Opinions on how to string up my hop plants.

I've posted a couple threads about getting started so far, much thanks to everyone that's responded, especially Nagmay whom I even pestered over PM a couple times.

Current setup: I have a southern facing slope on my land that I have 9 planting locations set up. I am going to use 3 medium sized trees at the top of the slope for support (3 plants per tree), I have installed large eye bolts in the trees 14' up. I will use a 25' line to go down to the ground at approximately 50-55 degrees.

Nagmay has run his lines from his garden to a pine tree and uses fairly light gauge hemp twine/rope for support but said he doesn't experience much swaying of the pine tree, he said he does include a bit of slack to avoid breakage. I honestly don't know how much these 3 trees sway as I've never paid attention, we do get some good storms in TN though. They range from 30-50' tall and aren't overly leafy and seem somewhat sturdy but I've seen taller trees around my house sway a lot. The last thing I want is 9 plants to get totally jacked up in a nice summer storm.

So I'm probably over thinking this but what is my best option for running the lines. For anchoring I'm thinking of using 15" spiral tie out stakes like this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000633OLI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Option 1: Use 1/4" Natural Manila rope for string up the hops directly to trees. I've read Manilla shrinks 10-15% in length when getting wet so I'll have to all that much more slack. I can get 1200' for $60, this should last about 5 years. I can just throw this in the woods with the bines after each season.

Option 2: Use 1/4" synthetic Manila rope. Should be slightly stronger and shouldn't shrink. May be harder at the end of the season to separate the bines with the rope as I don't want to throw a bunch of this in my woods as it won't decompose any time soon. I can get 1200' of this for $50.

I've considered adding 2 feet of 1/2 diameter shock/bungee cord at the top of these lines to stretch if need be during a wind storm. Would act as a shock absorber of sorts.

Option 3: Go all out with 1/8" galvanized airline cable complete with thimble ends and spring hooks to clip the cable onto the eye bolts and ground anchors. I could reuse these for several years but since I've never harvested hops I'm not sure how hard it would be to separate the bines from the cable for storage after the season. I'd probably be looking at $65 for this option ordering from an online rigging warehouse. The line is rated for 2000 lb each so I'd probably start having problems with the anchors long before the cable started having problems.

Again I'm probably over analyzing the situation but I'm doing so for 2 reasons. First being the shallower growing angle (50-55 degrees) which will put a lot more of the plant weight on the lines over a a typical near vertical installation. Secondly since I'm using trees as a "natural trellis" this introduces an unknown variable. Not knowing how much the trees will sway if I account too little I will risk snapping lines, too much and my lines will sag more then necessary possibly affecting plant growth.

Which would you choose?

Wow, sorry but there is too much for me to read this late at night. Let me respond to what I caught.

Don't do cable, it must be twine. Hops climb using velcro like hooks to grab other surfaces. It can't grab onto a smooth metal surface so it won't climb.

Go natural...you will not be able to dislodge the old, dead bine from the cord, especially after it has hit full maturity.

Go with coir twine.

Twine, easy to cut, take down vine, and dispose.

So is there any place to get coir twine/yarn by the roll? It seems very scarce on the internet. Since my lines are 25' plus a bit to make knots it would be a PITA to use the 20' pre-cut lenghts that I've seen online as I'd have to tie together multiple lines for one plant.

Why not just use 3/8" sissal rope? 108 lbs. load per strand. You can also use Manila if you need 20% more strength.

You’ll want to be able to discard it every year so go with Bailing, Coir or Sisal twine they all will work. As for angle do what you like best they will grow up a 90 and shrinking/ stretching don’t worry about it once they reach the top the twine is no longer used by the plant.

Got my 5 crowns and 3 rhizomes in today! A couple of them were very large 3+ year plants, should give me a great start. Here' a picture of the largest, a Chinook crown. In total I have: Mt.Hood, Cascade, Tettnanger, Hallertau, Sterling, Saaz, Chinook and Nugget. I've got the crowns already planted but I still need to finish the other mounds so the rhizomes are in the fridge.

ArrowheadHops said:

You’ll want to be able to discard it every year so go with Bailing, Coir or Sisal twine they all will work. As for angle do what you like best they will grow up a 90 and shrinking/ stretching don’t worry about it once they reach the top the twine is no longer used by the plant.

Click to expand...

What size/gauge/weight twine is recommended?

We use a bailing twine that is probably 3/16 dia.

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So are you talking about the orange synthetic baling twine or is it natural? I assume it comes in a monster sized roll?

Edit: I see the natural stuff you probably use. Look like good stuff. I may try for string up my tomatoes with the "Florida weave" as well. BTW I would NOT use jute twine IMO. I don't even like jute for tomatoes. The stuff sags horribly when it gets wet, or at least the green kind they sell for gardens does.

For the vertical lines, you can also use jute--it can be likely found at your local hardware store. It decomposes, survives at least a season, and is cheap.

I've used the Jute twine found at the local big box home store. I made a double run from the soil to the top of the post. I even put it in a drill and twisted to maximize strength. Still... After being wet all season and having the weight of the plant, the lines broke and I had to re-tie 3 times.
I did find coir twine in 425' rolls of 6mm diameter. Pretty much what the pros use and it was pretty inexpensive.
http://www.homebrewing.org/-Hop-Twine-425-Spool-6MM_p_2735.html
Check it out and see what you think. I'm using it for the drops and I like it a lot.

Here's probably the same 425' spool of 6mm coir twine http://www.geovireo.com/biod-twine.html the guy at Freshops told me about them since all he sells is the 20' pieces. This place is only $15 but $10-$13 for shipping. To me almost $30 for twine for just one season is pretty high. I think I'm gonna see if our local TSC sells this 350# baler twine http://www.tractorsupply.com/countyline-reg-9-000-ft-square-baler-twine-350-lb-tensile-1429142 I always just thought baler twine was that synthetic looking orange twine but at $45 for 9000 its worth a look, plus I use probably 600 feet of twine a year for my tomatoes.