Have you considered using root crops or possibly comfrey. I have some beds I use as tree nurseries. I pulled up a large Comfrey plant and chopped the roots into small pieces. I walked the outer edge of the beds and put a chunk of comfrey in every 1ft. Just stick the spade in the ground, lever the ground open, put the comfrey piece the hole and stomp it down. When the plants get big chop and drop and they will regrow. Pollinating bees, especially bumblebees love the comfrey flowers. The comfrey stops grass from encroaching. I do permaculture on a small scale it's almost impossible to stay up with wood chips or any kind of mulch. I'm focused on planting to stop weeds. If you don't plant something, nature will.
Talking to my local hop farmer. His comment was home hop growers generally produce better then commercial hop growers per plant. Simply because I can take care of my 8 plants way better then he can take care of his acre of plants. Oh yeah looking forward to pruning, that is something I have never done in my home hop yard.
Short-term * In the middle of growing season maybe try cardboard sheet as mulch between hops. Should be easy to source and easy to lay down as long 6ft by 3ft strips. 1 Layer should be enough for a season and should achieve like 80% coverage. They'll have to be held down to the earth by some fixture so as to no be blown by the wind ... although the hops in the yard will buffet much of the wind. Mid-term * On a new growing season lay down that black garden poly tarps with a hole just for the hops to come out of. It can be semi-automated process in laying it down and should last like 2 to 3 growing seasons. Plus the black tarp heats the soil sooner so you can have an early growing season. Long-term * Maybe incorporate grazers/ browsers into the hop yard? Goats and sheep should fit the bill but you'll definitely have to experiment on a small scale to see if they would damage the hops as they eat the weeds. Also that entire mid-rows looks to be a great place to plant cover-crops that are nitrogen fixing and great for pastured goats/ sheeps to munch on. Obviously this brings more risk and labour to the farm.
John, appreciate this is an old video mate but are there companion planting options with hops, something that flowers to support beneficial pollinators, fights back weeds and grasses and doesn’t over compete with the hops?
I believe endomycorrhizal fungi would really help hops grow, it infects the cell walls and forms a symbiotic relationship. I wonder if there is any that could be cultivated and then spread around the roots of the hops. I know truffle (ectomycorrhizal) kills competing plants around the roots of the infected Oak trees (truffle brules), perhaps there is another fungi out there that will do the same for hops.
Steam weeding is much more controlled than flame... zero chemicals with volume super heated water at 160 degrees ... do it once then a second time 1 month later and you are weed free for ages.. Weedtechnics provides a great scalable solution ...
Do chicken eat the hops? IF not you could fabricate two half bows and lean them to eachother to form a tunnel. Then let chicken Do The work... Othervise i thing alot of compostmulch every year will Do The trick lock i to how Ridgedale Permaculture Do his no-dig garden beds.
Have you considered using root crops or possibly comfrey. I have some beds I use as tree nurseries. I pulled up a large Comfrey plant and chopped the roots into small pieces. I walked the outer edge of the beds and put a chunk of comfrey in every 1ft. Just stick the spade in the ground, lever the ground open, put the comfrey piece the hole and stomp it down. When the plants get big chop and drop and they will regrow. Pollinating bees, especially bumblebees love the comfrey flowers. The comfrey stops grass from encroaching. I do permaculture on a small scale it's almost impossible to stay up with wood chips or any kind of mulch. I'm focused on planting to stop weeds. If you don't plant something, nature will.
Switch your acid, you can use citric acid, comes in a powder. Still don't know why you don't run the chickens in the hop yard? Thanks for sharing.
Talking to my local hop farmer. His comment was home hop growers generally produce better then commercial hop growers per plant. Simply because I can take care of my 8 plants way better then he can take care of his acre of plants. Oh yeah looking forward to pruning, that is something I have never done in my home hop yard.
Short-term
* In the middle of growing season maybe try cardboard sheet as mulch between hops. Should be easy to source and easy to lay down as long 6ft by 3ft strips. 1 Layer should be enough for a season and should achieve like 80% coverage. They'll have to be held down to the earth by some fixture so as to no be blown by the wind ... although the hops in the yard will buffet much of the wind.
Mid-term
* On a new growing season lay down that black garden poly tarps with a hole just for the hops to come out of. It can be semi-automated process in laying it down and should last like 2 to 3 growing seasons. Plus the black tarp heats the soil sooner so you can have an early growing season.
Long-term
* Maybe incorporate grazers/ browsers into the hop yard? Goats and sheep should fit the bill but you'll definitely have to experiment on a small scale to see if they would damage the hops as they eat the weeds. Also that entire mid-rows looks to be a great place to plant cover-crops that are nitrogen fixing and great for pastured goats/ sheeps to munch on. Obviously this brings more risk and labour to the farm.
John, appreciate this is an old video mate but are there companion planting options with hops, something that flowers to support beneficial pollinators, fights back weeds and grasses and doesn’t over compete with the hops?
I believe endomycorrhizal fungi would really help hops grow, it infects the cell walls and forms a symbiotic relationship. I wonder if there is any that could be cultivated and then spread around the roots of the hops. I know truffle (ectomycorrhizal) kills competing plants around the roots of the infected Oak trees (truffle brules), perhaps there is another fungi out there that will do the same for hops.
Flame works well and you can get a backpack one!
in italy it is not allowed to weed the grass in hops so we are trying to remove it, as it is done in the vineyards with mechanical weeding machines
Good luck with
Steam weeding is much more controlled than flame... zero chemicals with volume super heated water at 160 degrees ... do it once then a second time 1 month later and you are weed free for ages.. Weedtechnics provides a great scalable solution ...
After your plants grab the twine try sand down your rows! Sounds silly I know
Flame weeder
Bro I want cultivate hop shoots in India can u help me
Wood chips are 7.0. Completely neutral.
Depends on the wood. Pine or Aspen are acidic.
@@Gnolomweb pine needles are acidic
I think you mean flake when you say pad
Geese and chickens.
Do chicken eat the hops? IF not you could fabricate two half bows and lean them to eachother to form a tunnel. Then let chicken Do The work... Othervise i thing alot of compostmulch every year will Do The trick lock i to how Ridgedale Permaculture Do his no-dig garden beds.
Or maybe put a plastic pip around the hops and let sheep grace all The hop yard?
Why dont you put mulch down?