21 replies to this topic

[chuck_d]

Sup folks, I know I'm a little behind the curve, but heck I'm trying to grow some hops for the fun of it in my home office/gym in a planter on the window sill, so whatever. Picked up a 27" planter at HD today and 32 dry quarts of potting mix. Now what I need to do is build my "trellis". It's really going to be just 2-3 twines running to the top of the window and then across the room 3" down from the ceiling. How long do you guys thing it'll be before shoots break the top of the soil (I put the rhizome down 2-3" in the center of soil horizontally). I figure I can just hook up the twine to some little hook I build to put in the soil (I'll do this this weekend). I'll center it left to right, but put it towards the side of the plantar so I'm not jamming the thing right down onto the rhizome. Here's a pic of the setup for those beer porn addicts like me.

[JReigle]

You should almost certainly see some activity within 12 days, likely within a week, but sometimes it can take up to a month maybe in extreme cases. I've had some rhizomes where the sprouts are so long and thick already when they're planted that they're practically already above ground. One zeus I planted had very little in the way of the little nubs on it when I planted it and didn't sprout for nearly 4 weeks. I had almost given up on it.

[JReigle]

BTW, what type do you have planted?

[chuck_d]

You should almost certainly see some activity within 12 days, likely within a week, but sometimes it can take up to a month maybe in extreme cases. I've had some rhizomes where the sprouts are so long and thick already when they're planted that they're practically already above ground. One zeus I planted had very little in the way of the little nubs on it when I planted it and didn't sprout for nearly 4 weeks. I had almost given up on it.

Nice, that's faster than I expected actually. I really need to read up on this more, but since it's not a truly serious effort at this point I haven't been digging into it.

BTW, what type do you have planted?

Centennial. I don't expect much from it, but I love Cenns. It would be cool to do a freshop ale at some point. I chose Cenns over Cascades b/c I do love them, but also figured that a low yield will still have some bittering potential. If I don't get enough to do a freshop ale I'll at least have some fresh flavor/aroma that I enjoy. Plus it's just gonna be fun lifting weights with hops vines behind me in the mirror this summer.

[rockon]

Can you grow hops inside? I've never planted any because my yard is shady and I thought they needed a lot of sun. I hope I'm wrong though. I'd love to plant some in my shady yard.

[JReigle]

Can you grow hops inside? I've never planted any because my yard is shady and I thought they needed a lot of sun. I hope I'm wrong though. I'd love to plant some in my shady yard.

Sunbeam is apparently a shade-tolerate varietal, never tried it but I've heard others have some decent successl. Freshops has some in right now.

[chuck_d]

Can you grow hops inside? I've never planted any because my yard is shady and I thought they needed a lot of sun. I hope I'm wrong though. I'd love to plant some in my shady yard.

The latest BYO has a column on the last page about a guy who has grown some Cascade in his office. Apparently someone in his office has also been sabotaging them too.

[strangebrewer]

I've grown them before in planters that got maybe 4 hours of sun a day. I trained them up twine to get to more sun and they did great.Currently I fear for my hops. I just took this photo out by back door. My hops are under there.... somewhere...

[chuck_d]

Hahaha, wow! I love snow, but it's too late for that now. I was playing frisbee in the park yesterday wearing shorts and a short sleeve tee. I wanted a bigger planter, but unfortunately that sill is just barely over 35" wide and the next largest size was 36"

[Dave in Indiana]

I planted some last year and they grew like weeds ... didn't have a proper set-up to let them climb and they imploded on themselves. I see you are starting them inside ... what are your plans for outside?

[chuck_d]

I planted some last year and they grew like weeds ... didn't have a proper set-up to let them climb and they imploded on themselves. I see you are starting them inside ... what are your plans for outside?

Nothing. The plan is to run twine from the planter up to the top of the window and then across the room towards the 8' x 6' mirror on the opposite wall hanging ~3" from the ceiling. I live in a 4th floor walkup in Harlem. The only soil I own is in that planter. If I wanna lay in the grass I go to a park. Obviously it's not ideal, but it's not like it cost me a ton of money either. I just think it'll be cool to have hops vines arching across my room and working out under a canopy. The bonus is any cones that form I'll toss into a batch of beer. The ideal bonus would be a 10 gallon fresh hop ale, I'd settle for just tossing from wet hops in as FWH, flavoring or aroma hops in a 5 gallon batch. I don't expect anything but some vines for decoration, that way I probably shouldn't be disappointed.

[DuncanDad]

Mine are already poking their heads up.I planted them last year so, I hope I can get some off of them this year.I also scored some rhizomes from the USDA.

[Dave in Indiana]

This thread, and an email from Williams Brewing that they got a shipment of rhizomes in ... forced me to spend 20 bucks and order 3 rhizomes (with shipping). Got cascade, williamette, and centennial. Let's try this again.

[Kremer]

I planted three Fuggle and three Chinook outside last spring, it was a good 3-4 weeks until I saw sprouts. My cousin started 2 in planters within a couple days of mine being planted and saw activity much sooner than I did, likely because the pots stayed warmer than the dirt next to my garage. I had one cone from the Fuggle last year and they only got about 6' high. The Chinook on the other hand went to the top of the 12' strings I put up and were curling around looking for something else to grab. I got 8oz dried (a full 5 gallon bucketfull when wet) at harvest from those three plants, more than I ever expected for the first season. Last Thursday I had one Fuggle and one Chinook sprout, by Sunday all six were sprouted. I'm going to have to put the strings back up in the next week or so and start giving them the plant food. I learned quickly last year that they really like the food, and especially the water, if I diddn't water them for 3-4 days the leaves would start to droop, I'm sure I lost a lot of potential yield due to the plants drying out a few times. This year I need to make sure they get watered every other day.

[Dave in Indiana]

Having been locked up all winter with snow and cold, I vowed to do better this year with the hops.

[Stout_fan]

My Cascades took off like a rocket.Overconfident with my stunning success, next year I put some Hallertau in the ground.The Cascades got even bigger in year two.Hallertau, nothing for 4 weeks. I had given up.Then one day mowing the grass, I almost buzzed off the first set of leaves.Three rizomes grew a whopping foot that year. :)4 years later, I'm looking at 15' of growth and one pound wet harvested.

[BrianBrewerKS]

My three plants are shooting up...they're prolly a foot tall or so now. (2nd year)We're 'sposed to get 6-9" of snow tonight/tomorrow though. GRRRR!!!!! Hate.I'm thinkin hops are mucho strongo though, so they should be okay.

Edited by BrianBrewerKS, 27 March 2009 - 06:17 AM.

[japh]

When is a good time to be planting rhizomes? Would May be too late?

[DuncanDad]

I would think once the last frost is gone you can plant.Last year my plants were growing an inch a day or more. I didn't many cones. Maybe this year with all of the rain we've been having I'll get some.2 of them are already poking out of the ground.

[Stout_fan]

I think I mentioned on "the board that cannot be named" I used to have my hops trained up my deck and along the lattice.This year, I'm putting poles in. In my dad's junk was some 1 1/2 by 1" redwood furring strips. I'm thinking of turning this into a serious set of hop bines for my Cascades.Should I make this my first construction thread for the brew bros?