Hops, hops, and more hops!

My hops are out and looking better than ever!

It is the peak growing time for hops and I wanted to try to capture how fast they are growing right now. This picture was taken only 2 weeks after they first broke through the ground.










This photo was taken just 2 days after the first one. Sorry about the shading, but I snapped it as soon as I got home from work. The other one was taken on Saturday so I was able to pick better lighting.

Hopefully you can see the center vine and how much taller it has grown. also you can see many more vines climbing up through the bench.






This shot was taken the next day. You can really see the center vine shooting up now, and if you look to the lower right you can see the cluster of vines have also reached the top rail to the bench.









I thought that I should go back and try to catch the same angle as the original photo so that you can see how they are filling in underneath the bench.

The vines are growing at the rate of about 3-4 inches per day right now, and if we continue to get the good mix of rain and sunshine they should grow at that rate clear through June!

That's when the first signs of the flower cones will start to show. That's the part of the plant that I'm truly interested in.
If you want to see the full potential of these beauties you can always go back to my very first post, Sept. '05, to see them in full bloom! Each year the vines come in heartier, and more shoots pop up off to the sides. If things go well this year I might be able to get two harvests, and that means Good Beer for Next Year!