Hop Growing 2009

[Chiltern Brewer]

I have some holiday booked in a week or two, so hope to get a brew on then!

[delboy]

My 0.45 Kg of first gold dried down to 120g in the end, im planning on brewing with them v.soon as i don't really have the space for long term storage in the freezer (no vac pack) as is rammed already with bought hops.

I was reading something of interest about plants today that is of relevance to us from the more northern climes. Hops are short day plants when it comes to flowering, although they need long days for growth they will not flower until the daylight hours drop to a critical level. When it reaches this point they produce a hormone called florigen which stimulates you guessed it flowers to form.
A couple of things spring to mind from this info 1) All the flower/fruiting specific ferts in the world won't make them flower until they want to, so save them until you see the beginning of flowering and not before.
2) Us northern growers shouldn't panic when we hear about the southern growers having harvested their hops weeks before us, yes we are naturally up against it because of the souths natural tendency to better weather and growth. But if all things were equal on the weather front we still wouldn't be able to harvest as early as those guys, the further north you go the longer the days are in the summer. Hence northern hops will never flower as early as their southern counterparts.

This might seem really obvious but it was a new one on me and i thought i'd share the info anyway just in case some of the northern brewers think they are doing something wrong when comparing their harvesting time with the southern growers.

[mysterio]

Thanks for that Delboy. I knew the length of day was important in hop growing but I didn't realise it was for the flowering stage. The constant wind and rain doesn't help up here though, i'm sure

[fivetide]

It's grim up North...

[MartialAnt]

A couple of things spring to mind from this info 1) All the flower/fruiting specific ferts in the world won't make them flower until they want to, so save them until you see the beginning of flowering and not before.

Yes the ripening of fruit happens 2nd week in August. I now have fookin loads of tomatoes & chillis that i cant eat quick enough.

[Belto]

Hi Martialant
not teaching my ant to suck eggs, but why not tie your chillies on a cotton line and hang them up somewhere dry.
They will turn red and gradully dry out you can use them any time .
If they dry out totaly you can rub them fine and still use them

[MartialAnt]

Hi Martialant
not teaching my ant to suck eggs, but why not tie your chillies on a cotton line and hang them up somewhere dry.
They will turn red and gradully dry out you can use them any time .
If they dry out totaly you can rub them fine and still use them

Ive set a few strings up in the lounge window (south facing) & they are still soft after about a 5 to 6 weeks. Ive got something that makes lots of heat (not my oven) which dries the chillis out in about 12 hours. So im getting a decent sized tub of mixed chilli's for when i can be arsed to make a sauce. As well as eating em fresh. I dont really fancy drying tomatoes.

[WishboneBrewery]

My Grandma used to bottle tomatoes in big kilner jars... Not sure what the process was they must have been boiled or something first?!

[delboy]

You could halve or quarter them (depending on size) give them a douse of olive oil, a good whack of salt, pepper and oregano.
Bung them in the oven at 200C for 10-15 mins (until they start to colour, don't let them burn) then turn them down low (120ish) for a few hours until they shrivel up and look like shop bought sun blushed/dried toms.
Bung into jars along with the juices, fantastic

[WishboneBrewery]

Took a few pictures after picking, bit of editing... still needs tweaking. Copyright watermark added.