Spent hops ?

[Dadnlad]

After this years Aminopyralid horror stories, we've been scouting around for alternatives to horse cack, and after a few enquiries can get our hands on several trailer loads of spent hops ;D
My question is, should we just dig them into the area earmarked for next years spuds or would they better benefit any other crops ? :-\

[Dadnlad]

[Buster54]

Haven't had any experience with them myself but scroll down to Gardening With Beer - Spent Hops.There's an extract here from from some dude called Geoff Hamilton's Organic Gardening Books on Hops and what to do with them

http://www.hopsclub.org/newsletters/199804.html

[caroline7758]

I use spent hops a lot, as I can get them free from York Brewery. I just spread them as a mulch and they are great for keeping the weeds down, and they gradually get incorporated into the soil. As that article says, keep them away from the stems of young plants, but otherwise no problem. Don't think they have much in the way of nutrients but make a good soil improver.

[shaun01]

Nutrient Content
Nitrogen    0.5 per cent
Phosphorus    1-2 per cent
Potassium    0.5 per cent
Trace elements    Full Range

[ninnyscrops]

I'm a believer in them too - great in the summertime to keep my clay from baking and the weeds to a minimum. Just remember to keep the windows open in the car if you're collecting them,  and you won't really appreciate an ale after you've spead them  ::)

Ninnyscrops

[shaun01]

lol to true and dont get pulled over by the cops

[Melbourne12]

I use spent hops a lot, as I can get them free from York Brewery. I just spread them as a mulch and they are great for keeping the weeds down, and they gradually get incorporated into the soil. As that article says, keep them away from the stems of young plants, but otherwise no problem. Don't think they have much in the way of nutrients but make a good soil improver.

We've used them as a soil improver, and they work quite well.  But in dry weather (remember that?) they blow away unless you fork them in.

Also, they need to be spread fairly promptly and not left bagged up, otherwise they pong horribly.

[aussiedigger]

I've used them on my back garden (shrubs, perennials etc - not veg) as an experiment this year as I was looking for an alternative to strulch (great stuff but expensive) and was nervous about manure because of the contamination. 

I wasn't impressed with the hops at first.  They were dripping wet when we collected, the smell was nauseous and as it was summer (such as it was) - the flies rolled in to check out the free beer.  Because they were so wet, they were hard to spread and I ended up with soggy clumps.

However ... as they dried out, the smell disappeared and with it the flies, I managed to spread the clumps a bit more evenly and now they have broken down a bit, I am quite happy with the result.  They area I mulched with the hops is weed free, the black birds are in every day digging for morsels - and chucking the hops all over the place as per usual, and the soil condition is improving.

I will definitely get some more for the allotment when I get the chance ... and they are free from the local independent brewery.

[Dadnlad]

Cheers everyone :-*

Local independant brewery says we can have as much as we want all year - cos we're the only people ever to ask for them ???

As the nutrient content isn't great, we're gonna use it like we did manure - heap it on, let winter take its toll, rotovate it in spring and plant the spuds into it ;D

Maybe by then we can even mulch the spuds with fresh hops ::)

[Hyacinth]

SS was a great spent hop mulcher. Good enough for our SS, good enough for the rest of us 8) ;D

[chelsea dagger]

 i might be able to get hold of some spent hops from a local micro brewery but as slugs like the beer in beer traps does the smell of spent hops attract them or is there no smell of ale at all,cheers

[Dadnlad]

There is a slight erm.......whiff......to them ;) - but its definitely not ale :o

[caroline7758]

I haven't noticed any increase in slugs, although I have seen the birds pecking around in the hops.

[littlebabybird]

so umm to get the hops did you just ring up the brewery and ask?
trying to pluck up the courage

lbb

[thifasmom]

i did but no one will give me :'( one brewery said they do give but to allotments in quite large loads. said it would be breaching Health and safety policy to let me come and bag some for myself :(.

[caroline7758]

Not all breweries use fresh hops. I live in Tadcaster which has three breweries. Only one (Sam Smith's) uses fresh hops and they have a contract with someone to take the pent hops away. Try smaller independent breweries- I get mine from York Brewery and occasionally from Knaresborough. They are glad not to have to pay anyone to take them away, and the bags are there ready to collect any time.

[Dadnlad]

Same as Caroline :), the small independant breweries are more likely to use fresh hops rather than dried, and they're grareful for someone to take the spent off their hands ;D

[littlebabybird]

ok, thankyou everyone

lbb