The Hop Trellis Is Up!

So over the last 2 weeks, was able to get the hop trellis up and transplant the hops to the raised beds.
First, the trellis:
I have a complete design plan in a 3D rendering that I made using google sketch-up. I'm very happy with how the design turned out. It's easy to build, fairly cost effective, and it's really an eye sore (though I'll let you guys be the judge). It's also very easy to use with the trellis able to be raised & lowered come harvest time :)

Hoppiton Hop Trellis Design (click image to enlarge)

What I used:
1 - 16' 4"x4" beam for the main column
2 - 10' 4"x4" beam used for the main support beams & cross member
2 - 3' deck balusters (rails)
8 - 5" x 3/8" self drilling lag screws & washers
1 - 8" x 1/2" self drilling lag screw
8 - 9" nails
2 - Black 4"x4" fencing post end caps
8 - 1" eye bolts
2 - 2" eye bolts w/ rings
2 - 2" eye bolts
2 - black plastic boat deck tie downs
1 - 80# bag of ready mix concrete
1 - 4"x4" metal bracket to attach the main support beam to the cross member w/ hole in center for lag screw (see step 1 for more instruction)
8 - 3" deck screws
100' - 3/8" rope
100' - 1/2" rope

Design was pretty easy, and I did this by myself, so it is possible to the trellis up without assistance, though it'd be a lot easier with 2 people.

1) Attach the cross member to the main support beam with the metal bracket & 8 deck screws. Keep in mind that your 8" x 1/2" self drilling lag screw will go through the cross member and directly into the top of the support beam - so make sure your metal bracket has a hole in top had a hole in it to pass the lag screw through. Drill one a hole if necessary.

2) Once your cross member is attached to your support beam, it's time to cut your 10' angled support beams. I cut the ends to 45 degree angles so they would sit flush with the cross member and main support beam. You can eyeball this if you like and then use a ruler to cut this if you like as well. Just line up the supports on the cross member & support beam, and then use a ruler to draw the line you plan on cutting.

3) Once both of your angled support have been cut, make they line up evenly, and then attach to the cross member & support beam using 2 of the 5" x 3/8" self drilling lag screws and washers.

4) I wanted my cross member to extend half way into each 6'x6' bed once it was positioned into the middle of the two beds, so this meant a 5' overhang on each box (hence the reason for the 10' cross member). At the outer edge of the cross member, I attached the eye bolt w/ the ring to the very end of the cross member. To keep the rope tidy, I attached another eye bolt at the point where the angled support beams met the primary support beam. At a comfortable height, I attached the boat ties.

5) I then attached 4 eye bolts to run the ropes through on each of the 2 3' long baluster rails.

6) I picked up the trellis and drug it to the hole where I'd dug a 3.5' deep hole for the 16' high trellis. After inserting the trellis, I secured it with some 2x4's and made sure it was straight. After I repacked the clay around it, I wasn't comfortable with how secure it was, so I decided to add 1 80# bag of ready mix concrete, and that helped a bunch. I guess we'll see how well it holds when the first big storm rolls through, but I think it should be sufficient.

7) Next, I ran the rope through the eye bolts & rings & tied off the 3' deck baluster. I used the 1/2" rope to directly tie one side of the baluster rail to the other to create what looked like a triangle, and so I would only have to use one length of rope to raise/lower an entire bed of hopes (which accounted for 4 vines).

8) I tied the rope connecting the 2 eye bolts on the baluster rail to the rope that would be the main support - using 1/2" rope for this as well. I made sure to center the support rope to the baluster rope, do the support wasn't tilted to one side, and then ran the hop supports.

9) I used my 3/8" rope & large nails to secure the base of the rope right next to the hops, and then ran the rope up through the eye bolt on one side of the baluster rail, and then back down to the other hope. So each side of the baluster rail had 2 ropes for the hopes to grow up, and 4 total for each rail. See picture.

10) I repeated that for each side of the baluster, which gave me a total of 8 ropes for my vines to craw up.

11) I then ran my hops around each rope to begin their upward growth in a clockwise fashion (as I believe this is the direct they're used to, but double check that!)

