Hops?

Will hops be invasive in my zone 7? And does anyone have any info to impart on growing hops, such as, can you keep it trimmed?

Yes very,here in zone 6 it is very invasive,grows very fast,I grow mine on a cattle fence panel ,formed into a walk under trellis,needs pruned constantly,but I enjoy it,covers trellis quickly once it gets established well.

Great picture Don. I'd love that over my arch that goes into my veggie garden. Do you think it would survive my zone?

T Man,
Is yours a Male or a Female?, mine is a Girl and gets thoes 'pinecone' looking flowers on her, I think their the bittering agent for beer. I have mine growing on a 20 ft obalisk, and have never had to trim. I took a few cuttings from her last year to place in diff. areas around the farm, their very easy to root, thanks for posting your picture.

If anyone would like cuttings of my hops plant, please let me know mid summer. BTW, T Man your garden is lovely.

Brugie ,I think it would,Marcy, grows it in Ohio,zone 5.

Moko,Thanks,not sure,but I think mine the golden hops,has a male and female flower,it to produces the cones for making beer.

I'll have to think about planting it then. I don't want to lose control of it, we have enough invasives already. I was interested in it's herbal properties, I read that stuffing some in your pillow will help conbat insomnia.

Thanks Don. I'll have to try this for sure.

CaptMicha here is a photo of my Hops vine, Humulus opulus aureus. It has not been the least invasive for me. I have had it growing now in this location for 3 years. Does need quite a bit of trimming to keep it from get out of bounds, does have the seed heads. Donna

I'll give it a try. Has anyone had any experience with using it to make beer? Do the wildlife like it, or use it?

Has anyone grown hops in a container?
I love how it looks and would like it for the trellis that surrounds the gate in my fence.
... or maybe erect some type of arbor over my bench.

Nancy

moko- if you don't mind, when you take cuttings come springtime I'd love one or two. :-) I should have some seeds/plants I can trade ya. :-D
Glad you posted this Micha, I'm looking for herbs and various plants for my medicinal garden. I'll try that pillow thing.

You've got it Crimsontsavo !, don't forget, LOL.

Me too moko? Please?!

Yes Micha, your more than welcome, Anyone else?

Yes!

Nancy, I don't see why you couldnt use them in a large container. :-)

Thanks, crim!
Last year I ran twine from the top of my birdfeeder pole down to pots around my bench. I had morning glories, moon flowers, hyacinth bean & red runner beans climbing it.
It "sort of" worked out nice, but not how I had envisioned it.
Every year I like to try something different.
Sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't.

Here's one shot if it.

Ah Rutholive, not sure if my Humulus opulus aureus made it. It was growing very slowly last year (Bought it in spring from Forest Farm). I wonder if I'm too hot here???? I was hoping to grow it over our patio arbor....we'll see come spring if it pops out or not! :~

Is your hops variegated? That's supossed to make plants grow slower.

No, not variegated but chartreuse-leaved....and that is also said to slow it down. It is either "sleeping" or "dead" at the moment....but I have hopes for a resurrection come spring! :~D

How you pictured it or not- it's still very beautiful Gab! MG's are so- happy. lol

Didn't know that about veriegated plants!

Hi everyone! I just found this thread & am considering hops for a privacy screen but not sure about the invasiveness - although apparently it's not always invasive, judging by this thread. Wonder if an underground barrier would help? If so, does anyone have any idea to what depth it would have to be?

~Shannon, in *snowy* Gatineau

From what I've read the plain green one is a pretty fast grower. I really don't know if it's invasive like Honeysuckle (rooting as it goes), I got the feeling the top-growth grows quickly. My 'Aurea' was really growing slow last year, but I really wanted it for the color. Another thing I read about Hops is that it's not good for people who have bad allergies.....something to think about anyway.

Well, Shannon, I have incorporated "Aurea", by taking bits and pieces, and spreading them about here...I have discovered, they are truly fast-spreading for a shade cover.............Two, I have let run rampant and another one, I prune back and still the most glorious racemes of flowers show up...they're super to intertwine with old rambling roses..yellowy-lime-green foliage is pretty with them! E

I think they're starting to sound pretty good. Thanks for the tips, Kachinagirl & Elaine!

Yes, hops can be used in making beer, but they are not the primary ingredient. There are many varieties (cultivars) of hops. I am growing 13 different ones this year. All are humulus lupulus.

The "preferred" method of cultivation and the most successful is by dividing the rhizome (root) in the springtime. Plant the cuttings about 1 inch or so below ground in a small mound to provide good drainage.

For brewing you want ONLY the female plants (to avoid seeds), and dividing by rhizomes assures this. There are may commercial sources where you can pick the varieties you want to grow. Some are good for bittering beer. Others are better for the flavoring part of brewing. You need bittering, flavoring, and aroma hops in most beers. One type can do all three jobs, dependingo n whether or not it is suited to the style being brewed.

Here are two Yahoo Groups that might be useful. The first one listed below is only for GROWing hops. The second is a general brewing discussion group. When you get the welcome message from the second group, there are plenty of links to learn about brewing. One of them is this one: http://www.howtobrew.com/ which is a free online how-to-brew book. The second edition is better but it's not online and for free.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grow-Hops/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zymurgy/

Donald
(Melissa's husband)