In cold climates it is important to overwinter hop plants / protect them from sub-zero temperatures. Hops do fairly well on their own but can be killed off if the ground is unprotected and hard freezes the ground. Snow will insulate the ground but occasionally the snow will be blown clear or animals may dig the snow away from the underground hop crowns (started as hop rhizomes).
Protect Cascade Hop Crowns
No sense taking any chances of losing your hop plants to the weather. All it takes is a layer of mulch – I used 6 inches of leaves and grass I bagged while mowing. This also helps in the Minnesota climate to keep the ground cold enough in the spring to prevent hop sprouts from sprouting too soon and then freeze. Generally they will send up new shoots if the first hop shoots freeze and die off but why waste the root stock energy.
When sub-freezing temperatures have past in the spring, You just clear the mulch and and the hop crown will send up shoots as the ground warms.
Unless you want the hops to spread in all directions, you will want to trim the hop rhizomes by digging down and cutting the lateral running rhizomes and pull them up. You can plant these in other areas if you wish or give or sell them to friends and fellow hop growers and homebrewers. I will be cutting the rhizomes about a one foot radius from the center of the crown (two foot diameter to contain the hop plants). They are self propagating and will travel in all directions from the crown.
One problem with not containing the spread of hops is they will soon mix with other nearby varieties and can be hard to distinguish variety and/or you will have 2 or more variety of hop bines growing together and makes harvesting and separating the different varieties of hop cones difficult if not impossible. My varieties are 5 to 6 feet apart so with a little effort, I can keep them separate. You need to know which hops are which for accurate beer and ale recipes. You especially do not want to mix bittering hops with aroma hops.
That’s it, just a layer of mulch – leaves, grass, hay, straw or compost to protect the hop crowns and the organic material will also leach into the ground as an organic fertilizer. Next years hop yield will be even better!
Hop Sprouts – all 3 of my hop rhizomes have sprouted! Magnum was first followed by Nugget and finally the Cascade. The hop rhizomes were planted April 11, 2009. When growing hops, this is your first sign of progress – hop sprouts.
The Magnum sprouted April 21 (10 days), the Nugget sprouted April 24 and the Cascades finally broke ground April 26th, 2009. I had mulched heavily over all 3 mounds to keep the ground cold. I was attempting to delay sprouting until after the danger of frost. It appeared to work . Generally May 15th is the safe time to plant in Minnesota. I’ll have to keep an eye on the weather and cover the bines if it drops below freezing.
Magnum Hops Have Sprouted
Now I just have to worry about a possible frost, rabbits, deer and maybe squirrels will dig up the rhizomes – they dig up my garden. Of course I will also have to worry about insects, viruses and other hop diseases like powdery mildew, downy mildew, high winds and hail. Hail obliterated a friend of mine’s hops last year. They never recovered – whole hop season ruined!
I am still contemplating on how I am going to rig the ropes for the bines. I have the materials – rope, pulleys, hardware… I have a couple of ideas. Functionality and ease of lowering the hop bines without needing a ladder (once the pulleys are fastened high up on my garage).
Cascade Rhizome Produces Hop Sprouts
I am going to use a hybrid idea I have which is a combination of some other tricks I read about. The hop bines will be lowered when they get close to the top of the rope. I will loop the bines on a hook type apperatus, possibly a mountable half circle hose rack. When they near the top again, lower and loop the bines again.
This will effectively allow them to grow as long as possible and keep them off the ground. I will have to allow breathing room so the bines will not suffer from dampness and possible molds or mildew (powdery mildew, downy mildew…). I am sure I will need to make adjustments along the way. Wish me luck.
If anyone has ideas about how to do this or how they have done this, let me know. The whole idea here is to share ideas and especially what works.
The first major milestone has ocurred, all the hop rhizomes have sprouted! Magnum, Nugget and Cascade – bitter, bitter and aroma hops. I have to finalize my bine rigging ideas and implement them.
I am still investigating how I want to feed the hops, organic and naturally of course. Green sand, fish emulsions, compost tea and looking into mycelium products to permeate the soil bring nutrients to the rhizomes / root stock.
Where to buy hop rhizomes. I have been asked over and over so I figure I would just put together a post and answer the question of where to buy hop rhizomes online. I got my 2009 hop rhizomes from a local homebrew store Northern Brewer (ordered online even though they are local – still 20 mile drive) – as it turns out, they get their hop rhizomes from www.freshops.com. You might as well go straight to freshops.com and cut out the middleman.
