1/4 Acre Hop Field with 80 mph winds

[fmbrewing]

I am going to be installing a 1/4 acre hop yard on a western sloped farm field which has been fallow for 10 years or more. The site is perfect for growing hops (is full sun, has direct vehicle & drip-line access, good air circulation & drainage). The only thing about this site is there is NO wind break and the farm gets really windy (up to 80 mph) at random times throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall Seasons. How can I setup/design the hop yard/trellis direction to accomodate the potential for these forceful winds (especially when the hops are ripening)?

[Moonlight]

Be afraid.
Perhaps downsize from the ideal 20 foot trellis to 10 or so. Anchor guy wires well. Look closely at commercial photos and note that they use cross wires as well-also well anchored into the ground. Consider you may want to design the ability to re-cinch the wires each year.

[AlexisScarlett]

Consider low trellis and mesh. We have 50 mph winds in spring and fall and know it is a gamble. Picture of mesh and harvesting:
http://www.sanjuanhopfarms.com/index_files/Page435.html

Plant a wind break.
Wind burn is of course a daily problem but more wind breaks can help.

Good luck and remember Gorst Valley is close to you with a wealth of regional info-- and great love for the hops http://www.gorstvalleyhops.com/

Happy growing!

[fmbrewing]

The low trellis San Juan hops look awesome. Yes I have been working with Gorst and will be attending a workshop they run in a week or so.

Anyone else have idea on this windy issue?

[nohandslance]

You will most definitely need a natural wind break to calm the effects of the strong gusts. In the long term trees are the answer, however this will take 5 plus years for them to fill out and become effective. My only thought is a border crop of some varieties of 'giant' corn stalks that could help buffer the wind. In the early part of the growing season, maybe a wind break of a man made structure in-place until the corn stalks grow to an acceptable height.
I found giant corn stalks @ giantholland.com, also the low trellis design for sure.
Good luck

[jason.koehler]

The mesh looks nice Alexis, that's your place?

[Moonlight]

But wait, does the wind usually only come from one direction? Perhaps plant rows perpendicular to it. Depending on the angle to the sun, you may then need wider spacing between plants for increased sun.

[uptown brothers]

I wonder about hedgerow-type hops, dwarf varieties like First Gold or Boadicea, in places where the wind might be that extreme. Is it possible to get rhizomes from England, or is there a quarantine issue? Seems to a neophyte like they'd be easier to pick too. (Though they probably have their own challenges.)

[fmbrewing]

This is what we came up with to combat the crazy winds coming in from the west...

Direction of Rows
Situate the rows so that they do not act like a big sail with the wind blowing against the row - but instead allow the wind to blow down the rows or parallel with the rows.


Trellis Height
Because the wind can get up to 80 mph at the hopyard, we will be using a 14 foot pole instead of the conventional 16 to 20' trellis poles.


Extra Protection
To make sure that everything is locked down, secure and not going to break from the wind, we will be using an extra guy line/anchor at each corner and cross-wires (cables which run across the rows from pole-to-pole) to hold the whole thing together.

Not sure if I said it before but it is not possible for me to plant a wind block of any sort, this site just will not work with that kind of sun obstruction, not only will it not work for the hopyard but it interfere's with other nearby fields.

[SRB]

Depneding on the size of the hop yard, maybe you could use metal wire from the ground upto the horizontal wire running from post to post....to train the hops to climb.
That's some big wind you got there.
good luck!

[fmbrewing]

@SRB -

The material used from the hop crown in the dirt up to the main cables are going to be coir string made from coconut husk fibers (they last average 3 years).

Thanks for your contribution.

[Moonlight]

For harvesting I cut the string with the bine each year. Wire would make harvest difficult and anything more than a season worth of use would be wasted the way I harvest.

[SRB]

For harvesting I cut the string with the bine each year. Wire would make harvest difficult and anything more than a season worth of use would be wasted the way I harvest.


Oh Right.......harvesting. :D You would get a chuckle out of our duct taped pole with a razor on the end to cut our 50 plants.

[MacAllen]

howdy,

This year I planted giant sunflowers along the new plot in the hop yard. Worked like a charm planted the huge giant king kong ones they topped out at 14 feet. didnt lose a single vine........my 2 cents..........

Ryan Allen
Macallen farm and brewery

[fmbrewing]

Right on, Sunflowers are the fix - these huge mammoth sunflowers will do it. I am stocking up and planting 100 feet on the south end of the hopyard - that is where the wind comes from...

http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1461

cheers

[IPAMEASAP]

Incorporate the trelis with your windmills.

[MacAllen]

Howdy,
Not sure if you have a market for sunflower seeds in your neck of the woods, but around here we harvest the heads in the fall dry down the seeds and sell them to bird seed makers and an oil procesing plant. This helps keep your imput costs pretty low and helps out the new hop shoots for the first couple of years.....

Cheers
Ryan
Macallen Farm and brewery
Rawdon Que Canada

[fmbrewing]

wow super cool idea on the marketing of a windbreak sunflower... how many sun flower plants do your grow in order to yield enough to bring to market? Thanks for the great idea!