I received my cascade hop rhizomes from Northern Brewer this week!! I'm a little worried because they had a very funky smell. Almost like a wine or vinegar type smell. And there was a small amount of white mildew/fungus on the rhizomes. Plus there were some critters too - some sort of grub or maggot. I killed what I could see, but I'm sure I didn't get everything. Hopefully the rhizomes will still be good. Who knows how long they were in storage and if they are still healthy.
I planted yesterday in some terracotta pots. While at Laguna Hills nursery here in Foothill Ranch, I got lucky and ran into a real helpful gardener named Brody who also happens to grow his own hops. He said his Cascades are already about 20 feet this season. He recommended a mix they have of peat moss, pumice, sand and some other organic compounds. It should make for a nice acidic soil for the hops.
My plan is to grow the bines up 8 feet and then go horizontal along my patio cover and back awning. That added with my Cabernet Sauvingon grapes already growing up one side of the patio cover should make for some very nice coverage. I'll post some pictures when/if the hops actually start growing.
2 comments:
I was thinking of using Bines to cover my patio as well. Did you do this and if you did, how did it work?
Thomas
Hi Thomas, thanks for the post. I have the bines strung up one side of the patio - but it's the first year so they didn't get very high or full. Hopefully next season I'll get more growth. A friend of mine out in Texas has bines strung up his patio and they look awesome. I'll post some pictures next year of the 2nd year growth. So far it looks like Nugget hops have done the best for me in the SoCal heat. Here is most recent pics of my hops... http://karlisbeer.blogspot.com/2009/09/2009-hop-crop.html
Good Luck!!
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