The Hops Are Up

Well, since no one is really writing for this anymore...I figured I may as well use it to track the growth of my Hops plants in Colorado Springs. Now, I know some of you don't care about this...but I bet that this is checked so infrequently, that it won't really matter.

The hops were planted three weeks ago and broke ground yesterday. Four varieties were planted: Fuggle, Cascade, Mt. Hood, and Chinook. The rhizomes were purchased from freshops out of Oregon. The Mt. Hood rhizomes were 'jumbos' and the rest were 'normal'. I purchased 2 of each not knowing what to expect.

The soil was tested as having a ph right around 7 using a cheap $5 soil tester bought from a local nursery. Steer manure was added for fertilization purposes and the top layer was mulched as was read to be a best practice.

Marigolds were planted around the hops (although they're struggling) as a means to naturally minimize the potential damage of pests. I read about someone doing this and thought it was a neat idea. I have no idea if it actually works.

The garden itself has southern exposure and should serve as a great location for growing hops. Here's a Microsoft Paint design of what the climbing system looks like:

And here's the Mt. Hoods breaking the soil...