Growing Hops Horizontally

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SAS

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May 7, 2009
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Location
Lewisberry, PA
Can hops be trained grow horizontally, the length of a picket fence fence? I was thinking of putting a piece of wood/standoff at each fence post and run a string line from standoffs to train on. Thoughts?
 
Yes, but you have to keep training the bines by hand to go horizontally. Left alone, they will try to grow up. I did the same thing this year with success.
 
Hey SAS
I planted hops for the first time this year and i did train my Cascade to grow horizontally. It did take a littel time due to fact that it wated to grow straight up to the sun, It grew about 5' vertical than I put a piece of rope to a pine tree theat was about 20' from it. After a few times of wrapping the bine around the rope it made its way another 20'. Not sure this helps.
To brew
 
During the height of the vegetative growing season you'll be out daily to train them, but they don't seem to mind.
 
I grew mine vertically. Due to several wind storms and busted hop poles mine are growing horizontal. On a series of 7-8 tomato cages all connected with wire.

Makes for easy picking!!! :rockin:
 
In my current setup, my 4 plants are in containers. They grow up jute twine to the clothes line, which runs due north and south. The two hop plants on the north side of the clothes line were easy to train to grow due south, horizontally on the clothes line. The two hop plants on the south side of the clothes line, however, were not easy to train to grow horizontally north along the clothes line - they kept trying to grow backwards, south, towards the sun.
 
In my current setup, my 4 plants are in containers. They grow up jute twine to the clothes line, which runs due north and south. The two hop plants on the north side of the clothes line were easy to train to grow due south, horizontally on the clothes line. The two hop plants on the south side of the clothes line, however, were not easy to train to grow horizontally north along the clothes line - they kept trying to grow backwards, south, towards the sun.

Yep - They try to follow the sun. If facing the south they follow an east to west coiling on the twine. Its just the opposite south of the equator, suppose that's irrelevant for most of us. Except for the Aussie HBT'rs.
 
I have successfully grown hops horizontally as well.

I grew them up about 6' then over the deck on a 3' x 3' grid made out of 2 x 4's (pre-built by the previous homeowner, it used to have a clematis growing on it, but not anymore!).

I decided to run some string on the underside of the 2 x 4's because training them to wrap around something as big as a 2 x 4 is annoying.

Lots of fun to have hops hanging overhead while sitting on the deck.
 
I'm seriously considering switching to horizontal, as my T-posts are tilting badly after only 3 years. The ground here tends to flow, something I didn't know when I moved in. I think I'll use 6' T-bars and run twine between them. I could even run multiple lines off the corner plants.
 
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