What soil do Hop Plants grow best in? Nutrients, pH, Composition and how much does it matter.

The short answer is hop plants can do well in pretty much all types of soil. There are issues anyone can run into like overly wet soil or a complete lack of nutrients. But whether your soil is loose, compact, sandy or full of clay. Hop plants will at worst do fine. Of course many of us want more than fine and there are certainly ways to maximise your plant. Just know that to be a successful hop plant grower you don’t need to be measuring soil pH, constantly managing nutrient concentrations and tilling the ground every morning.

The perfect hop growing soil is loose, loamy and with good drainage. Loamy soil is mostly sand, some silt and a small but notable amount of clay. This composition effectively offers the benefits of each with less of the drawbacks. Mainly a high quantity of easy to access nutrients, and moist soil that doesn’t get too boggy. The second part is in my eyes the most important. Water logged soil leads to rot, when the roots are the true body of your hop. You’d be better off not doing anything than creating a boggy patch for your hops to get struck with disease and fungus.

Chances are your garden leans one of these directions more than the others. Which to reiterate is fine for hop growing unless it is a swamp. Some aspects like a slope offering better drainage are out of our hands without some major landscaping.  If you’re set on going all in with this you’re going to need the right compost. So what else should be considered?

Soil PH is where things get complicated. Hops generally prefer a pH around 6.0-6.5 but can go up to moderately alkaline soils of 8.0. Alkaline soils favour microbes that cycle nutrients while acidic soils tend to be rich with fungus. So we’re stuck in a balancing act of hops liking it to the slightly acidic side of neutral but benefitting more from a microbe rich soil than one that attracts fungus. It should also be noted that soil pH naturally changes throughout the year. This is a massive task even for industrial growers so don’t lose sleep over getting the perfect pH. Try to get it in a good place when planting, then occasionally check throughout the year and adjust when needed.

From: "Fertilizers and nutrient management for hops - Diane Brown, Michigan State University Extension"

I wouldn’t recommend going to get any specialist compost. Chances are there are other things in there that’ll mess with the mix. A general compost picked up at a garden centre or supermarket is usually good enough. Many of them favour neutral to slightly acidic, which we can adjust if needs be.

However you may also choose to make your own, the avid gardeners probably do already. Organic matter especially those rich in nitrogen are a great choice. But we will want to watch the pH value. If it begins to become overly acidic magnesium, calcium and lime are all good for adjusting it up. Rather than buy anything fancy chucking some baking soda or egg shells will do the trick. To lower it iron, aluminium sulphate and sulphur are the go to. This is all getting a bit mad scientist but giving ourselves more control in some ways makes it easier. Getting things right before planting is considerably easier than after. Plus these additions are very often nutrients your hop will benefit from in the long run.

Nutrients are a tricky topic. As mentioned before nitrogen is great for growth. But like everything in life there can be too much of a good thing. Ammonium is very often used in fertilizers but it will also reduce soil pH. While weaker nitrate compounds can be used there’s also simply a risk of overuse. I’d say the second biggest killer of is people over feeding them. Hops don’t need all that much feed. Some plan large yearlong cycles and see great success with them. But once a year is more than enough and if the ground is already rich they don’t need anything more.

If you’re making your own compost then you’re already on top of creating an organic nutrient source. Other organic sources like manure can also be useful. But rather than placing them on top of the hop where you might cause rot, place it around the plant. This will still enrich the soil.

While it may sounds like I’m saying not to mess with nutrients too much understanding them is still a valuable way to potentially diagnose issues with your hops. Boron deficiency can result in delayed early growth, followed by a stunted plant that is rather brittle. The leaves may yellow but this is also common when the plant lacks Calcium, Magnesium or Iron. Zinc and potassium deficient plants may show similar signs but will also experience reduced hop production. This can happen for a range of reasons from pH to poorly mixed compost. The crossover of symptoms can make it difficult to determine what exactly is wrong but it is a good starting place.

This all might seem like a lot of work, in fairness it is not easy. But much of it is a game of sitting and waiting. You’ll likely not get it right every year. Something was a little off and life happened so your eye was off the ball. Your hop plant will be fine. It’ll make do and still produce a excellent crop of hops. These plants are adaptable and vigorous. We do this because getting that little extra out the plant is fun.

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