How many bines per crown?

I understand that only two or three bines should be growing up one string, but how many strings can I use for each plant? I have a willamette that is shooting up some seriously thick bines and it seems to be extremely healthy and seems like I should grow more than just two or three bines from it. Should I set up more ropes for this crown?

Sure. Try it.

the hardest part is keeping the drop lines far apart enough and still vertical so that the plant self trains and doesn't jump ropes or tangle all the side arms up into a mess.

As for me, I usually train up 6 bines per crown. 3 per drop line.

Tried 4 once and the resulting plant was too bushy and unmanageable.

HoppyDaze said:

I understand that only two or three bines should be growing up one string, but how many strings can I use for each plant? I have a willamette that is shooting up some seriously thick bines and it seems to be extremely healthy and seems like I should grow more than just two or three bines from it. Should I set up more ropes for this crown?

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It depends on the size of the crown, IMO. You want to focus the energy of the plant into a few primary bines. The more bines, the more competition for water and nutrients from the root ball. I have seen reference to more bines = less overall production, but I don't have first hand experience with it. I haven't messed with the convention and go with 2-3 bines per string and 2 strings per crown, which is in line with commercial practices.