TOPIC:

This is one the lads on Jims forum uses

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I am growing hops at the moment. I bought them from a home brew shop in the UK that was mentioned on Jim's site[i:19wuk3hb][edit: not the one oblivious mentioned. If someone wants to know, I'll dig it out][/i:19wuk3hb]. Worked out a lot cheaper than any specific hop shop.
I got three First Gold. They were shipped over to me last year as three young plants in pots. They were a bit shook after the journey, but I planted them up into bigger pots, and got a nice bit of growth by the end of the summer ( about 4'), but no cones.
They are starting to grow again now. I'm not the most green-fingered person, but I'd imagine the fact they're still on pots will restrict the growth a little. Maybe by next year I'll be organised enough to plant them in the ground.

We were looking for a good climber, and I thought it would be novel to use hops. If I actually use them in brewing it will be a bonus.

Cormac.

You may need to look into giving them some plant food, as they can deplete the soils nutrients pretty fast

Doesn't spent grain and hops make good compost? There is a nice little cycle of beer beckoning here.

My wife, being the more green-fingered, has been feeding them alright. They seem to be kicking into life.If they take off, to the point of being worthy of a couple of pics, I'll post them up later in the summer.

Séan, spent grain is good for composting alright, but I can go one better. I have hens, who go crazy for spent grain. Their droppings in turn are great for composting. With the added bonus of fresh eggs, of course.

That's even better. Do the eggs have a malty character to them? That would be cool.