March 2015
So cool!
I just planted two hops rhizomes I ordered online
As surprising as it may sound, these little plants travel by post for about a week and arrive in perfect shape at your place
For planting, I inspired myself from this excellent video, except that instead of the 24″x24″x11″ (60cm x 60cm x 27cm) wooden frame, I bought 22″ (54 cm) diameter black plastic buckets (the ones for cement), which are super cheap ($7) and require much less work except cutting off the bottom about 11″ (27cm) deep
I also anchored a twine directly to the bucket and up to some anchor point and protected the plants with wire mesh against crows who love to play and dig out these things
Quite some work, but hopefully I’ll be able to brew with my own homegrown hops this fall!
May 2016
The hops are doing fine, growing at lightning speed as expected
The bitter plant is growing faster and stronger than the aromatic does
May 2017
Once you plant hops, they will come back every year, stronger every time, with strictly zero care
I gave them poles for support and, hopefully, to have them grow past the top of the ivy
No cones yet
August 2017
First cones!
So, it took roughly two years, but it would certainly have happened last summer if I had given them a better structure to climb on right away instead of some piece of twine leaning on the ivy wall
Surprisingly enough, the plant made cones only on some horizontal twine, but not on the vertical pole
and? How are they doing?
Hi Elliott,
If your question is about hops growing, I have to say the results were not spectacular.
The plants grew up to where they could, about 2m of string, but then didn’t develop cones.
I might try again this season, but apparently you definitely need to give them several meters of string to be happy, like 5-6m at least.
Hey Man,
Just come across your your blog. Awesome stuff. I am keen to grow my own hops too. However, I live in an apartment. In your humble opinion, do you think hops could grow in pot plants?
Cheers,
Dan
Hi,
I have a friend how grows some hops in pots on his balcony with some success.
Just like any plant, they will limit their growth depending of the size of the pot.
If you want them to grow big, give them a very large pot or grow bag or plant them directly in the ground.
This is how big they can become
Thanks for the feedback. I am going to give it a go. Would like to make beer with my own hops, even though I live in an apartment. Will investigate options for bigger pots/grow bags.