Trimming hops at the top

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oly884

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Tried a quick search, both here and google but didn't find much in the way of an answer.

What are the downsides of trimming hop plants at the top when they reach, say, 10' tall and just allowing them to become bushier? Would it even matter, or will they just keep growing up?

The reason I ask is because my hop garden is setup to allow them to grow to about 10' tall. I can rig up a way to have them continue to grow, but it won't be too easy, and it'll have to be fairly hokey.

So with that, I'm wondering if there are any reasons that limiting the height by trimming the top would be detrimental to the growth and yield.
 
Someone wwith more experience will chime in, but it is my understanding that once you top your hop plant, then it will no longer grow upward, this can be good to help cones achieve maturation while allowing the plant to put more energy into cone production rather than upward production.

Take this info with a grain of salt as I have yet to start my own hop crop, but I have done a little research.
 
I'm curious too. My 4 plants are 4-6 feet now, and 10 ft is my max too. I'm considering rigging something hokey up, but afraid a storm may challenge whatever I try to engineer to go higher.
 
i'm curious as well. my hops are rigged up just below my gutters (one story house) so i could get maybe 11 feet of total bine growth (8 feet rise) before rigging something up the roof or lopping off their heads :eek:
 
I dunno, but the first thing I would mention is hormones - plants have a bunch of 'controls' or 'signals' - cut the top off of a pine tree and you will (slowly) see what I mean. THe 'highest' point of a plant helps to control the growth (and shape) of the plant.

I bet that you could just let the top of the bine fold over, and hang down. Since it is no longer the tallest part of the plant, you will set in motion the plants own control mechanisms. It would act similarly to pinching the top. How about do a half and half with a control plant, and let us know what you find?
 
How about do a half and half with a control plant, and let us know what you find?

i might do this with my ornamentals. 2 rhzomes from the same crown, with cones i probably won't use, growing in the same planter. sounds ideal. someone PM me in june or so to remind me.
 
I'd have to set a cron reminder to email me. I think I'll just let MINE flop over, too ......
 
At this site I would search "tip".
This is my experience and understanding of what will happen. The plant in early season wants to grow up. When it reaches a satisfactory height it is also the right time of year to begin cone production.
Cutting a tip early in season can encourage the hop to make a substitute vertical lead. So the can compensate for the lost tip. What this means to us is energy that should be allocated for cone production is now being used to grow up.
So the strong suspicion among the hop growers I've talked with is cutting the tip will reduce my yield. It's better to let the hop peak and let gravity do it's thing than to cut the tip and cut your final production.
There are some studies on ten foot trellis designs for pros and profitablilty. There may be a case for the ten foot trellis. This system involves just letting the plant grow. No tip cutting.
My trellis is about twelve feet tall my plants a nearing fourteen feet. They are about to droop and fall. I'm going to let that happen and I'm not cutting any tips.
Hope this makes sense and helps.
 
I just finished building a trellis at my brother-in-laws place that was 16 ft high. Last year they grew that far on the flimsy one we made and drooped over, growing another 3 or 5 ft. Never hurt the plants at all.
 
Most hop varietes produce the bulk of their cones between 3' and 16' on the side arms. Top pruning creates more side arms (some will become new verticals). Hops have kinda a two phase growth - straight up up first, then side arm development. Be aware that if you prune your hop too hard before side arm initation it will tend to stay vegetative (not set cones). I propagate hops professionally; I prune our propagation stock heavily to prevent burs so I can produce new plants all season. Top pruning does affect yield.
 
cutting a tip early in season can encourage the hop to make a substitute vertical lead. So the can compensate for the lost tip. What this means to us is energy that should be allocated for cone production is now being used to grow up.
So the strong suspicion among the hop growers i've talked with is cutting the tip will reduce my yield. It's better to let the hop peak and let gravity do it's thing than to cut the tip and cut your final production.

+1
 
Schnitz- Your thought on pinching/topping after cone set may increase total yield by weight. We do this in commercial greenhouse tomato production to maximize fruit size. The idea is that by removing late top growth that would not produce mature fruit in time anyway; the plant sends more energy to the remaining fruit.
This isn't practical to do when you have acres of hops, but it might work on a smaller scale. Go for it!
 
Thanks for all the info guys! I'll probably do a bit of testing just to see how it goes, but it's looking like just letting them flop is going to be my best route.
 
I didn't want to complicate things by adding a late clip could improve harvest, but I was going to try that myself. I'll report in late in the season and see if I think it helped me (the home grower).
 
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