Hops

Botanical Name: Humulus lupulus

Common Names: Hops, Hop Vine, Common Hop

Hops is a vigorous, twining perennial bine (not vine!) famous for its use in beer brewing, providing flavour, aroma, and bitterness. It's an excellent, fast-growing plant that provides fantastic vertical coverage and beautiful, aromatic cones (the female flowers) in the late summer/autumn. It’s an ideal choice for backyard growers seeking a productive, ornamental, and historically significant crop.

Features:

Ideal Trellis/Support Height: 4.5 – 6m - needs vertical space before lateral branches (which bear the cones) form.

pH Growing Conditions: 6.0 to 7.0 (A slightly acidic to neutral range is best).

Shade or Full Sun: Full Sun is essential for a heavy harvest of cones.

Minimum Pot Size: Requires a large container (e.g., 60L+) if not planted in the ground, but best grown directly in the ground due to its extensive root system.

Time to Harvest Age: 2nd or 3rd year from a rhizome for a full, substantial harvest (you may get some cones in year one).

Hops is an herbaceous perennial, meaning the above-ground growth (the bines) dies back completely in winter, but the underground crown/rhizome survives and sends up vigorous new shoots each spring. These can be divided. The plant requires a period of winter chilling for best production. It needs a strong support structure to handle the weight of the bines and cones, which can be significant by harvest time. Hops are also very thirsty plants, requiring deep, consistent watering throughout the growing season.

Interesting Notes:

Only female hop plants produce the desirable cones used for brewing. This is what we sell, Commercial growers cull males to prevent seed development.

The cones contain Lupulin, a sticky, yellow powder that holds the essential oils and resins used to flavour and preserve beer.

The young spring shoots (called hop shoots) can be harvested and eaten as a gourmet vegetable, often compared to asparagus!

Limited availability: Requires rhizomes/crowns to be planted in early spring after the last frost.

Keywords: Hops, Humulus lupulus, brewing ingredient, perennial climber, backyard crop, beer making, vertical garden.

Variety is kracanup