Growing Hops in Eastern Scotland

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rlucas

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Is this worth attempting? I'd like to try the following varieties:

Cascade
Pioneer
Challenger
Crystal

Is there a source of supply for these in UK?

Many thanks

Richard
 
I'm in Aberdeen and I grew hops from seed, so they do grow well in fertile soil. Mine were all male though so not sure on flowering. If you have a warm suntrap you should be fine.
 
This is obviously a very old thread but I've grown Challenger in Edinburgh for the last two seasons. Slight downside (and this may be where I planted them) but they do tend to ripen a bit later.
Dont do it to save money either!
 
Grow fine in my allotment in glasgow, I got about eight kilos wet from three plants this year, two of which were in large pots. So I think you can save money, although it takes a while to pick them so just don' t factor that in wink.... but then you can also make a wet hop beer. Might be best to pick early maturing ones, I bore this in mind when picking the hops I wanted to grow so deliberately steered clear of the late harvest ones., Hallertau mittelfruh (early season) was harvested first/second week of september and the centennial (mid season) was late september.
 
T
Dont do it to save money either!
I agree with that. It takes a lot of time and effort and the rewards are marginal. If you enjoy a challenge do it, but its much easier and cost effective in the short to medium term to buy them as/when you need them. They are less convenient than bought pellets in my view, storage of largeish quantitites of home grown hops might be a problem unless you invest in a vac pack system or have a large freezer, and if you use them for bittering there is guesswork involved since the %AA will be unknown. I have two Prima Donna plants in pots and probably wouldnt have bothered had I known the baggage that comes from looking after them, harvesting and drying and storage to retain the freshness, and after two years I am nowhere near recouping my 'investment'. And there is always an obligation to use the hops you have grown rather than try other varieties
 
Long term you will save a bit of cash but I agree there is always a perceived obligation to use your own - so make damn sure you pick varieties that you will use.
I've got a prima donna which I do like, but 2 cascades which TBH I don't. Unfortunately the cascades produce a much heavier crop than the p.d.s so I'm going to get rid of one of them.
 
I believe the guy who runs Law Brewing Co in Dundee grows his own Goldings. I’m not much more help than that though!
 
Google `Hops and Flowers'. Just had 3 from them and am very pleased with them. Cost £9.50 each plus postage.
 
The Hutton Institute just outside Dundee has been testing the commercial viability of growing hops in Tayside. As a huge berry-growing region they've clearly spotted the potential of hop growth here. Sure, it's cooler up here, but the hours of sunlight are much higher.
 
That's interesting

I'd have thought the wind would probably be one of the biggest problems, but if they concentrate on dwarf hops maybe that might not be a problem
 
That's interesting

I'd have thought the wind would probably be one of the biggest problems, but if they concentrate on dwarf hops maybe that might not be a problem

Wind may not be an issue at all if they decide on giant polytunnels.
 
Yeah I saw they grew them in tunnels when I googled it. They have a basic booklet out about growing hops in Scotland too. Would be nice to see some farmers try it out!

My hops tend to get a bit wind damaged in Glasgow and are just grown over fences so only get about 2.5 metres high.
 
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