Herb · Cannabaceae
Hops
Humulus lupulus
Hand them full sun, deep soil, and something tall to climb, and hop bines will happily shoot up for your brewing harvest.
Full sun
Every 2–4 days
120–150 days
USDA 3–8
Overview
Hops are the climbing perennial behind all that bitterness and aroma in beer. The plant throws up fast-growing shoots called bines that twist clockwise up whatever string or trellis you give them, and they can reach as much as 25 feet (7.5 m) in one season before dying right back to the ground each fall. Those papery green cones you get in late summer? That's the whole point.
Here's a key thing to know: hops are dioecious, which just means each crown is either male or female, and only the females carry the cones that brewers use. The bines climb by wrapping their rough, hooked stems around a support instead of using tendrils, so a tall trellis or a run of twine really isn't optional. And underground, tough rhizomes spread the plant sideways, which is why hops can happily take over a corner of the garden if you let them.
The good news is that hops are hardy and long-lived once they've settled in, and they'll shrug off winters as cold as -29°F (-34°C). The first year mostly goes into building roots, so full cone production usually waits until the second or third season. Plant a female cultivar, give it some height and steady water, and one crown can keep cropping for years.
Care
The short version: hops want full sun, deep and rich well-drained soil, and steady moisture through the summer heat, plus a tall support for the bines and plenty of room so the rhizomes don't wander.
Light
Hops want full sun, and honestly the more the better, because the bines need long days and strong light to power that explosive growth and set good cones. They'll take a bit of partial sun, but anything shadier and you'll end up with weaker bines and a thinner harvest.
Water
These plants get thirsty in summer, drinking heavily through June and July while the bines are racing upward. Keep the soil consistently moist but never waterlogged, and just ease off on the water as the plant dies back in fall.
Soil
Give hops a deep, rich, well-drained sandy loam that's loaded with organic matter, since the roots run deep and the plant feeds hard. A pH somewhere between 6.0 and 6.5 suits them nicely.
Temperature
Hops are pretty tough across a wide range, riding out winter lows near -29°F (-34°C) and growing happily up to about 90°F (32°C). Cold hardly ever bothers an established crown, which just dies back and regrows each spring.
Humidity
Outdoors, humidity is whatever the season hands you, so there's really no number to aim for. What matters is airflow, because crowded, damp foliage is exactly where downy and powdery mildew like to move in.
Feeding
Feed monthly from spring through midsummer with a balanced fertilizer that has nitrogen while the bines are growing hard, then taper off before the cones set. All that fast growth makes for a hungry plant.
Pruning
In spring, cut second- and third-year crowns right back to the ground once the bines hit about 2 feet, then keep just a few strong shoots and train them clockwise up your strings. Strip the lower leaves for airflow, and cut the bines to the ground after harvest as the plant dies back.
Repotting
Hops aren't really a container plant, so there's no repotting to worry about. What you do instead is lift and divide the crowns every few years if the center gets crowded, the shoots lose vigor, or the rhizomes start wandering past their patch.
Size & spacing
In a single season those bines can climb up to 25 feet (7.5 m) tall and spread 3 to 6 feet (91 to 183 cm) wide at the base. So give each crown plenty of room and a tall, sturdy support so air moves freely and the rhizomes have somewhere to run.
When to plant
Hops run on a pretty clear yearly rhythm. Plant rhizomes or crowns in early spring as soon as you can work the soil, train the bines up through those long summer days, and cut the cones in late August and September before the plant dies back for winter.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Plant rhizomes or crowns in early spring after the soil can be worked
- Harvest: Cones harvested late August through September (late summer to fall)
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 3–8
Temperature: down to -40°C
Troubleshooting
Most hop trouble lands on the leaves, either as a fungal disease when the weather's damp or as a pest during the summer heat. Catch it early, because a problem that reaches the cones is what really costs you the harvest. So match up what you're seeing below, then step in while it can still do some good.
Yellow patches up top, gray-purple fuzz below, and stubby shoots
What you're looking at is downy mildew, and it likes cool, wet weather and digs in hard once it's around. Those pale, brittle little spikes poking up from the crown? Pull them right away, along with any spotted leaves. After that, open things up so air can move, water down at the base instead of overhead, and give it some protection while the weather stays damp.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected basal spikes and diseased foliage promptly
- Improve air circulation by stripping lower leaves and thinning bines
- Avoid overhead irrigation; water at the base
- Apply a labeled fungicide preventively during cool, wet periods following extension recommendations
White powdery film on leaves, shoots, and cones
That white, felt-like dusting on the leaves and new growth is powdery mildew, and it'll go after the cones too and leave them all deformed. The trick is to snip out the first infected bits in spring and keep the bines open to sun and moving air. And when the weather starts favoring the fungus? A sulfur spray or another labeled fungicide will help you keep it in check.
Fix:
- Prune to remove early infected tissue in spring
- Improve air movement and sun exposure
- Apply sulfur or another labeled fungicide per extension guidance
Speckled, bronzing leaves with fine webbing in hot weather
When summers turn hot and dry, twospotted spider mites tend to show up and speckle the leaves until they bronze and drop. Not sure it's them? Hold a leaf over a sheet of white paper and give it a tap, and you'll spot the tiny mites moving around. Hose the plants down often with a strong stream, keep them from drying out, and go easy on the predatory mites that naturally keep the pest down.
