system,then go berserk in their second year,often growing up to a foot a day.
will be using mine for second hopping of my home brew as i barrel it

[veggiechicken]

Thanks SS. That's an interesting site - must have a good read! We're growing Prima Donna - a dwarf hop
Hop Variety Prima Donna.
Not sure how many Cardiffians will be growing it but there are 3 microbrewers waiting to brew the hops!! Should be fun

[veggiechicken]

Picked up 2 hop rhizomes today, complete with a bag of grit and manure and some hairy twine

Although they are a Dwarf variety they still grow up to 10' although they can be zigzagged to keep the height down. I've cut all the lower branches off a hawthorn and one hop will grow up the trunk (on the right of the pic below, by the garden fork).
The other one is against a small apple tree that isn't very productive (on the left by the dog!). My "plan" is to run a rope between the 2 trees and grow the hops along it, to make a sort of archway.

In the foreground are buckets of shallots, garlic and perennial leeks, each one marking an emerging rhubarb. In the middle of the rhubarb is a new apricot tree and I shall be planting blackcurrant bushes behind the rhubarb but in front of the hops!
Got that

[kathycam]

At a seed swap yesterday I got some root cuttings of the same variety. They are small about the size of match sticks. I'm not holding much hope for them. The guy who they came from said to use some rooting powder. I don't have any. They're just in a shallow amount of water at the moment, might pot up in a 50/50 mixture of seed compost/ vermiculture tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed.

[veggiechicken]

Good luck Kathy - hope it works for you! Would those cuttings have come from the Brixton Hops group?

[kathycam]

I'm not sure. The seed swap was in Bristol, and I think he said he got them online. He said we were a bit late in the season to start them, but worth a try. Yours look a lot bigger and healthier than my matchsticks!

[Jimmy]

Many years ago in a home brew magazine there was an article by a chap with a name like Charles Dela Something. He offered a free hop root for those who sent in a envelope.
I got one, Saaz I think.
It's still going. I planted it against a south facing wall, it likes the dry wall base I think.
Every year it goes mad.
It climbs over the back garden gate.
If you walk through the gate in summer in your shorts you often get caught on the arm or leg by a wayward tendril. You then get a big red welt.
The tendrils are like a rat tailed file!
Made beer with it but picking the hops is a bit of a bind.
Jimmy

[snakeshack]

my hop bine has emerged and has grown about 50cm in a week how is everyone else doing

[Olorin2001]

Swapping not selling

I have been growing Fuggle for several years, and as it's not permisable to sell allotment produce I give them to a local micro brewery, and they give me a couple of cases of beer when we have a party. I grew Dorset nagas last year and made chilli vodka, the brewery were very interested, I found it very amusing watching the guy sampling it, took a full shot glass and downed it in one, most people just dip their finger in it and that's too much for them. Have a similar scheme for sloe gin and cherry (morello) brandy.

[AkionTotocha]

There's a lady in Kyoto called Venetia and she grows hops up strings quite close to each other as a living screen. I thought it was quite a nice idea.

Something I've always wondered. Do they pick the hop (Flowers?) for brewing, or just throw the whole vine in? If they separate the flowers, do they do it by hand or just beat it with a stick?

[snakeshack]

the bines are cut down and the flowers are picked off by hand or a machine on a commercial scale,only the flowers are used in beer,the job sometimes made pickers in the sheds sit on one legged stools so that they woke up quickly when the strong hop smell made them fall asleep.the remaining bines were composted,burnt or made into festive wreaths by coiling and tucking.hop pillows are good for sleep as is hop tea.