Hop is a herb that is used in herb medicin and with the brewing of beer. The young shoots can be eaten raw or shortly cooked as vegetable. In medicin hop is used to relive the nerves, to help with sleeping and to relive digestion problems. The bitter yellow powder between the scales of hop is used to preserve beer. Dried hop is also used as an extra pillow to help with sleeping. Lastly hop is also used as colouring agent for wool. With hop wool turns sulphur yellow till dark brown. Hop is also very well suited to cover a wall or fence. Hardy perrenial. Height: 900 cm.
Soak: 24 hours
Indoor sowing: february - march or september - october
Outdoor sowing: march - may or october - november
Germination: 30 - 90 days
Germination temp.: 5 - 18 °C
Sowing depth: shallow - 3 mm
Plant distance: 50 - 60 cm
Plant position: sunny
Days till harvest: 120 - 130
Soak the seeds, for a better germination, for about 24 hours in tepid water. Sow indoors from february on in seperate post of about 7 cm Ø in moist sowing and potting soil. Press the seeds in gently and don't cover them, because hop is a light germinater. Keep moist and cover the pots with some clingfilm to retain the moisture. Hop can germinate quit unregullarly and it can take a long time before the seeds germinate. Remove the clingfilm, when the seedlings first appear. Harden the seedlings of for about 10 days, mid may, when they're no longer any danger of frosts. Put the seedlings on a moist spot with sun and very good drainage. Give this fast growing climber good support.
Sow outdoors from march on. Sow on a sunny plot with some support and good drainage. Sow shallow and thin and press or rake the seeds in gently. Hop needs a lot of patience for germination, because this herb is a very irregullar germinator. Thin the seedlings to about 50-60 cm, when they're large enough to handle. The young seedlings and shoots and leaves can be used shortly cooked in salads or as a vegetable. The female flowers (the bells) can be harvested after about 120 days. These bells are used to give flavour to beer.