Fix:
- Wash plants regularly with a strong stream of water
- Conserve beneficial predatory mites and other natural enemies
- Provide adequate but not excessive water and nitrogen
- Apply a labeled miticide if populations escalate
Curled, sticky leaves covered in tiny soft-bodied insects
The hop aphid turns up in spring and hangs around all season, piling onto leaf undersides and shoot tips and leaving a sticky honeydew that sooty mold loves. So peek at the tips every week and treat them early, because once the aphids get to the cones, there goes your harvest. The good news? Lady beetles and lacewings will handle a lot of it if you just let them.
Fix:
- Encourage and conserve natural enemies such as lady beetles and lacewings
- Hose off light infestations with water
- Apply insecticidal soap or a labeled insecticide for heavy early-season or cone infestations
Leaves chewed down to a lacy skeleton in midsummer
Japanese beetles feed in groups and munch away the soft leaf tissue, leaving behind nothing but a lacy web of veins. Early in the morning they're slow and easy to grab, so just pick them off into some soapy water. It looks pretty rough, but an established bine usually shrugs it right off.
Fix:
- Hand-pick beetles into soapy water in the early morning
- Apply a labeled insecticide during heavy adult flights if needed
Toxicity
Hops are genuinely dangerous to dogs, and that's not a warning to brush off. Both fresh cones and the spent hops left over from brewing can trigger a sudden, life-threatening fever in a dog, so keep every part of the plant and all brewing waste well out of reach. It's smart to keep cats, horses, and other animals away too, while the cones themselves are what people use to brew beer.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
Cats are on the at-risk list too, and even though there aren't as many reports as with dogs, hops can still run their temperature up and upset their stomach. So keep the cones, dried hops, and brewing waste somewhere a cat can't get to.
Dogs Severe
Here's the big one. In dogs, hops can kick off a malignant hyperthermia crisis, with heavy panting, a dangerously high fever, a racing heart, restlessness, vomiting, and seizures that can turn fatal within hours. The spent hops from brewing are a really common cause, and sighthounds like greyhounds are at even higher risk, so treat any ingestion as an emergency, full stop.
Horses Moderate
Horses can be affected as well. If a horse gets into hops, it might look clearly distressed with a rising body temperature, so keep the plant and any brewing waste away from pasture and feed.
Rabbits Caution
There isn't much solid evidence either way for rabbits, so why chance it? Just keep hops off their menu, and don't offer cones, foliage, or trimmings.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, goats, and sheep are best kept away from hops just to be safe, since you can't rule out the same heat-driven reaction dogs get. Fence off any plantings, and never toss spent hops where grazing animals can reach them.
Birds Caution
Nobody really knows how birds handle hops, so the safe bet is to keep cones and dried hops away from them completely.
People Caution
For grown-ups, hops are pretty low-risk, and adults use the cones to brew beer and steep them into calming teas. Still, it's not something kids should nibble on, and handling the bines can leave a skin rash on some folks.
Keep all hops, including bittered/boiled spent hops from brewing, completely away from dogs. Dispose of used hops securely in a sealed, dog-proof container rather than an open compost or trash that pets can reach.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Most home growers pick a hop by its brewing character, whether that's bright citrus or a heavy bittering punch, though one is grown just for looks. Here are the ones worth knowing by name.
Cascade
Cascade is a well-loved American aroma hop full of bright citrus and floral notes, and it's become a go-to for home and craft brewers alike.
Centennial
Centennial works as both an aroma and bittering hop, and its bold citrus scent is exactly why folks call it super Cascade.
Chinook
Chinook is a high-alpha bittering hop with a distinct spicy, piney kick to it.
Nugget
Nugget grows vigorously as a high-alpha bittering cultivar, and it's known for a heavy, herbal aroma.
Aureus
Aureus is the ornamental golden hop, and it's grown mostly for its bright chartreuse foliage rather than for brewing cones.
How to propagate
Hops are almost always grown from the parent plant rather than from seed, which keeps a named female cultivar true and gets you to a brewing crop years sooner.
DivisionEasy
Early spring while dormant · One growing season to establish; full cone production typically by the second or third year
The easiest way to get more hops is to split the perennial crown of an established female plant in early spring while it's still dormant, and that keeps the named cultivar true to type. A division needs one growing season to settle in, but don't count on a full crop of cones until the second or third year.
LayeringModerate
Spring through early summer · One season to root before separating
Rhizome cuttings and layered bits of bine root pretty easily when you set them out from spring through early summer, and they take about a season to root before you can separate them. Commercial growers usually go with clean, disease-free transplants instead of field rhizomes, which is a smart way to keep mildew out of a new planting.
SeedDemanding
Spring · Two or more years to flower and reveal sex
Seed is hardly ever the way to go, since seedlings won't come true to a named cultivar and they split into males and females. Sow them in spring and they'll take two years or more to flower and finally show their sex, so you're basically betting on a long wait for a mystery plant.
Myths
Any hop plant will give you cones to brew with.
Not quite, because hops are dioecious, so only the female plants carry the papery cones, the strobiles, that brewers actually want. Growers keep a male or two around just for breeding and pollination and usually pull the rest, since pollinated, seeded cones are a headache for most brewing.
Only beer made from hops is dangerous to dogs, not the plant.
Nope, the hops themselves are the problem, and there's no beer required. Fresh cones, dried hops, and especially the spent hops left over from brewing can set off a life-threatening high-fever reaction in dogs with no alcohol involved at all.