Anchoring Hop Twine

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sundaybrewingco

sundaybrewingco

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Hi all,
Just poking around to see what everyone does to anchor the hop twine to the bed/dirt/ground?

Currently, I have the twine dangling freely on the ground and letting the hop vine climb up it, but i'd like something a little more taut for the summer...

Cheers.
 
I haven't done it yet but I was going to try wrapping it around a brick and burying it a few inches under ground.

I would also like to hear a few ideas.
 
I just use a stick. Probably 3/4 inch diameter. I leave it on the ground for the winter and it rots away so a new one goes in the spring.
 
I grow in wooden raised beds. I have an eye bolt screwed into the top.
 
I went to the local ace hardware and found a box of 12 inch stakes. I use 4 per plant site so each bine will have it's pwn seperate line to climb. This also sperads the bines and allows for good air circulation. I sort of box in the plants. 2 on the inside of the row and two on the outside for each plant. It zig zags the line and actually helps stabilize a wobbly set up like my PVC system. The down lines get snugged up and with the legs well anchored with a line to pull on each end and it is very sturdy and stable now. I'm happy because it was all recycled except one fitting and the fibre string that I got a bulk 2500 foot roll of for way cheap. Hope this helps.
Bob
 
_JP_ said:
I grow in wooden raised beds. I have an eye bolt screwed into the top.
Click to expand...
How deep do the rhizomes grow roots? Is a 12 inch deep raised bed deep enough or do they need 18 or more inches? Just wodered since they are perenial and could be contained more easilly in a box than in the ground spreading at will. Thanks for any input.
Bob
 
I went to the garden section of Home Depot and bought a few wooden plant stakes. They are around 3/4" x 3/4" x 3 feet. I cut them into 1 foot long stakes on the table saw, cutting at an angle to make then easier to drive into the ground. I then drilled a pilot hole into the side of each stake near the top and added a screw to act as a rope holder to prevent the rope from slipping off after its tied to the stake.
 
I had several tomato cages(the conical looking ones) that the legs were too long, making it difficult to stake into the ground each year. I used a Dremel tool to cut about 8 inches off each leg. I used a pair of pliers to bend the metal into"J" hooks. I just push them in the ground and tie my twine to the hook.
 
Rbeckett said:
How deep do the rhizomes grow roots? Is a 12 inch deep raised bed deep enough or do they need 18 or more inches? Just wodered since they are perenial and could be contained more easilly in a box than in the ground spreading at will. Thanks for any input.
Bob
Click to expand...

Bob - My raised beds sit on top of tilled ground, so they can grow as deep as they want. Plants that spread like hops do (rhizomes) usually stay near the surface, which makes sprouting easier.

My boxes are only 6" high. Keeps the hops from spreading (so far), and keeps the mulch from flying away.
 
Some of the big PNW hop farmers use a metal W clip to shove it in the ground. Others just take a shovel and shove the twine into the ground.

We run a single wire about 12" above the ground and attached to our trellis system. We attach our drip irrigation system to it and tie the twin off. It can stay nice a tight and doesn't rot in the ground or leave metal behind. Wouldn't work for 1 off guys, but anyone with two poles for your hops could do this.
 
ctrlpabrewer said:
I welded a big lock washer to about a foot of 3/8" rebar - drove that in the ground and tie the rope fast:mug:
Click to expand...
Overkill solution of the year nominee! :D

GVH_Dan said:
Some of the big PNW hop farmers use a metal W clip to shove it in the ground. Others just take a shovel and shove the twine into the ground.

We run a single wire about 12" above the ground and attached to our trellis system. We attach our drip irrigation system to it and tie the twin off. It can stay nice a tight and doesn't rot in the ground or leave metal behind. Wouldn't work for 1 off guys, but anyone with two poles for your hops could do this.
Click to expand...

It also makes a sweet trip-line for the kids and dogs. hehe. Actually, that sounds like a sweet idea paired with the drip irrigation.
 
I've been using plastic stakes, but this year I'm going to try some old window weights that I pulled out of my house.
 
I had some galvanized 1 foot long spikes laying around. So I used those. No issues holding the 3 nylon ropes up last summer.
 
BBBF said:
I've been using plastic stakes, but this year I'm going to try some old window weights that I pulled out of my house.
Click to expand...

not sure I'd want the lead sitting in my yard or leeching into my hops. stick with the plastic stakes. Or as has been mentioned +1 on the tent stakes. what I use when not tying to the top of the picket fence.
 
