Hops are very suitable not only for brewing beer, but also as a privacy screen for terraces and balconies. The easy-care climbing plant can be easily grown in a pot. How to care for a hop plant in a pot.
How do you care for hops in a bucket?
To successfully grow hops in a bucket, you need a pot with a drainage hole, loose and nutritious garden soil, monthly fertilization with vegetable fertilizer (€19.00 on Amazon) or nettle manure and regular watering. In winter, protect the pot from frost and support the plant with a climbing aid.
Advantages of growing in a container
Hops in the garden have a decisive disadvantage. It spreads a lot and is difficult to remove once it settles in. In addition, the plants grow very tall when grown outdoors.
These problems can be easily solved when growing hops in buckets. The plant
- doesn't spread
- won't get that high
- can be easily moved to another location.
How to care for hops in the bucket
While hops in the open field require little care apart from pruning, the care required in the container is slightly higher.
There should be no waterlogging. The pot must therefore have a sufficiently large drainage hole so that excess irrigation water can drain away. The soil must not dry out completely, so you have to water the hops more often.
Loose, nutritious garden soil is sufficient. As in the open field, the hops are fertilized once a month with vegetable fertilizer (€19.00 on Amazon) or, if available, nettle manure.
Hops in the bucket must be protected from frost
Basically, the native climbing plant is absolutely winter hardy. It retreats and leaves behind only a dried stem. In the open field, hops therefore do not need any winter protection.
In the bucket things are a little different. Here the earth freezes more quickly if it is very cold for a long time. You must therefore protect the pot from frost. Place the bucket on an insulating surface such as a Styrofoam board and cover it in foil until spring.
Do not cut back the plant, but leave the withered stems until spring. In February, cut the hops down to the ground. Then it's time to repot the climbing plant.
Tip
Even in pots, hops cannot do without climbing support. Attach a plant support. Even better is a location in front of a high trellis or a pergola where the shoots can climb.