How are you`re hops growing

[drsmurto]

My goldings (if they ever grow) are MTG (Mt Torrens Goldings). Where they grow influences there flavour, AA and all the important numbers we dont need to go in to. I dont expect my chinook to produce the same grapefruit flavour as the ones i get from the US. Nor the cascade or cluster. Picked up a POR cutting yesterday so that makes 6 plants now! Now i just need to convince the partner to allow me to dig up the back lawn and put in a barley crop........

[James L]

or chuck a bore in to get that pure spring water

[drsmurto]

Next door neighbours have a bore and after watching me struggle around with buckets of water have kindly offered to fill up my rainwater tanks with bore water since its not metered. I will admit to watering my vegie patch during the heatwave with a hose and have no problems with doing so (i could go on a rant about lack of foresight with water restrictions but i wont). As tempting as it is to get a bore drilled into my backyard, it rains enough at my place so if i can increase my rainwater storage i will be able to disconnect myself from the mains and have no issues with increasing my showers back up to the 15-20 mins i used to!

Back on topic, how often to people water there hops? I have read they can be treated like weeds and ignored but i assume that is coming from people who get rain over summer...... i am giving them a good drink once or twice a week at the moment. I noticed some of the people living on the Adelaide plains have already harvested flowers. I am yet to see one up here in the hills and i read harvest generally occurs during March/April.

[rwh]

Back on topic, how often to people water there hops?

I water mine once a day from my shower water. I have a bucket that I put in my shower, normally my shower lasts only long enough to fill the bucket. Then that gets tipped on the hops plant.

I have read they can be treated like weeds and ignored but i assume that is coming from people who get rain over summer...... i am giving them a good drink once or twice a week at the moment.

During the heatwave I was away from home for 36 hours (over new years etc), and during that time the vine got completely shriveled due to running out of water. It partially pepped back up after I gave it a good water, but all of the growing tips as well as about 30% of the leaf area was destroyed. It's pretty tough to keep any kind of crop alive over the summer in the sandy soils that I have (any applied water drains away really quickly leaving plants vulnerable to heat). It's really disheartening to see the plant that you've been nurturing every day for months being damaged by the heat... thankfully it looks like it's survived and it's now sending out the side branches that I'm lead to believe will bear the flowers.

I noticed some of the people living on the Adelaide plains have already harvested flowers. I am yet to see one up here in the hills and i read harvest generally occurs during March/April.

Yep, haven't seen any flowers at all either (Melbourne).

[Trough Lolly]

Have just returned from the annual pilgramige to Ballarat and the PoR is nearly dead, and the Chinook and Goldings are somwhat stressed!

I used to have a water controller but the fecking thing decided to cark it whilst I was away!! I am in intensive care mode - no flowers and the PoR has decided to stay asleep this year - one runner and it's a pretty thin one at that... No flowers at the Farrer Brewery this year so far.

Cheers,
TL

[beerdrinker]

Ive had a bit of a shocker also dug up my 2nd year pearle to find the crown rootstock rotten with some big grub nestled right in there tetananger doing well with some hop flowers starting hallertauer kinda salt affected with terminal folige burnt and side shoots emerging are a sick looking yellow/white colour? hope everyone gets a decent harvest!

[Lachy]

No flowers on mine yet, but the bloody things are growing like weeds. Having said that: the last 40 degree days we had knocked the plants around somewhat; a number of shoots and leaves shrivelled and went crispy on me. So, I guess that means I'll need to sneak around with the watering can a few times throughout the coming days.