You can sometimes find a local homebrew shop or hop grower selling rhizomes, but generally, online buying is more convenient, better selection and you can compare shop. Don’t forget friends and other local hop growing enthusiasts, they may be willing to part with some rhizomes. Barter a couple of homebrews to your friends that are growing hops for some hop rhizomes!
www.thymegarden.com – 2010 – Taking orders now for our organically grown hop rhizomes while they last. Also wholesale varieties available. Shipping begins in order received approx. March 1st depending on the weather.
www.thebeeressentials.com
www.hopsdirect.com
www.beer-wine.com
www.americanbrewmaster.com
www.midwestsupplies.com
www.gorstvalleyhops.com (lots of 10 to 100+)
There are more hop rhizome sources, this is what I found Googling “buy hop rhizomes”. If anyone has a hop rhizome vendor they have used and are happy with, let me know and I will include it in this list. There you have it, not much time left to get your hop rhizomes planted for the 2009 growing season.
April 11, 2009 – Well I did it. I couldn’t wait. Let’s hope I don’t regret this early hop planting for Minnesota. I checked all available potential hop garden spots in my yard. The ground was frozen in every one of them except on the south side of my garage which was my intention and first choice. The soil preperation I did last fall seems to be working well. The soil is loose and full of decomposed organic matter (leaves and grass clippings and wood ashes).
I built mounds and planted the Cascade, Magnum and Nugget rhizomes 2-3 inches deep and mulched over them with a couple inches of leaves to insulate and keep the soil from warming up from the sun. Where I live, Bloomington, Minnesota will freeze several more times so I am trying to delay the rhizomes from sprouting (I don’t care if the roots grow, I just don’t want the bines to sprout yet and freeze).
Next weekend I have a wedding, I have to work the weekend after that… I just didn’t feel comfortable letting the hop rhizomes sit in my refrigerator that long (my vegetables don’t last long and it has a tendency to freeze now and again) it has already been a couple weeks. Wish me luck!
Ok, I am from here and know better, but damn, we have had a couple of 60 degree days – 55 the previous day then this. Generally the frost free time of year for here to plant your garden is May 15th. Hop rhizomes are hardy but the new bines won’t be able to take a hard frost.
I have the soil prepared since last fall on the south side of my garage, it is protected and receives sunlight all day long. It is the only garden space I have right now that isn’t frozen ground. I was figuring on getting the rhizomes planted and mulch about 4 inches over them to maintain the cool soil temps and delay the shoots from breaking ground. I get nervous about the hop rhizomes developing mold or fungus – and sometimes my refrigerator will freeze items in the back (where my family tends to push things they can’t or don’t want to eat).
Well, I am going to wait a bit, do a little more research and determine the best time to plant hops for my area. I guess I will hit a hop growing forum or 2, double check with a couple of my Minnesota home brewing, hop growing friends and see if my theories hold out. One friend of mine planted too early last year, the new bines froze and died and the rhizome was done – no other shoots from this hop rhizome. Next post, when they are in the ground.
Growing hops from hop rhizomes is easy and almost foolproof. Hop plants (humulus lupulus) are a very hardy perennial and once established, will provide all the home brew hops you will need. Hops are dioecious (male and female) only the females produce hop cones. When you start with rhizones, they are female so you don’t have to worry about that. You can expect a hop yield of half to two pounds of dried hop cones per plant. If you are into home brewing, growing hops will save you a lot of money and put you in control of your supply and avoid the hop shortage.
Hops grow best vertically so plant where they will have room to grow – at least 16 feet. Hops can grow from 25 to 40 feet in a single growing season! The first year the crown is establishing itself so hop cone yield will be much less that following years. Hops will need rope or twine for the bines (not vines) to climb. Hop bines cling to the rope by wrapping clockwise (you train them) around the rope or twine and stiff “hairs” hold on to the rope. It is best to rig the ropes so they can be lowered for harvesting the hop flowers (cones).
Hops rhizomes should be planted in well drained, fertile soil between 6.0 and 8.0 PH once the threat of frost has past. Hops require plenty of water, sun and nutrients to sustain their high growth rate. A good organic fortified soil with decent drainage and lots of sunlight will give the hop rhizomes the environment they need. During the growing season fertilize with compost tea and other gentle organic fertilizers.
The hop plants should be spaced a minimum of 3 feet apart – 5 feet apart if different varieties. Generally hops rhizomes are planted horizontally with the white buds facing up, about 1 inch deep one hop rhizome per mound. A slight mounding of the soil helps with drainage and does not let the root stalk or crown of the plant drown in heavy rainfalls or waterings.
These are rhizomes, they do self propagate by sending out more underground shoots (rhizomes). So if you do not want them taking over your hop garden, you will have to “limit” the root area by trimming the root stalk or crown. You can take these cuttings and plant elsewhere or give to friends to grow there own hops or sell them.
