Expert: Ed Westemeier - 1/24/2007

Question
Ed, I saw your reply to someone's question about growing hops.  I have a feeling I know the answer, but wanted to make sure I didn't make assumptions based on your "it depends on where you live" comment...  I'm in southern Florida.  Am I pretty  much out of luck for growing hops, or is there possibly a sub-tropical variety floating about out there?  We are just getting in to home-brewing and buying the convenience products is what we are dong now, but I've got gardening blood coursing through my veins and was hoping to add hops to my plantings.  However if St. Louis is your dividing line, well, it sounds as if hops-growing is not in my future!  Thanks for your time, dt

Answer
Sorry, no "hot weather" varieties that I know of, but don't lose hope.
All this means is that you're not likely to get a big enough yield of hop cones to make it worthwhile for brewing purposes. If you just want to grow them as a decorative plant (and many people do), there's no reason you can't do that.
Just make sure they get plenty of water, because they are thirsty plants.