12ft Tall Hops Trellis

This weekend my brother Urbanmyth and I erected our hops trellis. The beast is 12ft tall, 12ft long, and 4ft wide. We put room for 5 rows of different hops. Now, some of you might say we didn't give enough room between different variations, but for now it will be fine.

Below are some pictures. The rest can be found here.













The cross members with the eye-screws are designed to be removed at the end of the season to harvest the vines. They're just screwed in. The bracing on the uprights is some scrap 1x4 that we had lying around. It will probably need to be replaced in a few years once the weather has its way with it.

Total cost was around $75 including lumber, bolts, and coated deck screws. If you're interested, the materials bill is below:

(6) 2x4x12' pressure treated
(8) 2x4x8' pressure treated
(4) 1/2"x2.5" galvanized hex bolts
(8) 1/2" galv. washers
(4) 1/2" galv. nuts
(1) box of coated deck screws (I forget the weight of the box)
(15) eye screws (I think the eye opening was around 1/2")

I will be uploading a Google SketchUp model soon.

Here's the SketchUp model:

You will need alot of training to keep the different kinds separated, but I think it will look really cool when its all grown in. Lol a giant hoppy deerstand

tchuklobrau said:

a giant hoppy deerstand

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I was gonna say the same thing. Also 2x4's are not rated for underground use like 4x4's so they might rot off in a few years. Looks good.

tchuklobrau said:

You will need alot of training to keep the different kinds separated, but I think it will look really cool when its all grown in. Lol a giant hoppy deerstand

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Even for first year growth?

I would have just suggested strapping some poles to the bannister and let 'em rip. You'd get to 20 feet in no time. Just me though, I also tend to use a lot of duct tape(haha).

urbanmyth said:

Even for first year growth?

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Yea even on 1st year. You never know what to expect. Different kinds have different 1st years. But all have the potential to be monsters on their 1st year if all conditions are right. Take my plants for example. 29 1st year rhizomes(all taken from 11 origional crowns of mine) all of mine broke 12', more than 1/2 broke 16', and at least 3 broke 20'. not only that but they will still put out sidearms. But judging from the pic you have a great vantage point to watch em grow, keep an eye on em and train as necessary. If need be let all like kinds be a warped mess on each other, just watch em crossing over to another's stretch of trellis. Make that a touch wider and it is like what my buddy is going to do with his, then have a nice shaded sitting area in the summer.

B-Hoppy said:

I would have just suggested strapping some poles to the bannister and let 'em rip. You'd get to 20 feet in no time. Just me though, I also tend to use a lot of duct tape(haha).

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We would have done that, but the banister faces north. Not much sun gets in that way.

If you have an extra rhizome I'd plant it right behind the deck just to see what happens. Sure, they like a lot of sun to be happy but they'll pretty much grow anywhere. I've got one growing about 6 inches away from the trunk of a 65 foot spruce tree and 'he' keeps coming up stronger every year (came from a seed). If not this year I'd make some cuttings a year or two down the road and give it a try. They'll find a way to survive. Hoppy Trails!

Stevo2569 said:

I was gonna say the same thing. Also 2x4's are not rated for underground use like 4x4's so they might rot off in a few years. Looks good.

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I think with the new ACQ formula, it won't really matter in the long run. A contractor friend said a 4x4 or 2x4 would need to be replaced in 15-20 years regardless.

Hopefully by then my brother and I have a better system for hop growing (or just grow them at our own homes when we eventually buy them).

That's awesome! How do your neighbors like that thing???

So, a week vacation in Canada sans watering and temperatures that were over 100F the whole time, I came home to brown and dried hop bines. Fast forward a week, after diligent watering, and there is green again on every single bine. Jeepers these buggers are resilient. If nothing else, hopefully this year helped them develop nice and strong root balls. Thinking about aging all of the hops harvested this year (unless there is a sizable amount of one variety) for use in future lambics.