Add added some optional pavers to add some pizazz to the garden, though they didn't have enough. This adds a lot to the cost, and so I didn't want to make it a part of the design. Consider it optional. All in all, I think the complete design cost was about $250 for both beds ($150) and trellis ($100). The fact that I used cedar planks is what caused the cost to be so high on the beds ($125). You can perhaps line pressure treated wood instead and then line the beds with plastic to keep the chemicals in the pressure treated wood from seeping into your garden.

The only issue I ran into was when a small storm blew through and pulled the nails/stakes up from the hop ropes. I didn't have them really pounded in so that's not really surprising...however this time around I really set them deep, so if they get pulled up again, it should be considered a design flaw, and the 9" nails should be replaced with something more reliable, like maybe tent stakes. p> Hope you guys enjoy the design, and if you have any questions feel free to post in the comments section! Cheers!

Jeff

Hop Update - 11 days since planting. Doing pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Fuggles? Woot!, I say Woot, boy!

Never planned to do an update this soon, but in the hops business, more news is good news (well...I guess)!

Truth is, I could have done this update 2 days ago.  The fuggles are off to an incredible start.  I've never seen a rhizome sprout so quickly!  W...O...O...T to the power of WOOT!

Check this bad boy out.  5 days since planting...and already a 3 inch sprout from the fuggles.  Hopefully, it'll be ready to transplant to its permanent home in less than 2 weeks, and we can get to see some serious growth!

I shall dub thee, the fugglator, "DAGHALLAHLGAHLGHALHALHALHA"  (C'mon, we have to have some Arnold fans out there...right?) "HEeeeee Hallll...it's the fugglator on steriods Halhglhalghla"

Planting Time Here In Hoptopia!

Planting Day Here In Hoptopia!!! 

Well, it's April 10th here in Huntersville, NC, and today it was close to 85 degrees.  Just one more reason the south is the place to be!  So, it's time to break out the pots, and start planting some hop rhizomes....LIKE A BOSS!!!  

Wait...a rhi-whatchamacallit (awesome candy bar btw).  That's right...a hop "rhizome".  WTF is a hop rhizome?  If you're a super nerd that has to know everything, here's the full wiki article, but for the sake of brevity, a rhizome is basically a root.  A potato is actually a part of a rhizome. 

I've had mixed results ordering rhizomes online.  The first year I got them.  They sucked.  The latest batch I got from a fellow on homebrewtalk.com name Ray of HalifaxHops.  Very Impressive! (...that's what she said)

I decided to start them in pots for easy mobility.  There's nothing wrong with starting them in a raised bed (yes...emphasis on the 'raised' part), and many actually consider this preferential so you don't disturb the root ball in order to transplant your hops.  Hops need well drained soil.  Raised beds are great for that purpose.

So, time to get going.  I'm trying a few different compositions of soil with 3 different types of hops: Cascades, Fuggles, and Centennials.  

My standard mix was 3/4 top soil and 1/4 sta-green garden soil plus fertilizer.  On one of my pots, I used only the garden soil mix, so it will be interesting to see how they perform versus the other standard mix I used on the other hops I planted.  

Hops are dirty nitrogen whores.  Your hops have been asleep all winter, and over fertilizing them can burn your little beer bittering plants!  Hops are hardy, and you can actually do more damage than good.  Look at it this way, it's better to be a dead beat dad when it comes to starting your hops than baby huey and 'loving' your hops to death.  Over fertilization and over watering are some of the fastest ways to kill off you crop.  Doh!

Note on fertilizers:  Fert's typically have something like "10-10-10" written on them to display their "NPK" rating.  Different plants like varying amounts of Nitrogen (the "N"),  Phosphorous (the "P"), and Potassium (the "K").  Hops love nitrogen!  Phorphorous...not so much!  Since our hops love that Nitro, you want to look for ferts that have a high ratio of the first number...like "18-6-18", or something like that.  Remember to use any ferts sparingly until you have a well established plant.  