I will be posting about this years batch of Nugget, Magnum and Cascade hops from rhizome to harvest so check back at least monthly. Those are the actual rhizomes I will be planting in the picture above. You will see the methods and rigging of the ropes I use – there are many ways to do this, I go for ease and efficiency.
There is still time to do this this season so get to it. The more friends you get interested in growing hops and homebrewing, the more home brews you will have available to you. Home brew beers and ales are meant to be shared and is a growing hobbie for many. Join a local homebrewing group, join some forums, read some books on growing hops. You can never know to much. Hop onboard!
Growing hops is possible in almost every one of the United States of America. Hops obviously exist in Europe, Asia and other locations but I will stick with what I am familiar with, the USA. To grow hops you generally must be between the 30th and 50th parallel (see diagram below). Some varieties of hops do better than others in the extremes of this range (some like it hot, some not). Currently, the northwest USA produces the largest crop of hops plants (Oregon, Washington Northern California…).
Hops (Humulus Lupulus) are a fast growing vine that requires large amounts of sunshine and nutrients from the soil to sustain their rapid growth. Hop vines can grow up to 40 ft in length. A perennial, which dies back every winter to the root stock also known as the crown. Hop plants can be grown from hop rhizomes (underground stems) or seed (but usually hops rhizomes – only want female hop rhizomes). Hop plantings are generally grown vertically but can be grown horizontally. Most Hops plants require a 4 month growing season.
Only the female hop plants flower (the flower is the hop). Males are used for pollination to seed the females but generally un-pollinated or seedless hops are preferred for brewing. Beer hops are used for brewing beers and ales to counteract the sweetness of the barley, to provide aroma and also works as a preservative. Hops have medicinal qualities and calming effects but that is out of scope for this blog.
Planting hops requires a nutrient dense, well drained soil with a PH between 5 and 8. Most hop growers go vertical with their plants so that must taken into consideration for planting. Since most people (at least in the cities) have a 1/4 acre or less, use a side of their house or garage or tall poles and twine or rope. Running twine from the ground to a roof line or overhang is very popular. A common configuration is twine from a ground anchor to an eyelet attached high on a pole, house, garage or other building and zigzagged up and down (using a latch hook on the high end for easy removal). If using a single pole, it would be a tee pee configuration. There are many ways to rig the vines but rope seems to work the best compared to trellises when it comes to harvest time.
Soil should be prepared at least a couple weeks before planting to allow the soil amendments to blend together. Soil should be dug down about a foot to ensure the root stock can grow unimpeded. The soil should be mixed with organic materials (I am an organic kind of guy). Decomposed manure, compost, leaves and/or grass clippings and wood ashes are all good soil amendments for hop gardens. Drainage is very important for hop plants so be aware of slopes and valleys in the ground. If planting against a house or garage without gutters (on the down slope side) beware the roof runoff. A raised mound and drainage paths help in these cases and is a good idea for all hop planting.
Most hops are propagated from rhizomes, so that is what I will cover (besides I have never started from seed). If you have a short growing season, you can start hop rhizomes indoors. Once the threat of frost has passed, it is time to plant. Plant 2 or 3 hop rhizomes in a grouping or mound, 1 to 4 inches below the soil’s surface. Plant buds up and groupings about 3 feet apart, more if the next grouping is a different variety of hops.
When the shoots break ground and are about 1 foot long, select 1 to 3 of the hardiest hop bines (similar but different from vines) and train them to climb the rope in the same direction – most advice clockwise (not sure why). Like everything, there are different ways to go about this, either 1 pole or rope per mound or 1 on each side of the mound (2 per mound if maintaining approximately 3 feet between) – prune all other bines to focus all the growing energy to the selected vines or bines. Difference between bines and vines: vines send out grasping shoots. Bines use stiff hairlike follicules and wrapping around things to support themselves.
Depending on when you started or when the existing crowns started vines, the hops should be ready for harvest around mid August to mid September. When mature, the hops will be squeezable rather than solid and have a paper like texture. When you determine it is harvesting time, bring down the ropes or poles and pluck the hops from the vines. The hops must be dryed, either in a dehydrator, an oven no more than 140 degrees(with the door open) or at room temp spread out on a single layer on a raised screen to allow airflow. Room temp drying is best for retaining flavor and aroma.
Once dryed, the hops should be vacuum sealed and frozen for best results or fresh hops may be used immediately (after drying the hops). If not vacuum sealed, at least remove as much air as you can from a sealable freezer bag and then freeze. Shield the hops from light as that will prolong freshness also.
This is a bit abreviated but gives you enough information to grow your own hops! Read some books on how to grow your own hops and/or do some more Internet research to gain additional tips, tricks, methods and theories to maximize your hop growing abilities. Just say no to hop drought and start growing hops.
