Never grown any hops before, but I thought it would be fun to get a few rhizomes started indoors this spring and transplant them to the outdoor seating area at the pub once it’s warm enough. I’m not altogether optimistic that I’ll find a variety that does well at 10k ft, so I’ll try a few and maybe get lucky. That got me thinking about putting them in large planters and pulling them in for the winter, and then I thought… We have a nice vaulted ceiling with skylights and existing beamwork to train them on, so could I just grow them indoors year-round? It would be a mess come harvest time, but it could also be a pretty fun event. Thoughts?
I knew a guy who was growing indoors, in a sunroom in his house. He had pretty good success, they were on their third year, and starting to produce. It can work, and we’re at 6,200 ft altitude.
(Edit) He was growing Cascade and Centennial…
I grew Cascade at 7200’. They did very well even when they would get a frequent pruning from hail storms. I think they need a chill period and die back to produce well. They also have a large root structure if you are thinking of pots. Those pots will need winter watering to keep from drying out that those in the ground won’t need.
Unless you use an enormous pot, the mount of growth will likely be limited somewhat.
Hops are perennials, so I’m pretty sure that they will need to have a dormant period. Though they might grow indoors all year round, I’m not sure if they’ll produce cones.
Second of all… If you do plan on planting outside, I recommend starting them outside. The first year I tried growing hops, I started with 10 rhizomes in pots indoors, they all sprouted but they were very fragile. Only three made it through the first year. Last year I bought 8 rhizomes (8 different varieties). I planted on a nice day in early March and all 8 grew very hardy. We had a handful of freezes afterwards too. Just put a heavy coat of mulch over them. I’m going to have to wait a couple weeks to get the two planted this year because the ground is still frozen.
Might be a fun/interesting experiment but I wouldn’t expect much reward for the effort. Also, if it were successful I would think that as the cones mature you might grow a bit tired of the inescapable aroma.
+1 - I have mine in 27" pots, and mine don’t grow anywhere near as much as those planted in the ground. I haven’t checked how badly rootbound they are, but I’m sure that’s the issue. Still, if its more for decoration than yield you can do fine in a container.
A half-barrel would probably work pretty well. It may be a nice way to tie-in to the the brewery theme if you’re doing any barrel-aged brews.
And you have to be very diligent about watering when growing hops in a container - even more so than traditional planting. Growing hops are super thirsty plants, but you can still over-water in a pot if you’re not careful. I have been guilty about both over- and under-watering with mine.
That’s something I hadn’t considered, and probably a deal-breaker. People complain about the smell of mashing as it is.
I guess I’ll just be lazy about it and wait another month or two to plant the rhizomes. Getting great yields isn’t really important - I don’t expect enough flowers to brew even a one-off batch for years, if ever. Hopefully they’ll do well enough to provide some decoration and a little shade as a nice bonus though.
I think that indoors isn’t such a good idea. I have some in a 55 gallon poly drum cut in half. I made a cage of 6’ welded fabric fence with wire going between the two halves at the top.
Last year, I only filled the drums about half way and the plants were very unhappy (they barely grew to the top of the fencing and didn’t produce many cones). This year I filled the pots w/soil. With the rain & sun we’ve had here in the bay area, my Magnums are about 3’ tall. I hope to get them trained to go horizontal when they get to the top.
Don’t know what I’ll do if we get a late frost.
If it’s just a night of frost, I think you’ll be ok. Plus, since it is early, you’ll get more shooters and not lose much time with growth if your main bines die off in a frost. I had solid growth last year in early April on some second year hops. We had a frost in late April. It didn’t affect the hops at all. It killed all of the peach buds though. Hops are pretty hardy. What doesn’t kill them, makes them stronger.
Last year in half wine barrels my centennial cascade and Willamette grew about 8’ vertical then another 8’ horizontal. Off three barrels, each with four ryzomes, I picked about ten gallons. Dried on a window screen on a box fan laid flat. I brewed two pale ales and had about 8 oz left over. About a pound total. When you run them horizontally they need help wrapping around the twine. I bought some 12’ cedar and building trellis this year.
Even in my 27" pots my hops make the ~14ft run up to my deck railing without a problem (and would probably keep going if they could). The issue is keeping up on the water and nutrient needs for such a fast-growing plant in a container.
Damn mine just broke ground and are three inches tall at best.
2nd year Sterling, Galena and Columbus are about 6-9" already in Oregon. The older stock are taking their time.
They must be getting wiser in their old age
Damn, I better go look at mine. I haven’t even cut down the bines from last year.
+1
I haven’t cut the bines down from last year’s crop as well. I also didn’t have time to havest the hop cones. 
I harvested maybe 1/4-1/3 of of mine and then said screw it. For the last 8 years, I’ve processed lbs. more than I’ve been able to use. I decided to skip the useless effort this year.
I wish I had that problem. For the first time in about 5 years I had enough to harvest and brew 2 batches with. And I just cut down last years bines on Sunday because the new ones are peeking out of the dirt
My guess is that unless you have a full glass conservatory, there won’t be enough light for good growth. Even direct sunlight through a window isn’t as good as outdoors unless that plant is directly in front of the window. Then again, it’s OK if it’s a little smaller.
Pot size can be overcome. What’s really limiting plant growth with pot size is water and nutrients, so the right schedule of feeding and fertilizing should work. I’ve wondered about growing hops hydroponically. It could work really well for an indoor planting.
I must stop by next time I’m near Leadville (near = anywhere in CO).
Edit: Hydroponic hops in 5 gallon buckets of gravel!
