TOPIC:

It's classified as a noxious weed. More about it in this thread[/url:sg0il9w8].

in a nutshell a female flower is what you want for brewing until they are fertilised by a male plant then they become useless.
one male plant can distroy a female harvest for miles around

"emmetg":3q7i03k7 wrote: in a nutshell a female flower is what you want for brewing until they are fertilised by a male plant then they become useless.
one male plant can distroy a female harvest for miles around[/quote:3q7i03k7]
That's not quite right. Females will produce seeds if there is a male around. We've all had hops with seeds, and while they're not desireable they're not the end of the world.

Where it becomes a problem for growers is where the seeds fall to the ground and a new plant of unknown parentage grows. These are unlikely to take over an established garden but add to the workload of maintaining the garden as they have to be pulled.

Seeds in English hops are quite common as males in England both wild and cultivated are quite common.

It's only illegal here to have wild males on your land and to not do something about removing them. Like with ragwort. But the fine is only approx 25 euro (£20 in old money).

i stand corrected

Brilliant stuff , thanks for the help & suggestions.Does that company in Germany sell the hop plant or just hops?.I am edging towards using essentially hops commonly.From the research I have been doing on hops, they are very residual to harsh winter conditions and reduce to a cone but come spring they grow again and yield hops.Also another bonus about buying a plant as opposed to a rhizome the plant will give you something at the end of a Summer whereas a rhizome will take well over a year to bear hops.Thanks again fellow brewers. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

&amp;quot;gibo&amp;quot;:1vvfogoa wrote: Brilliant stuff , thanks for the help & suggestions.Does that company in Germany sell the hop plant or just hops?.[/quote:1vvfogoa]

They sell the hop rizomes.

Follow the link - the site is available in english

Will