The Monteiths hop vine..

[cerevisia]

A while back (April this year) I went to the Monteiths Brewery in Greymouth for the second time (quite a fan). Kind of behind the building I stumbled upon a hop plant growing out of a wooden barrel, smothered in hops so naturally I took a cutting. I know it normally takes two years before you get hops growing on the plant but I got it for a memento. I have no idea what kind of hop it could be but decided to try and grow it. So I drove back to Picton when my holiday ended and got on a ferry with it back to Wellington. It didn't survive. It went brown and dry after two months of being in a jar of water by the window sill - to be expected really I guess. I know nothing about growing any kind of plant other than it needs soil, water and sunlight. So my girlfriend stuck it in a pot and decided that if it would grow it would and if not it wouldn't. We pretty much forgot about it until today when I saw it and noticed that not only is it alive but it appears to be thriving! So I'm very pleased.

Anyone have any ideas as to what kind of hop species it could be?

[James P]

No idea about the hop itself, but next time if you take a cutting put it in some "clonex" to help it grow!

I'll send Mum on a sortie to Monteiths and get her to ask!

[cerevisia]

Ah ok, will do. Cheers! :D

I have another hop plant growing which is a darker colour of green to this one, but I'm not sure if that means anything...

[James P]

Same vine?

[cerevisia]

No, this one is from a different plant. It's slightly darker in colour. The Monteiths vine is a very light green, I've noticed that Saaz hop pellets are a lighter green to other hop pellets so maybe it could be that?

[James P]

Funny you should say about the colour... I was in the garage looking at the couple of kilos of American hops I have have notice a colour difference.

As I have not experience with getting hops off the bine yet, so I'm at a loss.

[cerevisia]

Nice! What kind of American hops are they?

[James P]

Simcoe, columbus, and amarillo and northern brewer.

Don't know what the santiam or chinook look like as they are in foil seal! My Dad lives in the states, and he still loves me enough some times! :)

[cerevisia]

Haha, fantastic!

I loved Samuel Adams, Blue Moon, Fat Tyre, Anchor Steam and Pyramid Hefeweizen when I was there. :D

[Chris Banks]

Hey mate one other thing the quality of the soil your growing in can have quite an impact on
the leaf/bine colour nitrogen deficiency can lead to lighter shades of green or even yellow
in severe cases just a thought !
The hop cutting I got from twisted hop did seem to be a lighter green than my others now that
I think about it ?
How are those mystery german hops going?

[cerevisia]

Thanks for the advice!

The mystery german hops are taking off! But I guess they'll really start when spring hits..?

[Chris Banks]

Yep they sure will especially if you have put them in much bigger pots (or in the ground even better) and start feeding them when they are up and going!

[cerevisia]

Yep! Just went to the garden centre and got me a big old bag of dirt, have just transplanted them into bigger pots a minute ago - they should all be happy now. ;)

Now it's a matter of waiting...