  

BAM!  Check out those beautiful Cascade rhizomes!!  I pulled out a few of my old plastic starter pots that had been used as a temporary home for some larger perennial plants.  And the wife said I'd never use them.  HA! Only took 5 or 6 years, but I used 'em!  The pots were probably around 3 gallons in volume to give you an idea of their size.  I filled them 2/3rd's full with the top soil.

So once the pot was 2/3rd's full with good 'ole plain top soil, I laid the hop rhizomes on top.  Just check out the bud on this bad boy!!  


KEY POINT...so pay attention! You want your buds to be on top when you plant your rhizome!  Otherwise, they have to grow around your rootstock to break the surface and start sucking up sunshine like it's their job (well..i guess it technically it is there job...anyways..)

By the way, that's a FUGGLE hop, and yes...the picture sucks...I wish it would give you guys a better idea of just how large this rhizome from Halifax was for a breed that frankly, isn't supposed to grow all that well in US.  This one was about 5 inches long and had 3 branches.

KEY POINT Numba 2:  Your buds are delicate...extremely delicate.  Do your best not to break them or your little rhizome will have wasted all that energy for nothing, and it'll take longer for your hops to sprout since your rhizome will have to make more buds. 

Once you've laid your rhizomes in your pots, cover them with your garden soil.  The closer you leave your bud growths to the surface, the faster they'll sprout, so I like to only cover the top of the bud with about 1/4-1/2" of soil (not the rhizome itself...I'm just talking about the bud...you'll use more than 1/2" of soil to cover your full rhizome).  This is key, because 90% of your hop feeder roots are in the top 6" of soil.

With regards to the pots.  Give them a good 'once over' to make sure they don't have fungus or other garbage growing in them.  Fungi are great for fermentation (For the noobs out there...the yeast you use in fermentation is a single celled fungus).  When it comes to hops, they can kill your plant.  Keep an eye out for any white patches in the pots.  A light dusting with an anti fungus product also couldn't hurt.

Look at those hop pots all lined up like a pretty little chorus line!  I'll be transplanting them to their permanent raised garden beds once I figure out where I'll be building the beds in around a month.  There are a lot of things to consider when deciding where to plant your hops, especially since a well established rootstock can extend out a couple feet in every direction- so you really don't want to have to move it!

A few key points that I've learned about the raised beds.

• Find a place that has easy water access, tons of sun, and great drainage for ideal growing conditions.  
• Weeding sucks, so I'll be using some weed stop matting to prevent any weeds from draining nutrients from my hop garden.  My beds will be made up of 2 parts top soil, 1 part garden soil + fertilizer, 1 part cow manure covered with weed stop.  I'll cut holes in the weed stop to plant the hops, and then cover the beds with pine straw.
• I'll also be putting down pine straw to shield the soil, help mitigate weed growth, slow evaporation of water, and help moderate the pH of the soil.  Pine needles promote the acidity of the soil as they decompose which hops love. DO NOT use wood chips if you plan on mulching your raised beds.  Wood chips can carry Verticillum and Armillaria fungi.  
• My beds will measure 6'x6'x8" tall.  I'm considering running some pvc pipe through the beds themselves to help with air flow, and keep soil temperatures from rising too much.  It will also help with the drainage.  Hops do not like soil that is too hot or too wet.     
• Early next year, I am planning on removing the weed stop, and cast planting a ton of peas in my hop beds.  The peas would form a symbiotic relationship with the hops, and die off in early summer (when the temps get too hot).  Peas actively pull nitrogen from the atmosphere, help restoring to restore the nitrogen levels in the soil naturally that my hops will be using to grow.

And last but not least, a nice drink of water for my hops!  I've thought about getting a rain barrel, but am not sure if it would help my garden all that much.  I do notice a big difference from gardens past when it comes to rain water versus my well water.  It's like the rain water has steroids in it.  I can water my garden till it floods with my well's water, and it doesn't really do much.   Why, I don't know?

Anyways...I encourage people to post comments and questions below, as gardening has always been a non-stop learning process for me.  Any tips or suggestions on anything you might add or change is also appreciated.  

Cheers! :)