So far so good with the hops I planted about 6 (close to 7) weeks ago. I had moved the barrels a few weeks ago to the side of my garage that had a lot more sun. Hops need a lot of sun and less shade! I’ll get at least 6 hours of sun in this new location. The Centennial hops seem to be growing faster and slightly better than the Cascade for some reason. I had a few of the vines literally crumble off on the Cascades but the shoots seem to re-grow rather quickly.  Here are what the Cascades look like:

The Centennials are clearly doing better. I’ve watered them every day and put in some Miracle Grow Shake n’ Feed about a week ago. Here are the Centennials:

I made a trellis with some twine and eye hooks drilled into the side of my garage. Since these are first year hops I’m hoping that I won’t need a large trellis…we’ll see! 

Are you growing hops this year? How’s yours growing? I’m interested in any tips or tricks you might have for other hop growers.