8 replies to this topic

[BarelyBrews]

My NB hops are doing ok, but my Cascade is kicking it.Jap beetles have either stopped coming out to dine or i have killed them all.Six on wednesday,three on thursday and yesterday and today a big zero have shown up.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

my metal pole that my cascades are hooked to has some serious bend in it. I'm getting nervous. The plant has a lot of dying leaves on it. I'm not sure what the deal is. Maybe it can't support itself? I water it daily.

[djinkc]

My cascade/centennial that I've given up on a few times is finding second life in a better location. I transplanted this spring and it looked like hell. It's sent up a couple new bines recently, is growing fast and looks like I might even get a few cones from it. Maybe next year I can figure out which it is if I don't get cones this year.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

What's the ideal time to cut hop crowns down to size? Mine are filling in a pretty big area so I could stand to cut the system back a little. Also - could I use the stuff I cut back to propagate more hops?

[gnef]

You mean to just trim, not cut all of them down, right? If so, you can do that whenever. Usually earlier is better.Also, the best way I've found to propagate hops later in the season is to bend a section of a bine back down, strip off the leaves, and bury it in the ground. It will eventually begin to root, and next year, you should be able to pull it out and plan it somewhere new. I did this last year, but just left all the new roots in the ground because I was lazy. I am pretty sure my cascades are going to take over my garden in the next few years.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

You mean to just trim, not cut all of them down, right? If so, you can do that whenever. Usually earlier is better.Also, the best way I've found to propagate hops later in the season is to bend a section of a bine back down, strip off the leaves, and bury it in the ground. It will eventually begin to root, and next year, you should be able to pull it out and plan it somewhere new. I did this last year, but just left all the new roots in the ground because I was lazy. I am pretty sure my cascades are going to take over my garden in the next few years.

Naw - I mean at the end of the season to make the crown cover a smaller area of the ground. I heard it was good to not let them spread out beyond a 1' diameter or so.So when you propagate you don't dig up a section of rhizome?

[gnef]

oh, you mean to trim the roots?If you trim the roots - pull up the entire rhizome, trim off what you don't want to keep with the primary rhizome, then you can use those cuttings as new rhizomes. was that what you were talking about?I believe that the commercial hop farms do this right before the new growing season, this is why rhizomes aren't available till the spring.I've heard of some say to trim the roots every 3 years or so (can't remember the exact number), but I don't plan on ever trimming the roots. I feel like it is starting over with the rhizome back to year one. I might just use a shovel and cut off any growth that extends beyond my square for hops in future years.Are you propagating to spread it to other areas of your garden, or to give to friends?

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

oh, you mean to trim the roots?If you trim the roots - pull up the entire rhizome, trim off what you don't want to keep with the primary rhizome, then you can use those cuttings as new rhizomes. was that what you were talking about?I believe that the commercial hop farms do this right before the new growing season, this is why rhizomes aren't available till the spring.I've heard of some say to trim the roots every 3 years or so (can't remember the exact number), but I don't plan on ever trimming the roots. I feel like it is starting over with the rhizome back to year one. I might just use a shovel and cut off any growth that extends beyond my square for hops in future years.Are you propagating to spread it to other areas of your garden, or to give to friends?

That's what I was thinking of maybe doing but I don't know.For propagating it was for my own use. I want to line the whole front edge of my deck with them.

[ANUSTART]

My 2nd year cascade bines are going nuts. Ton's of cones everywhere, you can barely see leaves anymore... just hops.2nd year Columbus is doing well, it reached the top of the rope and has a lot of smallish cones. This is the same plant that only got up to about 8" in its first year.2nd year transplanted (no idea how old) Willamette is doing well, it reached the top and has a few more cones than the columbus.My two 2nd year transplanted Magnums (also don't know how old) went nuts this year. Both plants have a lot of hops on them, but one is doing better than the other. The one that is doing well has giant hop cones on it, about 2.5" long, maybe 1" diameter at the widest part. I've never seen hops so big.This is a huge improvement over last year. Due to the late july hail storm, I ended up with 5 cones (not 5 oz) as my whole 2009 harvest. If all goes well, I'm looking at at least a few hundred cones this year. I don't have enough experience with it to say how many oz I think it'll be.