It’s spring! It always seems like it will never arrive. Whether the weather decides to join us in this new season is not the point – today we are talking about planting hops in your backyard. The merging of two of life's greatest pleasures: growing your own food and crafting your own brews. Grab your gardening gloves and a can of craft as we embark on Part 1 of a hoppy adventure together!
Getting Started: Choosing Your Hops Variety and Planting Method
Selecting Your Hops Variety:
The first, and arguably the most fun part, is picking the perfect hops variety. There are a multitude of varieties out there, from classic to experimental. The big varieties that you see splashed all over can designs; Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Galaxy, are all proprietary hops. That means that these were developed by a specific company and are protected by copyrights. Basically, you have to sign contracts and pay big bucks to grown those varieties. So let’s talk about open source varieties. The biggest factors are taste preferences and climate.
Let’s start by narrowing things down to our climate. Hops have a long growing season – 120 frost free days. If you take a look at our frost free dates for the Calgary area you will see it is a tiny window – May 20 to Sept 6. That is 99 days. (You can find your own frost dates here: https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates). So you want to make sure that you are choosing a variety with an early or mid maturity date. This will ensure that you can harvest those precious cones before they die on the bine from frost.
Hops can be a pretty hardy plant, but they are susceptible to a few things; molds and mildews. You may want to take their disease and pest tolerance into consideration. The big, bold, American hops have been bred to withstand some of the more common problems and are a good choice for low maintenance growing. The noble hops can be a bit dainty with their pure lineage and not make it through our wild weather swings.
Leaning toward the big, bold, trustworthy hops is likely your best bet. We have had great success with Chinook and Triumph. Other hop growers in Alberta have said that Mt. Hood, a very underrated hop, grows really well in our climate. May I also suggest Centennial and Cascade. There are some great resources for hop varieties out there, I would like to suggest http://www.hopslist.com/ as a resource.
Choosing Between Plants or Rhizomes – NEVER SEEDS:
Now, let's talk about how to kickstart your hop-growing journey. You've got two main options: diving straight in with potted plants or tissue cuttings, or rolling up your sleeves and planting rhizomes. Each method has its perks – whether you're craving instant gratification or relishing the satisfaction of nurturing growth from the ground up. We'll weigh the pros and cons so you can make the best choice for your hoppy dreams.
Never plant hops seeds! Hop plants are either male or female. The female plants are the ones that produce the cone we need for brewing. If there is a male plant even close to the females, the females will go to seed and the cone will be useless. As a result, all hop plants are clones of one another, and they are all ladies.
Rhizomes are the fibrous root-like system that produce both sprouts and roots, traveling underground serving as the plant's primary method of propagation; just like grass or asparagus. In early spring we set out into the field and harvest these little twig-like roots that have sprouted little buds. These buds will develop into new plants. These are great for planting and are a solid way to start. These can be started in the ground or in pots, both are great options.
Starting hops as potted plants is another common way to start - it does bring the instant gratification of having a visual on the new plant. These plants are usually cultivated from tissue cuttings. This is when you take a snip of an existing plant and encourage, with a bit of root starter, for the plant to take root and become its own plant. Some plants started from potted rhizomes. These are things to consider as the tissue cutting will need a bit more care as it gets established, whereas the rhizome brings its own support system. We do both.
No matter the variety or the planting method you choose, hops are a hardy plant that do well in backyard. In the next article we will talk about where to plant and how to get them set up for success.
Looking to purchase some Hop Rhizomes? Check out this link to find our collection: https://www.stormyacres.ca/pages/our-plants
Rhizomes are generally dug as soon as the ground is workable. This is usually in late April or Early May. We usually start our plants at the same time and are therefore ready in June. If you are wanting to receive plants earlier in the season we ask that you pre-order so we can start them.