Hops are invasive vertically, not horizontally. Some varieties will grow 25 to 30 feet in a summer. You'll need a good trellis, or some telephone poles (that's where mine are).

Not a beer drinker, just do not like the taste.
I have wanted to plant hops.
I think the vine & fruit are nice.
Is it that easy to grow?
All you need is a trellis or does it have special needs also?
I mean needs other then that of all plant life.

Thanks so much bi1 1me! What variety do you grow? Do you use it to make beer? I am very interested/serious about growing hops that my husband can use in beer making and I want to make sure I'm growing what he needs. I'm in the Kansas City area and it looks like you are in this general area as well.

I will be growing giant sunflowers and I think that maybe that would be the perfect trellis for them. Any info/experiences you have would be much appreciated! Thanks!

easy? holy crap. any easier it would be a weed. seriously though, neighbor had some growing in his yard, we both hate the chain link fence that seperates us, so we took 2 cuttings and stuck them in the ground. our fence is like maybe 50 ft long, and the 2 plants sprawl pretty much all the way across. every summer
bees love it, my dog loves it, i dont brew anymore, but i give probably 2lbs of fresh hops to a buddy every year. in fact here, i usually get two harvests.

we dont fertilize it(dog does), it gets FULL Virginia BEach sun all day, theres maybe 18inches of soil(wide, between my drive way and his) theyre growing in, weeds, grass, the occasional hit of the weedeater, whatever, it keeps on spreading. and all we do is rip the dead stuff off at the end of the year and cut to the ground.

hard part, i have never seen hops sold locally, maybe on the net?

as far as brewing, you have to figure out what you want to brew and what kind of hops that requires. theres a ton of varieties i think.

Hops are incredibly easy to grow and very hardy. I don't know what variety I have - it was a gift, and there are many, but the link below should get you started. If there are home brewers ion your area, or a home-brewing supplier, they may have better information fro what grows best in your location, but a lot depends also on what kind of beer your DH wants to brew.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lots about hops

"Hops are invasive vertically, not horizontally. Some varieties will grow 25 to 30 feet in a summer. You'll need a good trellis, or some telephone poles (that's where mine are). "

I couldn't disagree more. Hops are hugely invasive horizontally. After a couple years you'll have shoots coming up everywhere. Or atleast, I do.

Very easy to grow, but its tough to use home grown hops for bittering, as there's no real way to get any clear idea of what the alpha-acid content is. Home grown stuff is great for flavor and aroma additions though.

All great responses everyone. Thanks so much for your help and opinions!

A bit late adding to this post, but my experience with growing hops in the urban setting is noteworthy. Hops grows vertically, as we know, and,as noted above, the root system spreads horizontally and extensively making it unsuitable for small yard spaces. And, it is extremely difficult to kill the roots organically. Best method I found was to dig up the roots. It took three years before all the roots were found and dug from two, 6 year old plants. The biggest root found was 15 feet long, 3" in diameter and we're pretty sure this root extended past the garden fence line. I love hops, but growing it again will have to wait until there are acres to plant.

Hops are easy to grow - requiring sunshine, fertile, well draining soil, water and something to climb. Rope or twine works best for harvesting. They do spread after 2 to 3 years - they send out rhizomes horizontally - you just trim the rhizomes to contain them.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow Hops