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Growing Hops

canuckbrewer

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Mar 7, 2013
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Location
Ottawa, Canada
Hi all,

This year I decided to grow some hops (Cascade),  I ordered them in early April and then once they arrived waited until the beginning of May to plant them. 
As of right now I have not seen any of the plants coming up through the soil.  I planted them about 2" below the surface. 

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with growing Cascade hops, FYI I am located in Ontario, CA and the beginning of May was really hot but has since returned to more seasonal temperatures. 

Should I be concerned that the plants have not yet surfaced? If so can I salvage them?

Cheers
 
Well like everything else in brewing patience is key. I have 3 cascade plants and 3 goldings plants that are growing like mad. It very well may take a couple of weeks for anything to break the surface, specially the first year. So my only tip would be to keep them well watered, not drowning though, and wait. Unfortunately if they are toast there isn't much you can do but wait till next year and get new rhizomes. Hope they come up soon for you.
 
They can die.  Especially if they dry out.  Keep them watered.  They may still come in.  I planted two virtually identical rhizomes.  One came up one did not.  For me Cascade was a good choice.  It has been my best producer.
 
canuckbrewer said:
Hi all,

This year I decided to grow some hops (Cascade),  I ordered them in early April and then once they arrived waited until the beginning of May to plant them. 
As of right now I have not seen any of the plants coming up through the soil.  I planted them about 2" below the surface. 

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with growing Cascade hops, FYI I am located in Ontario, CA and the beginning of May was really hot but has since returned to more seasonal temperatures. 

Should I be concerned that the plants have not yet surfaced? If so can I salvage them?

Waited till May. How long was that and how were they packaged. Perhaps they dried out. I am in Southern Ontario and I would have waited earlier this month before planting as the weather has been too un-predictive with a few nights negative to plant survival. Good luck. After 17 days in the ground rot will have set in, no hope to salvage. I am assuming CA is Canada and not Ontario California. Typically in Southern On. CA. we look at the 24th of May as 1st planting date.

Cheers
 
I am growing Cascade, Chinook, and Columbus,..they are all showing here in Washington State.
 
It will take more than 2 weeks to sprout. How thick was the root? Was there white sprouts coming out of the root? Did you keep them cool before planting?
 
thanks for all the replies.  When I first received the rhizomes they had white sprouts and I kept them cool before planting them. 
I will keep being patient and wait and see.  Just in case I ordered another rhizome which should arrive shortly so will plant that as well.

cheers
 
If there were sprouts coming from the rhizome when you planted it, it should be fine as long as you keep it moist.  I would expect to see some sign of life after about two weeks.  My cascade plants are about 10 ft tall.  Fuggle about the same height, but stronger looking.
 
Bought 5 different rhizomes this spring... Mt. Hood, Cascade, Nugget, Golding & Centennial. I started them in 1 gallon black pots down in Glendale, AZ as soon as I got them in April. Basically ran vine twine to the eve of my house and let them go. The early warm temps allowed them to go nuts right off the bat. About 2 weeks ago I cut the strings, wrapped them up and transported them up to Munds Park AZ (about 18 miles south of Flagstaff). I came up here this weekend and the Cascades are already producing cones. All area about 12 feet high with new growth. Excited to see how things turn out the first year.
 
Well one of my Cascade rhizomes is starting to sprout.  We had unusually hot start to May and then things chilled right off to below seasonal temperature. 
My fuggles are still not showing any signs of life (I planted them in a pot with nice soil and fertiliser)

As I understand it the cold temperatures may have stunted the growth and so things may take longer then normal so I will be patient and see what happens.
 
In NY I am not expected any cones from the fuggles plant this year either (2nd year). It's only 2 or 3 foot tall while the cascades reached the top of a 12' trellis a month ago with 6 bines.
 
I gave up on growing hops because I have no place on my property where they can get more than a few hours of full sun a day. They need all the sun they can get.
 
Mine only get a few hours sun. I would say fully shaded by 11am by summer.
 
In in NWPA  and grow Centennial, Willamette, and Zeus.  Centennials produce really well and the Zeus do pretty good top. I have yet to get a decent yield from my Willy's.
 
Have grown hops in the past. From what I remember the plant spends the first year after being moved to a new location establishing it's root system. Next spring it should put out new shoots. Pick the strongest 3 or 4 of these and remove the others. These 3 strong shoots can then be trained around your wires. Beware though, in the height of the season they can grow about 6 inches a day!
 
well my Cascades bit the bullet for some reason however my Fuggles seem to be going strong.  I am not sure but I believe it may have to do with the fact I began them in a pot and that helped establish a root structure. 
At any rate I am hopeful to get a few hop cones this year but if not then I will be holding out until next years harvest
 
    I have 150+ hills of hops, 2/3 of the hills are 2-3 year, 1/3 new rhizomes cut from my own plants. It was a tough year in NY for newbie plants this year, They grew but they were lame, stringy, and only minor amount of cones. Too much early season rain, and too much intense heat early season.

    One thing to remember is that new rhizomes have shallow roots close to the surface. A couple of sunny hot days, without watering, can dry the ground to a fatal level for the plant. I usually water daily at sundown so the roots have maximum exposure to the moisture. When I go on vacation, I have to make sure they get watered at least every other day by someone, daily, if temps are near 90 degrees. Hops love and need water, but they don't like to be flooded.
 
Cut the vines and moved the plants back down to the Phoenix area for the winter… In this weather they still have a hand full of leaves sticking out. Hopefully this will give them a quick jumpstart this spring.
 
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