Any harvest on first year hops is a bonus – congrats! Sounds like you are off to a great start – other than the Fuggles. Could have been a bad rhizome, could be the ph of the soil – you want between 6 and 8 ph – shoot for 7 and you can’t go wrong. As far as the Fuggles close to the evergreen, the soil may have been too acidic. A friend of mine who grows hops like gangbusters had some that refused to grow (healthy, vibrant hop rhizomes). Turned out it was a black walnut tree, the roots impart a chemical that is toxic to hops – probably other plants as well (he cut down the tree – priorities you know). As far as Miracle Grow, it is a lesser evil than most chemical fertilizers (I use miracle grow on my garden if I think the plants need a boost) – not close to harvest though.

I would think that by June (on second year hops), the crown or root stock would be established deep enough to survive unattended unless you have a severe drought. Make sure the hop bines are off to a good start – well watered and trained up the twine/rope or whatever you have them climbing and they should do fine. Make sure to mulch around the hop plants to retain moisture in the soil. Allow up to 3 hop bines per rope and cut the rest down to the ground.

Do you have any friends or nearby home brewers that would appreciate the hops? It would be a shame to go to waste but if nothing else, you can compost them and the compost will have every nutrient your hops will need the following year. Worst case, the bines will supply energy to the crowns for the next year. Also, this spring, cut a radius around the hop root stock as far out as you wish to contain the hop plants. The hop crown will send out lateral rhizomes (self propagating roots) and spread bines unless contained.

Anyway, have a great experience where ever you are going or at least make the most of it. You didn’t say where you are located but your hops should survive as they are now established hop plants and hardy as any weed! Cheers!

http://www.growinghopsyourself.com/growing-hops/where-to-buy-hop-rhizomes/

Miracle grow is one of the lesser non-organic evils – The stuff you spray on the foliage anyway. Just don’t kill your living soil with harsh chemical fertilizers. So far I am 100% organic (I have been tempted too).

Best of luck. Keep me posted. I’ll say a prayer for your Cascades and Hallertau – those are tasty hops!

my count is now – 4 fuggles, 2 willamette, 2 zeus, 2 nugget, 1 goldings and 1 mt hood. most crowns have 2 bines trained, but a couple just have 1. I used green jute twine this year and we’ll see how she holds up.

I am hoping that a decent harvest can be obtained from vines that grow less than 10 feet. I will do some reading about the best pruning methods to concentrate the energy to the cones. I have to say, I have been very tempted to hit them with miracle grow, etc. but I have resisted….wanna stay organic… It’s like when that cigarette craving hits – it only last for a couple of seconds, then I’m glad I didn’t….just have to remind myself that this is the first attempt, and the rhizomes were fairly immature. I will keep hitting them with the compost tea and at my 2 month mark (july 17) i hope to be where you were after 2 months.
wish me luck!