I was planing to buy a bale of hay baler twine from tractor supply .the heck with any fancy not made in USA twine.
 
tchuklobrau said:
not sure I'd want the lead sitting in my yard or leeching into my hops. stick with the plastic stakes. Or as has been mentioned +1 on the tent stakes. what I use when not tying to the top of the picket fence.
Click to expand...

They're cast iron.
 
i thought i would drill a hole in a piece of wood and push it into the ground. not like they are going to pull the stake "up". it will more or less be supported by the top of the trellis. the stake is to keep the rope from swinging in the wind, right?
 
Ideally, there will be very little, if any, weight on the bottom of those ropes.
I used thin bamboo reeds sunk 1 or 2" last year and they held through Irene. I tied the coir right to the bamboo, and then to the trellis. The bine thickness at the base by the time my newports were mature was pretty impressive (which is likely why hurricane winds didn't upset my rinky-dink setup); I don't know whether that is universal to all hop species.
My concerns regarding secure connections are at the top, which will bear the weight (ideally) of thousands of delicious cones.
 
+1 on big tent stakes. Last year I brought the coir right down to the stakes and they started to rot through before the season was over when the very bottom got covered in mulch. This year I'll put a rot-resistant "spacer" rope between the stake and coir, about 6" long.
 
wrench said:
+1 on big tent stakes. Last year I brought the coir right down to the stakes and they started to rot through before the season was over when the very bottom got covered in mulch. This year I'll put a rot-resistant "spacer" rope between the stake and coir, about 6" long.
Click to expand...

I have found that coir in-contact with the ground will deteriorate very quickly. If kept dry and just above the turf, it will remain viable for up to 2 growing seasons (most I have gotten out of a freshhops coir rope is 2 season and have since switched over to sisal twine that I braid using 3 strings to save $$$)
 
Geez, if you can't take a look at the picture and figure out how to make your own, you pretty much deserve to have to buy 5000 of them.
Use a cut up coat hanger wire to figure out the size you need, and make the anchors from a bit larger wire than that.

If you only need 10 at a time, you are probably better off with a stake in the ground, than leaving a metal chunk in there to rust away anyways.

I'd suggest a single link of chain or a similar loop, welded to the side of a piece of rebar.
Like this. http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/18-in-rebar-stake-with-loop/A-p8354573e

But I just put a notch in the end of a bar and used that to drive the twine in to the ground last year. Worked fine, other than the one the dog ran through. Had to push that one back in. :)

TeeJo
 
There is a small organic brewery in British Columbia called "Cranog" (Irish beers). They are also a small hop farm. Rebecca, the co-owner has written a 40 page manual called "Small scale hop production." I'm going by memory on the name. Anyway, she imparts a wealth of information and suggestions about growing hops that are applicable for a homebrewer. Google it.
 
TeeJo said:
Geez, if you can't take a look at the picture and figure out how to make your own, you pretty much deserve to have to buy 5000 of them.
Use a cut up coat hanger wire to figure out the size you need, and make the anchors from a bit larger wire than that.

If you only need 10 at a time, you are probably better off with a stake in the ground, than leaving a metal chunk in there to rust away anyways.

I'd suggest a single link of chain or a similar loop, welded to the side of a piece of rebar.
Like this. http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/18-in-rebar-stake-with-loop/A-p8354573e

But I just put a notch in the end of a bar and used that to drive the twine in to the ground last year. Worked fine, other than the one the dog ran through. Had to push that one back in. :)

TeeJo
Click to expand...


Thank you so much. Never said I couldn't make my own. Mostly just pointing out that they were a place for commercial growers posting on a home brew forum.
 
GVH_Dan said:
Some of the big PNW hop farmers use a metal W clip to shove it in the ground. Others just take a shovel and shove the twine into the ground.

We run a single wire about 12" above the ground and attached to our trellis system. We attach our drip irrigation system to it and tie the twin off. It can stay nice a tight and doesn't rot in the ground or leave metal behind. Wouldn't work for 1 off guys, but anyone with two poles for your hops could do this.
Click to expand...

I do what GVH Dan does now, (Hi Dan been a while) I have used w clips, wood stakes, 8" nails, coat hangers the whole gambit. The wire between poles works the best and in the fall you can get a mower under it with no worries. I happen to use electric fence wire just because I have it, Any type of galvanized wire works great. Do it once and you are done.
 

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