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Author Topic: Hops on clay  (Read 3929 times)

Offline Steve Ruch

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Hops on clay
« on: May 23, 2018, 06:14:05 pm »
I may try growing hops at my new place next year. There seems to be a good deal of clay here. What are my chances of success?
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Offline Brewmeisters

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2018, 07:33:25 pm »
You could always make a few small 2'x2' boxes and put soil in them and then plant your hops in there.
YouTube has some great videos about growing hops.
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Offline kramerog

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2018, 07:40:49 am »
Clay in and of itself shouldn't be a problem.  Plenty of people grow hops in Chicagoland.  But Chicagoland probably has more rain than Crescent City?  Find out from local folks what grows successfully in your area.  A raised bed is a good idea regardless otherwise the hops will want to spread all over the place.

Offline Steve Ruch

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2018, 05:07:35 pm »
Clay in and of itself shouldn't be a problem.  Plenty of people grow hops in Chicagoland.  But Chicagoland probably has more rain than Crescent City?  Find out from local folks what grows successfully in your area. 
Crescent City gets a lot of rain, my son refers to it as a tropical rain forest.
I plan to show up at the next meeting of the small local homebrew club, hopefully one of the members will have had success with hops.
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2018, 05:32:55 pm »
Clay in and of itself shouldn't be a problem.  Plenty of people grow hops in Chicagoland.  But Chicagoland probably has more rain than Crescent City?  Find out from local folks what grows successfully in your area. 
Crescent City gets a lot of rain, my son refers to it as a tropical rain forest.
I plan to show up at the next meeting of the small local homebrew club, hopefully one of the members will have had success with hops.
You could ask if anyone has dug a big hole and filed it in with some nice loamy dirt and other stuff.

As a friend said about my area (gravel- which drains well), dig a $50 hole for a $5 plant and it will do well.

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Offline Wilbur

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2018, 04:57:45 pm »
I'm growing Columbus in Central IL, it seems to do just fine. Our area is very heavy clay, hardiness zone 5b. Keep in mind mine are in more shade than is probably good for them. Last year I got about 2 lbs dry equivalent. There's also a bunch growing wild along one of the bike trails, not sure what the variety is though. Rumor has it some hops fell of the train on the way to the PBR factory and took off from there. You can try and mix in some compost or something to amend the soil, try calling your local extension office for tips.

Offline mabrungard

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2018, 07:42:37 pm »
With enough improvement to the soil, hops should grow fine. The thing to watch out for is to avoid creating a sink that doesn't drain. Hops like moist, but not wet. The setting has to drain sufficiently.
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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2018, 09:03:25 pm »
My old house had a lot of clay. Hops did ok directly in the ground but I had problems any time the ground dried out too much because it turns into a literal brick. I eventually moved the hops into raised beds with a mix of potting soil and natural soil and they grew a lot better.
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Offline Brewmeisters

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Re: Hops on clay
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2018, 06:18:07 pm »
I'm growing Cascade, Centennial and Columbus in my back yard.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
 They've really taken off, but it also been really dry lately. Time will tell after this string of storms goes through the area.
When you brew, brew with a happy heart.