33 replies to this topic

[ncbeerbrewer]

So its been around a month now since I planted my 5 rhizomes. 4 of the 5 rhizomes are growing and coming out of the ground pretty good. These are all first year hops. My question is at what point do you set up your hop strings and start to attach or attract your hop shoots to the string? I am going to follow Zymlogical's setup as mine are planted in a flower bed near my fence and strings attached to a hook would work well for me as well. Here are the lengths of the rhizomes (measured them this afternoon.) Some have more than one shoot but no trimming for me I have read on here for first year hops. Thanks again Nugget= 7 inchesWillamette= 6 inchesCascade 1= 4 inchesCascade 2= 3 inches

[Deerslyr]

It's never too soon. The suckers will start to grow fast on you and they will WANT to climb whatever is nearest. Go ahead and set it up now, because you are going to have to soon anyways. If the bine doesn't gravitate toward the string naturally, it's real easy to get it going. You should be able to get it set up in minutes.

[RommelMagic]

Never too soon is right. They might only be first year hops, but they can take off. Mine are 2 and 3 yr olds and are already up to my second floor windows. They were only about 10 feet last week.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I set mine up immediately b/c it was convenient. I don't see any reason not to do it now.I planted my rhizomes a little under a week ago. One of them had some nice shoots on it already so those are starting to turn green and I can tell that they are going to take off. The other had pretty much nothing on it and I don't see anything popping up yet. How long until I should get worried?

[Greatfookin]

You can do it anytime, as long as it is before they start climbing something you don't want them to, or rotting, or rooting to the ground.

[cbbrown40]

The time is now

[ncbeerbrewer]

Thank you hop growers. That sounds good to me, I know how I wanna go about this so I will just have to get to work. Thanks for your advice. All the shoots are still growing straight up. Growing hops is fun!!

[big harry deehl]

I set mine up immediately b/c it was convenient. I don't see any reason not to do it now.I planted my rhizomes a little under a week ago. One of them had some nice shoots on it already so those are starting to turn green and I can tell that they are going to take off. The other had pretty much nothing on it and I don't see anything popping up yet. How long until I should get worried?

I planted 3 rhizomes this year, and one of them did not come up. I dug it out by hand and saw that the shoots were growing down. I replanted it with the shoots upward and the thing burst out of the ground in 3-4 days.If your one hill is more than a week -> 10 days behind the others, I would dig it up gently by hand and check it. That worked for me.

[CarlosM]

So its been around a month now since I planted my 5 rhizomes. 4 of the 5 rhizomes are growing and coming out of the ground pretty good. These are all first year hops. My question is at what point do you set up your hop strings and start to attach or attract your hop shoots to the string? I am going to follow Zymlogical's setup as mine are planted in a flower bed near my fence and strings attached to a hook would work well for me as well. Here are the lengths of the rhizomes (measured them this afternoon.) Some have more than one shoot but no trimming for me I have read on here for first year hops. Thanks again Nugget= 7 inchesWillamette= 6 inchesCascade 1= 4 inchesCascade 2= 3 inches

id wait for a 1 foot minimum

[Deerslyr]

The other had pretty much nothing on it and I don't see anything popping up yet. How long until I should get worried?

Give it a year. Seriously... I wrote of two rhizomes last year that I put in a large planter and low and behold they came back this year, sprouting for the first time. Sucks that I missed out on a year. Frankly though, by the time you realize it ain't happening this year, it'll likely be too late to plant some more and that's probably more a function of the lack of availability of new rhizomes.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I am pretty happy that 4 of the 5 rhizomes of mine are growing well. I marked where I planted them so the last unseen rhizome I believe can be found. I like your idea BHD. I think I will gently dig up that area and see what the rhizome is doing. I have to admit that I planted all of the rhizomes vertical so I maybe have planted it upside down and maybe I can turn it around, but hey if its gone or I kill it I won't lose any sleep either. I hope everyone else continues to grow well.

[AAASTINKIE]

The first year is slow, but after that they go NUTS!! My 3rd year Cascade hops are over 2 feet tall now (and I live in Maine) and they are speading like wildfire!!

[boo boo]

The first year is slow, but after that they go NUTS!! My 3rd year Cascade hops are over 2 feet tall now (and I live in Maine) and they are speading like wildfire!!

I live a scant 750 miles NE of you and mine are only about 6 inches yet, but are starting to go nuts also. I have to get off my assand set my string to support them before they get too big. Mine are fourth year and I expect a good harvest this year. At least as good as I got last year.Got to weed them and make them look purdy.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I just dug up one of my cascades and it just barely has 2 white nubs on it so I tried to make sure these were kind of pointed up and reburied it under 1" of soil. My other cascade has 2 shoots that are looking pretty healthy though.

[Deerslyr]

I just dug up one of my cascades and it just barely has 2 white nubs on it so I tried to make sure these were kind of pointed up and reburied it under 1" of soil. My other cascade has 2 shoots that are looking pretty healthy though.

your white cascade nubs will be green within the week.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I understand what you guys mean about your hops. I am not expecting much of anything from my zomes this year. I am just pretty excited that they are growing and I am amazed at how tall they are now as well in only like 3.5 weeks. I am going to set up my strings by this weekend and if any of them give me one hop cone I will be happy. I have never seen a hop cone in fact face to hop so that would thrill me alone. Sounds like you guys up in the NE are doing pretty well so far too. Continued luck!!Mike

[Zulu]

Established plants can grow 3 -4 feet in a week, I actually photographed a plant do 8" day to day while working over a weekend. Had to go back and verify it was the same one as I could not believe it.Your first year will do more like 6" a week until the root stock can support a full plant. Get ropes up when you can, but wont really need them until Mid June probably. Each plant can be different and if you start feeding soon (I always say after 24" growth) they will take off quickly.Good luck.

[Stout_fan]

My generally lame Hallertau (3 bines) are finishing the second lattice panel on my stairs. Thats 10'I'm shocked how fast they are growing.Five bines of Cascade are already a foot past my deck railing. That's 8' from the ground.Wondering if that 22' of vertical will be enough.

[ncbeerbrewer]

So I set up my strings for my 4 visible hop rhizomes that are growing now. I touched the top of the shoot to the nylon cord that I used and just checked them this morning. its amazing three of them are already winding around the cord in less than 24 hours. Hmm these are some smart vines.

[Deerslyr]

So I set up my strings for my 4 visible hop rhizomes that are growing now. I touched the top of the shoot to the nylon cord that I used and just checked them this morning. its amazing three of them are already winding around the cord in less than 24 hours. Hmm these are some smart vines.

Just a note for next year... I use kithcen string (for tying up meats) and others use twine. Less expensive. You will find the easiest way to discard the bine at the end of the season is to just cut down the string and throw it all away in the compost or yard waste recycling bin. If you think you want to save the nylon, it'll probably be a PITA to get the bine off of it. With disposable (i.e. inexpensive) string, you can throw it away and not worry about it. Sorry I posted this advice too late. Of course FWIW, YMMV. Just speaking from my personal experience.