Growing Horizontal = OK ?

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jalgayer

jalgayer

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I am going to try to plant for the first time.
Was thinking of:

(1) Starting the wire about 15 feet from the base of my garage and running the wire to the top of the garage (so it is diagonally going from the ground to the garage.

(2) Then running the wire horizontally along the garage.

Can I do this?
 
The bines will not follow a horizontal wire without constant re-training. One member posted an excellent solution: Put eyebolts into the rafter and thread a long piece of twine through each eye. As the bine grows close to the top, slack off the twine lowering the bine.
 
if you want to grow horizontal,do it low. This way you can reach them and do constant wrapping. they just want to go up. and climbing a latter all the time will get old.
 
i plan on growing my hops horizontal. will be the first year growing hops so ill see how much of a pain it is. I dont want to have a 25ft structure in my backyard so this is my next best bet. Would growing from 1ft off the ground to 5ft over a span of 25 ft be enough angle for it to climb?
 
nootay said:
i plan on growing my hops horizontal. will be the first year growing hops so ill see how much of a pain it is. I dont want to have a 25ft structure in my backyard so this is my next best bet. Would growing from 1ft off the ground to 5ft over a span of 25 ft be enough angle for it to climb?
Click to expand...

I too would like to know if growing them up to 5 feet and then going horizontal over 20-25 feet, with retraining, is possible. I'll be a first time grower, if that matters.
 
I did this last year with some first year Mt. Hood and Cascades. I grew them up 6' trellis then train them horizontally along the top of my privacy fence. They continued to grow all through the season and did require me to wrap them back around the twine every couple days.

These are pictures from this season already.
IMAG0148.jpg

Cascade

IMAG0144.jpg

Mt. Hood

:mug:
 
You can train it to go in just about any direction you want, but it is a lot of work if it is not "up". Some test plots and studies also showed yield was reduced significantly by this method as sidearm and cone formation on sections not oriented vertically were reduced.

However, people have had varying degrees of success based on what I have seen posted on forums and such.
 
I grow my hops horizontally as well. This was the easiest/only way to grow hops and keep the FN HOA off my rear. So my setup is just 4 rubbermaid tubs filled with compost and topsoil with a hop plant in each. They are all second year hops this year... I connected a eye bolt to one side of my garage about 6ft up and then put another eye bolt on my wooden fence directly across the rubbermaid containers. I then connected the eye bolts with bailing wire. This wire runs horizontally over the top all of the plants. Then I connected jute string to the rubbermaid containters for each plant and ran the sting up to the bailing wire for the hops to climb. I ran multiple strings to the bailing wire so I could train a few bines up it. After the hops got close to the top I connected another wire to existing horizontal wire and then ran it to another eye bolt attached to a portion of the fence going the opposite direction. I then wrapped the jute string around the wire to give the hops something to cling to. So basically the hops go up about 6 feet and then have about another 15 ft to go horizontally before they hit one side of my fence.

Hope this helps!
 
Jmac said:
I grow my hops horizontally as well. This was the easiest/only way to grow hops and keep the FN HOA off my rear. So my setup is just 4 rubbermaid tubs filled with compost and topsoil with a hop plant in each. They are all second year hops this year... I connected a eye bolt to one side of my garage about 6ft up and then put another eye bolt on my wooden fence directly across the rubbermaid containers. I then connected the eye bolts with bailing wire. This wire runs horizontally over the top all of the plants. Then I connected jute string to the rubbermaid containters for each plant and ran the sting up to the bailing wire for the hops to climb. I ran multiple strings to the bailing wire so I could train a few bines up it. After the hops got close to the top I connected another wire to existing horizontal wire and then ran it to another eye bolt attached to a portion of the fence going the opposite direction. I then wrapped the jute string around the wire to give the hops something to cling to. So basically the hops go up about 6 feet and then have about another 15 ft to go horizontally before they hit one side of my fence.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I get the visual, but the real question: what was the yield?

That goes for anyone else training your hops sideways: what's the yield?
 
not sure bro... these are second year hops. I probably got half ounce last year between 4 plants. I think I could have got more but it got real hot and the baby flowers shriveld up. It is looking like I will do better this year as I already have cones forming.
 
Bro, that is one complicated description that ONE picture could clear up. Please do so.

Reply: he he he.. I thought it sounded more complicated that it is.. I will try to post up a pic tomorrow of the setup.
 
do you find that you have to train them more when growing horizontally? ive read that you have to constantly work with them when they are grown horizontally
 
Yes I wrap them around the wire/string everyday or so but Its not that big of deal. I have some pics I will try to post later tonight. My office blocks this site...
 
ThAnks bud but I would rather wait. We use websense and it probably detects/blocks proxies. Being in IT it would not look good for me to be going around the systems in place.
 
Work on the enterprise storAge and servers group for a large doctors clinic in Houston. We manage all of the windows/unix and storage subsystems.
 
man, those are thick and bushy! You must be running like ten bines per rhizome? They look great!
 
Thanks bud! there is probably between 5 and 10 bines for sure. I have tried to keep alot of the lower growth trimmed back but it is difficult since they grow so fast. There is always a new bine popping out from somewhere. I really get a kick out of watching their progress.
 

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