"Roy Bailey" wrote in message
...
In article , Todd
writes
How long does it take hop seed to germinate?
Any special requirements?

I have 12 brewing hop plants growing along a large trellis. I grew them
from seed
from a bine given to me by a Kentish brewer in 1994 and I believe it took
a
couple of years before the plants started producing. So if you sow the
seeds this
autumn, the plants will start growing next year and you should get some
hops in
2006.

If you want to use them for home brewing, you will need to discard all the
male
plants except one. Males have very tiny flowers; it is the females that
bear the
hops.

Beware! Once the plants are established, the roots spread, and the plants
grow
very tall - in excess of 20 feet. Mine are already about 10 feet tall and
I have
to train them up the longest hazel nut sticks I can find. Even then they
grow off
the top.

If you are thinking of purchasing seed, the new dwarf varieties like First
Gold
would be better for a garden.
--
Roy Bailey
West Berkshire.
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In the County of Kent, England, (known as the 'The Garden of England'
because of its many fecund orchards and its balmy summer weather so
suitable for growing hops and hard fruits such as apples), the hop-pickers
families including the women and children from the London slums used to
gather at harvest time, lived in tents and made some much needed wages.
The men tended and cut the hops and in order to carry out the work they
stood and walked about standing on very high wooden stilts.
The women and children gathered the cut hop-heads, packed them into baskets
and did all the tidying up. They treated it as a holiday.
I think it is a pity that the noble tradition has now passed.
Doug.
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