Cascade Hops - It all starts with the rhizome. A small four inch stick with buds on it. See pictures of the rhizomes, first few sprouts and fully grown. I will be adding pictures all season long on my garden. I should be up to 48 plants. I will be adding more cascades and fuggles this year.
Tom's Garden: Mt. Hood, Magnums, EK Golding, Centennial, Cascades, Sterling and Fuggles.
Special Note: I will be growing two EK Golding in the store. The planter will be under construction very soon. Stop by during the season to check out the progress.
Regular rhizomes take at least 1 year to become established. The second year will produce a good crop. The third year will produce a full crop. It varies with the type of hops.
Planting
The soil should be tilled to create a weed free area. A strong support system is needed for the plant to climb on. Look for space along fences, garage, or property lines. Plant in early spring once the threat of frost is gone but no later than May. The soil should be worked into a fine, friable condition prior to planting.
Plant 1 rhizome per hill with the buds pointed up and cover with 1 inch of loose soil. Hills should be spaced at least 3 feet apart if the hills are of the same variety and 5 feet apart if they are different. The first year the hop plant requires frequent light watering.
Hops is a perennial andlays dormant during winter and is rather unaffected by freezing temperatures. The vines will not break ground until soil temperatures have risen to the point where most spring flowers appear. A minimum of 120 frost free days are required for the hop to fully ripen a crop of flowers. Once out of the ground the vines need to be supported off of the ground.
Hop is dioecious, producing male and female flowers on separate plants. The hop is a female plant with flowers (burrs) produced on side arms that develop along the stem.
Most female flowers develop and ripen predominately between mid-August and mid-September After the flowers ripen, the vine will continue to build reserves until it totally dies back with the first good frost/freeze of Fall.
The hops plants require a lot water and nutrients. Note: In July, the lowest 4 feet of foliage and lateral branches can be removed to aid in air circulation and reduce disease development. This really helps around here since we have high humity days.
The only big issue I found is the Eastern comma butterfly. It likes to lay its eggs around 4 feet off the ground. The larva loves hops leaves. Pruning will remove this issue.
Comments
Jump to comment formTim McDonald said:
Tom,
Nice job on the blog. It is good to have a reliable local source for home-brewing information.
I am looking forward to starting my own hop garden this year, and would be interested in purchasing some rhizomes as soon as you have them available. If you could, shoot me an email when you have them in.
I just bottled my Irish Stout yesterday, and though I wish I had started the batch earlier, I am hoping that it is good enough to have a couple bottles on St. Patrick’s Day.
I will be around in a few days to pick up supplies for a batch of all grain Dortmunder. My son is also very interested in any advice you can offer in brewing a batch of “Kentucky Bourbon Ale.” Being from Tennessee, he will be using Jack Daniels Oak chips, but is looking for help in constructing the base brew.
Thanks,
Tim
Kentucky Bourbon Ale Clone said:
Tim,
No problem with the base and how to brew it. See you when you stop in.
PS: I dug up one Cascade and one EK Golding plant and have some rhizomes from them. I ordered the other types yesterday and should have them by weeks end.