To top or not to top

Joe Camel · 06-16-2009, 12:16 AM

Hi all,

I've got my bines growing up strings to my house gutters, about 10ish feet. They've reached that point and the ends are dangling in the air. Should I cut off the growing tip so that the bines stop going up and start growing bushy? Or should I leave it be and let it do as nature intends?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

Southpaw · 06-16-2009, 11:08 PM

I would not cut it off. According to publications I've read, hops produces best if allowed to grow upward and not horizontal. I believe the most cones are produced higher up. Can you extend your trellis and string? I have had my hops grow to the top of the string and then had to extended the trellis so it can grow higher. Even so it will reach a point where it will send out side branches that intertwine and cause the whole thing to get quite bushy. I believe I am correct in saying that higher is better. Why else would the commercial growers base there hop fields on 18' trellis systems.

**david_42** · 06-17-2009, 02:13 PM

I topped some of mine last year. Won't do it again. Some people have done okay topping, but I suspect it depends on the hop variety, because some hops produce most of the cones on the sidearms, others along the main bine.

Joe Camel · 06-17-2009, 02:59 PM

Thanks for the help, these are cascade hops if that helps, 2nd year in the ground.

Last year I topped them and got good sidearm growth with a lot of hop cones. Most were quite immature and didn't do crap when I used them in brewing but I suspect that that had more to do with 1st year planting and late into the ground.

I'm concerned that if they continue up the roof, they'll just scorch in July August. I think I'll top them again this year and see if there is a difference in the cone quality from last year. If there isn't, then I'll have to build something taller.

Cheers

nipsy3 · 06-17-2009, 03:21 PM

My trellis is about 12 feet high. My vines are about 16-18 feet. It's a cantilever design with 3 2X1s crossing horizontally across the top of the three cantilever posts. I did that because I have a SWMBO zoning rule that the trellis couldn't be ridiculously high. Once the bines reached the top, I sent them laterally to wrap around the 2X1s. There's a 2nd year cascade and a 2nd year centennial with each growing up two seperate lengths of rope, with each rope having 2-4 bines each. I've not topped them off and things are getting quite bushy at the top. That's also where all my hop growth is taking place. I can't say why for sure. Either that's just where it happens, or there's more daylight available at the top because there's no late day shadow from the shed.

Joe Camel · 06-17-2009, 07:12 PM

I have 2 crowns of cascade with 2 shoots from each trained up their own strings to the gutter, some strings are 10ish feet and some are 12ish due to the angle from ground to gutter, they're arranged in a fan like pattern. Maybe I'll top two bines and leave two to their own devices and see if there is a difference. right now they're about 18 inches past the top and look to be looping back on themselves.

treedude · 06-30-2009, 07:07 PM

Thanks guys, I think that helps me. We're doing a first year grow and I think I'll continue the twine another few feet to get above the eight feet we're at now.

treedude

Joe Camel · 06-30-2009, 10:37 PM

I ended up not topping, I let them grow about 3 feet past the gutter so they could gently bend down, then I made a loop and retrained them up the line again. They'll be 16ft long when the make it to the gutter again.

Cheers