My Hop Garden..

[Motorbikeman]

 Love pottering about the garden , love beer,  so I decided to give hops a bash this year.

Ordered a few of  these plants
http://www.eickelmann.de/Hopfen-Shop/aromatic-hops/-Hallertauer-Aroma--27.html
http://www.eickelmann.de/Hopfen-Shop/bitter-hops/HM.html

And built this today. 


Lots of fish blood and bone, a couple of bags of B&Q compost and slow release fertilizer .  I think 3 plants will fit in there lovely. 

Maybe a bit early to plant seedlings with frosty morns . 

Any advise welcome.

[Motorbikeman]

Fantastic link.   

It has me worried though.   The lattice is facing south west not the recommended south east.   No direct sunlight till mid day or until it peers over the fence which is 5' tall.     

[Motorbikeman]

 So a box came this morning.  Was not expecting the hops to come so fast.     Well packed box with 3 plants inside.. 

All 3 seem established somewhat and have growing purple shoots coming out everywhere.    I even got a few free small black spiders from Germany in there. 



So this is what you get for 23 euro.   Via paypal.    Quite happy so far. 
 

  Instructions say to plant them 4cm deep.  Im not sure about the frost just yet.   Should I grow indoors for a while and harden them off to the cold later?    Before planting out.       

[Will_D]

Yes, bring them on indoors for say another month then should be good outside. If frost threatens in April then cover with some fleece or the like.

[Motorbikeman]

I went ahead and planted 2 of them out .  Two weeks ago.        Mini polytunnel from B&Q for a tenner is keeping them safe.   

Cant help it.  Terrible impatient..   

  Planted about 4" deep . Should keep the tube safe from frost.     

Starting to poke through the soil now and first shoot pinched out. 




Kept one indoors at night  and moved up a pot size.   It is thriving and coming on fast.

[arse..biscuits]

I just ordered 3 plants after seeing this thread. 

[Motorbikeman]

Everything planted out now.  Thriving in this weather . 

[ronanp]

I live in a bungalow and the south faceing gable is too windy for them so don't have anything high to attach them to. There is however an ESB pole out the backwith a big stay cable running down to the ground at a nice angle. The cable goes up to the top of the poll so theres plenty of height to it. Not sure would the hops grab onto the thick twisted wire cable or for that matter how the ESB would feel about it. But it is very private back there and a sunny and sheltered spot?

[Motorbikeman]

Although i'm a keen gardener ,  this is my first bash at hops.   

So take my advice with a pinch of salt.. 

You could try this sort of thing under the steel rope.
    B&Q sell rolls of biodegradable garden twine for a few euro.    I have staked a cane deep into the ground and drill a couple of holes into it for an anchor point.   

I think it will be suitable for support .

[LukeH]

I live in a bungalow and the south faceing gable is too windy for them so don't have anything high to attach them to. There is however an ESB pole out the backwith a big stay cable running down to the ground at a nice angle. The cable goes up to the top of the poll so theres plenty of height to it. Not sure would the hops grab onto the thick twisted wire cable or for that matter how the ESB would feel about it. But it is very private back there and a sunny and sheltered spot?

I wouldn't recommend growing the hops towards the ESB cable - they cut any vegetation around the wires every couple of years.

[ronniedeb]

They look good Motorbikeman. Look forward to seeing this thread progress. I ordered some Cascade plants from Willingham nurseries, but they send a warning email this week, saying they will not be able to fulfill all the orders placed due to propagation failures. Wont know if I get them until April 26th. Eickelman seem to be out of most varieties now as well. Did you find any other suppliers before you went with Eickelman?

[Kevin O'Roundwood]

Try The Secret Gardener down in Cork. They're more expensive but in fairness they're pure sound and helpful. I was trying to get stuff from Willingham and Eickelman but they were pretty much all sold out, of the stuff I wanted anyway. It might be worth giving them a buzz cos they actually had fuggles and goldings in stock but not on the website when I ordered

http://www.thesecretgardener.com/5723/general/hop-plants/

[Motorbikeman]

The Tettnanger plant seems to be growing twice as fast as the others.  Bushy deep green foliage .
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=hops&id=&v=&term=72

[nigel_c]

My plants. 3 year old tats

[NeillC]

I built this bed over the past couple of weeks and planted out yesterday, so typically it's now cold and very wet.