Grow Hops in Your Backyard
By Stephanie Montell
From Planting to Harvest and the Hazards in Between
Growing hops at home is easy if you know the tricks of the trade. But you better hurry - as spring turns to summer the prime time for establishing new starts is quickly passing.
Click here to view our selection of Hop Rhizomes and Rhizome Growing Kits!
Driving along Highway 99 in Oregon's Willamette Valley you can see towering poles with climbing green vines reaching for the sky. To the uninitiate, the plants may look strange and unfamiliar, but they produce the favorite flower in a beer brewer's yard.
The female flower of the hop vine Humulus lupulus provides beer its characteristic bitterness, flavor, and aroma. Brewers have also exploited its natural preservative qualities for years. If you choose to grow hops at home they can deliver a great deal of satisfaction as well, bringing you one step closer to a truly unique hand-crafted beer.
The hop is a hardy, perennial plant that is easily grown at home, provided sufficient sun and climbing space are available. The hop produces annual vines from a permanent root stock known as the crown. Vines can grow 25 ft high in a single season but will die to the crown each fall. The crown also produces the underground stem or rhizome. The root-like rhizomes sprout numerous buds, which are the key to propagation.
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