Скачать или смотреть Hop Farming: Cultivation, Cover Crop, and Hilling

Cultivation is the practice of preparing hop yard aisles for Hilling and seed beds for Cover Crop. At the same time, this helps with weed control and aerates the soil.

With Cover Crop, a mixture of crops is mowed and incorporated into the soil to add moisture and nutrients. This process allows for the reduction of synthetic fertilizers and off-sets CO2 emissions. The flowers also help bring in bees to help with pollination.

Hilling is the practice of applying loose soil to the hop rows. Tractors with mid-axle mounts with specialized hilling devices, hop disc harrows or cultivators with customized attachments are used for hilling. Applying fresh dirt to the rows helps with many things during the growing season: Moisture retention around the root base, plant stability which is helpful when they’re fully grown and weigh up to 100 lbs per string, reducing or eliminating weed pressure, and mixing in fertilizer while simultaneously directing it to the plant’s base.

Learn more at www.thehopguild.com