In dry climates the hop plant will produce best if supplemental irrigation is provided.Ī deep well drained, sandy loam soil is best. The hop plant requires ample moisture in the spring followed by warm summer weather. As a consequence of daylength and season length, hop production is limited to latitudes between 35 and 55 degrees. Direct sunlight and long daylength (15 hours or more) is also needed. A minimum of 120 frost free days are needed for flowering. The hop plant produces best under specific climatic and soil conditions. A normal crop of hops should be expected the second year. During the first year little growth and few flowers are produced because the plant is establishing its root system. The rootstock is an underground structure consisting of both rhizomes (with buds) and true roots (without buds) which may penetrate the soil to a depth of 15 feet or more. Hops are heterogeneous and new plants coming from seed could be either male or female. The male plant serves only as a pollenizer, but is not essential for the female plants to produce hop cones. Only the females produce the cone-shaped "hops" used in brewing. The hop is dioecious, having separate male and female plants. They reach their ultimate height of 15-25 feet by the end of June when, in response to shortening daylength, vines stop growing vertically and produce sidearms which bear the flowers. In the spring and early summer, vines grow rapidly, winding around their support in a clockwise direction and clinging with strong, hooked hairs. is an herbaceous perennial, producing annual vines from an overwintering rootstock.
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