Hops planting

This my first attempt at growing the little green goodness. I purchased the starters, 3 Nugget and 2 Galena, from Freshops.com back in March and kept them in their plastic bags in my fridge as per the instructions, until my mid-April dig. When planning a location, full sun is a must, but plants will still grow if partial shade is your best option.

Since the rain gods had been so generous, the ground was relatively moist. I spaced out my plantings about 2.5′ between the Nuggets, and then about 4′ until the Galena, which turned out to be one large shoot. I anticipate adding two 12′ posts soon on either end of my hoprow and running cables across the top and bottom, then using twine or coir yarn to lead the vine. I dug each hole about 16″ deep and 12″ in diameter, loosening the dirt with a pry bar. Then I used a post hole digger to remove the soil and placed it in a wheelbarrow.

After clearing out the 4 holes, I refilled about 5-6″ with small loose dirt, 2-3 cups of potting soil and a bit of Osmocote, mixing it together. I filled in with more dirt and topped with a bit more Osmocote, placing the rhizome vertically in the center of the hole, with the bud of the plants around 1″ below the surface.

After about three weeks in the ground I have a 5″ and two 1″ Nugget shoots, and a 1″ Galena shoot. I’m anxiously checking every day for progress, which I hope expedites with the warmer weather.

This is a work in progress and I’ll be giving periodic updates. Freshops has a great break down of the simple steps that I followed.  – Jeremy Drey

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