autumn planting

[prolix]

I read somewhere that planting the rhisome out in autumn gives a much better first year, can anyone back this up for me or was it a drunken hope?

If so where did you guys get your hops as I have a 10m chalk hill in me garden that is just begging to be a hop field.

Oh yeah can hops be put in planters or do they have to be in the ground as me garden tends to get very waterlogged in winter and I heard hops don't like that much.

Cheers

[Jimberbob]

I am trying to find info on growing hops as well, I have plenty of room on my allotment for them.
I have found out that they are tolerant of soil conditions but prefer a deep, rich, moist soil. They are best planted just after the first frost.
I have only found one source to buy plants from, but they don't supply them until march/april.
The hop shop (google)

£12.50 one plant. Fuggles or cascade.
£27.50 four plants.

Have you found anywhere else to supply them yet? I was hoping (or should I say 'hopping' ) to find a few more varieties to choose from.

If I find anything I shall post here. Good luck.

http://byo.com/feature/116.html

[awalker]

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... light=hops

This might help there are a few people you can get them from

Beer Essentials (I got 2x first gold)
and
Beertech (and hallertau and a tettnager)

But they do seem to be very seasonal i.e. available in March/April
I planted mine late April this year, lots of growth, but no hops
So you may have to resign your self to getting them as early as possible next year.

With regards to water logged soil you could try mixing in some grit or sand to make the soil drain a bit better.
They do work in planters but you will have to keep them well watered and feed to get a good crop.

[bitter_dave]

They do work in planters but you will have to keep them well watered and feed to get a good crop.

I've got first gold plants which I've had in large planters for two years, and have had very little success in getting hops. This may partly be because I'm not a great gardener, but I gave one plant to my mum this year (an excellent gardener) and she got very few hops as well. If you can plant them directly in the ground I think you may be better off - although I admit this isn't a very scientific assessment

[awalker]

True I think they always will be better in the ground
They can find there own food and water for a start.

So when i forget to water them they can still get some

[bitter_dave]

True I think they always will be better in the ground
They can find there own food and water for a start.

I think this is one of the major problems. The first year I went on holiday, and the plants suffered from not being watered. The other problem I face (apart from my ineptitude ) is the fact that everyone has back yards rather than gardens in my road. This means as soon as you put a plant out it gets destroyed by insects, slugs and snails, given the lack of alternative vegitation.

If only I lived in place where house prices weren't so insane, and I could get a house with a garden

[prolix]

I will have to try it out in the ground and see if it works, if it fails then at least I have tried.

Think I will dig out a hole first though and fill it with peat, soil very poor and only a few cm to the chalk bed rock, pick axe time again

[DavidW]

Try this link for buying hops and for general info


http://www.aplus-hops.co.uk/index.html

David

[Andy]

Try this link for buying hops and for general info


http://www.aplus-hops.co.uk/index.html

David

Note that the above site doesn't work in Firefox so use IE to browse.

[Dan]

I started out 4 rysomes in tubs bought from
http://www.essentiallyhops.co.uk/acatalog/index.html
they only sell the plants in spring, it was about £5-£6 for one

I got about 200g(fresh) this first year, and am wondering when i should get them out of the pots and into the ground.

if you grow them up string, be careful that it dosnt shrink when wet. mine turned into a mess when they lost all thier tension and sailed around in the wind

[anomalous_result]

Try this link for buying hops and for general info

http://www.aplus-hops.co.uk/index.html

David

Note that the above site doesn't work in Firefox so use IE to browse.

Or there's IE Tab, an addon for Firefox that embeds a session of IE into a FF tab so no need to open another window.

[Hoppopotamus]

The Aplus Hops website looks interesting.

They are selling the following varieties:

Cobbs
Early Bird
Eastwells
Fuggle
Mathon
Prima Donna (Dwarf)
Progress
Target
WGV
Wye Challenger
Wyne Northdown

I'll probably buy a few plants to grow on my allotment. Any opinions as to which would be the best ones to buy?

[ebbadger]

No idea what type of Hops I have, weve grown them every year because they rapidly cover the front of the house, for several years at the end of the season Ive just cut em back and binned it all, normally every year we get black sacks full..... however this year has been very poor, I think poss the weather hasn't helped, a long very dry spring followed by a pretty dismal summer.... typical, the year I start brewing as well

Still maybe next year....

ps never dug them up they've always sat out in all weathers come rain frost etc and never had any problems

Cheers Steve