Hops

Profile

Family

Cannabidaceae

Habit

Climber

Height

5.5 m

Spread

7 m

Growth

medium

Lifespan

30 years

First yield

after 3 years

Hardiness

zone 5–8

Shade tolerance

partial shade

Soil

Sand, Silt, Loam, Clay

Soil moisture

semi-dry – very wet

pH

6 – 8

Flowering & harvest

Times apply to the northern hemisphere in a temperate climate and shift with altitude and cultivar.

Uses

Edible: Junge Blätter und junge Triebe – gekocht. Der Geschmack ist einzigartig und für viele Geschmäcker köstlich. Junge Blätter können in Salaten gegessen werden. Vor Ende Mai verbrauchen. Die Blätter enthalten Rutin. Die fleischigen Rhizome werden manchmal gegessen. Aus den Blättern und Zapfen wird ein Tee zubereitet. Er hat eine sanfte, beruhigende Wirkung. Die getrockneten Blütenköpfe der weiblichen Pflanzen werden als Aroma- und Konservierungsmittel in Bier verwendet. Sie haben auch eine medizinische Wirkung. Die Blütenköpfe sind mit bitter schmeckenden, gelben, durchscheinenden Drüsen bedeckt, die wie eine körnige Substanz erscheinen. Diese Substanz verhindert das Wachstum gramnegativer Bakterien im Bier oder in der Würze. Die Verwendung des Hopfens als Aroma- und Heilpflanze hängt zu einem großen Teil vom Vorkommen dieser pulverförmigen Substanz ab. Die Samen enthalten Gamma-Linolensäure, eine essentielle Fettsäure, der viele wichtige Funktionen im menschlichen Körper zugeschrieben werden und die in pflanzlichen Quellen selten vorkommt. Das ätherische Öl in den Blütenköpfen wird als Aromastoff in Getreidegetränken und Mineralwasser verwendet. Extrakte aus der Pflanze und dem Öl werden als Aromastoffe in alkoholfreien Getränken, gefrorenen Milchdesserts, Süßigkeiten, Backwaren und Puddings verwendet, wobei die höchste durchschnittliche maximale Verwendungsmenge von 0,072 % für einen Extrakt in Backwaren angegeben wurde.

Medicinal: Hops have a long and proven history in herbal medicine, primarily known for its beneficial, calming, strengthening, and relaxing effects on the body and mind. Its strong bitter taste is crucial for its ability to strengthen and stimulate digestion, increase stomach and other secretions. The female cone acts as an analgesic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, diuretic, fever-reducing, hypnotic, nerve-strengthening, calming, stomach-strengthening, and tonic. Hops are commonly used as a folk remedy to treat a wide range of ailments, including boils, bruises, tartar, cancer, cramps, coughs, cystitis, weakness, delirium, diarrhea, dyspepsia, fever, convulsions, hysteria, inflammations, insomnia, jaundice, neuralgia, rheumatism, and worms. The hairs of the fruits contain lupulin, a sedative and hypnotic. Administered to nursing mothers, lupulin promotes milk flow - recent research has shown that it contains a related hormone that could be responsible for this effect. An infusion of the flower is said to relieve swellings and hardenings of the uterus. Hop flowers are often used as an infusion or to fill pillows, releasing essential oils when the weight of the head presses on them. The fruit is also applied externally as a poultice on ulcers, boils, painful swellings, etc., and is said to heal painful tumors. The female flower heads are harvested in autumn and can be used fresh or dried. Alcoholic hop extracts in various dosage forms have been clinically used to treat various forms of leprosy, pulmonary tuberculosis, and acute bacterial dysentery, with varying success in China. The female cone contains humulone and lupulone, which are strongly bacteriostatic against gram-positive and acid-fast bacteria. A leaf poultice is said to heal cold tumors. The German Commission E "Monographs," a therapeutic guide to herbal medicine, approves Humulus lupulus for the treatment of nervousness and insomnia.

Other uses: A fine brown dye is extracted from the leaves and flower heads. The essential oil from the female fruit heads is utilized in perfumery. The average yield is 0.4 - 0.5%. Plant extracts are used in Europe for their purported skin-softening properties in skin creams and lotions. A fiber is obtained from the stems, resembling hemp (Cannabis sativa) but less potent, used in the production of a coarse fabric. It is sometimes employed as filler in corrugated cardboard but is unsuitable for high-quality pulp production due to low pulp yield and high chemical requirements. The fiber is durable but challenging to separate; the stems need to be soaked for an entire winter beforehand. Paper can also be made from the fibers. The stems are harvested in autumn, stripped of leaves, steamed to extract the fibers, boiled in alkali for two hours, then crushed by hand or in a ball mill for two and a half hours. The resulting paper is dyed brown.

Growing

Landscaping: Ground cover, privacy screen. Easy to cultivate in good garden soil in sun or partial shade. Prefers deep, nutrient-rich loam and a warm, sheltered location. Plants also thrive in dry shade with ample humus in the soil; once established, they are moderately drought-resistant. Hops tolerate annual rainfall between 31 and 137 cm, annual temperatures ranging from 5.6 to 21.3 °C, and a pH of 4.5 to 8.2. Very winter-hardy, enduring temperatures down to about -20 °C during dormancy, but young shoots in spring can be damaged by more than light frost. A climbing plant that winds around the branches of other plants. Hops are commonly grown in temperate zones both commercially and domestically for their seed cones, which have many medicinal properties and are used as flavoring and preservative in beer. Numerous named varieties exist. Thrives best between 35 and 51°N and 34 and 43°S, with average summer temperatures of 16 to 18°C. Typically, only the unfertilized seed cones are preferred for brewing, leading to the exclusion of most male plants. Hops root deeply but also have a network of shallow feeder roots. The horizontal feeder roots spread 20 to 30 cm deep in the soil, forming fibrous roots in the upper layers. Vertical roots extend downward to about 150 cm with a spread of 183 to 244 cm, lacking fibrous roots. Crushed leaves emit a refreshing scent, while the flowers have a pleasant aroma. Food source for many caterpillars. Dioecious, requiring both male and female plants for seed production. Characteristics: Edible, Invasive, Naturalizing, Attracts butterflies, Suitable for dried flowers, Inconspicuous flowers. Heat-resistant in zones 8 to 1. (Heat zones indicate when plants suffer from heat stress, ranging from 1 to 12 based on the number of days temperatures exceed 30 °C.) Information on growth form and root structure is useful for designing polycultures and above-ground architecture (shape - tree, shrub, etc., and size as indicated above). Growth consists of single or multi-stemmed climbing stems from a crown. Herbaceous. Root structure is rhizomatous with underground stems emitting roots and shoots along their length.

Propagation

Sowing seeds in spring in a cold frame. Germination occurs quickly. Transplant seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough and plant them in summer or the following spring. Divide in spring when new shoots emerge. Divisions are straightforward and can be planted directly into their final position if needed. Take basal cuttings in March. Harvest shoots when they are about 10-15 cm long with a sufficiently large underground stem. Repot them into individual pots and place them in a cold frame or greenhouse in a semi-shaded area until they establish roots well. Plant them out in summer.