Snip ends of bines when they reach top of structure?

I built a 15' teepee structure for my first year plants which I planted in March and they are growing like crazy up it now. The magnum's especially are going nuts--they are about 6' tall already and have grown a total of 8' as the ropes they are climbing are 2' away from where I planted them.

So it appears based on their current rate of growth these plants will reach the top of the teepee by next month or soon after. I have the ability to raise and lower the tops of the ropes if necessary. I was wondering if cutting the tips of the plants off when they reach the top of the teepee is a good idea rather than possibly having them grow over onto the other ropes?

My advice would be go clip them. Send energy to the sidearms. No use in getting higher than your necessity to produce quality hops from the sidearms. Only caveat in keeping what you currently have is are you absoutely sure you do not have any bull shoots going (crazy growing behavior observed)? If you cut one and it is hollow in the bine, ergo bull shoot. Not something you'd want to get too excited about.

Thanks for the input. The Magnum's grew over a foot in 2 days so I'll have to make a decision soon.

What if you only have 1 shoot total? First year plant.

I cannot say that I've experienced hop bine main shoot growth inhibited when the main growing shoot has been clipped (purposely or accidentally). What I usually experience is that the main shoot sends up two new vertical growing shoots which then adds to the problem. Perhaps constant clipping of the growing shoots until sidearm growth begins would work? I don't know. Give it a shot and let us know how it works for you.

I actually removed cascade from my tee-pee trellis because of it's excessive vertical growth plus excessive sidearm growth. Have yet to replant it.

First year plant with only 1 shoot is not totally unusual. The key is making sure that one shoot stays happy all year long. Successive years will yield many more shoots to the point of excess.

I cannot figure out why one of my hop bines is growing so much faster than all the others. It looks to be twice as fast. The far left magnum not only is more than twice as tall as any of my other plants, its leaves are also much bigger than the leaves on any of the other plants. My two magnums were also planted three weeks after I planted the centennials. The white bricks on the ground mark the locations of my watering ollas. I guess it is a first world problem but I'm curious about what the cause of the super fast growth might be.

beernutz said:

Thanks for the input. The Magnum's grew over a foot in 2 days so I'll have to make a decision soon.

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Is there a specific time to clip the tops and get sidearms rather than more shoots?

beernutz said:

I cannot figure out why one of my hop bines is growing so much faster than all the others. It looks to be twice as fast. The far left magnum not only is more than twice as tall as any of my other plants, its leaves are also much bigger than the leaves on any of the other plants. My two magnums were also planted three weeks after I planted the centennials. The white bricks on the ground mark the locations of my watering ollas. I guess it is a first world problem but I'm curious about what the cause of the super fast growth might be.

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It's called "Vigor" . Magnum, Nugget, Cascade and many more varieties fall into this general category (e.g. chinook, CTZ, etc).

Some varieties are simply more vigorous than others. Additionally, they may have a higher overall reach that other varieties as well. It really becomes a problem with tee-pee trellises when they have longer sidearms (e.g. cascade) as they tend to wrap up all the neighbors towards the top at which point it becomes difficult to separate them out.

Arrheinous said:

Is there a specific time to clip the tops and get sidearms rather than more shoots?

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Clipping the top growth has never resulted in forcing sidearm growth for me. It generally results in two new vertical growing shoots to begin just below where you clipped. Sidearm growth is generally initiated during the vertical growth as they're nearing their maximum height (at about 2/3rds height), and really takes off once maximum height has been reached. At least this has been my experience over the last 7 years.

stpug said:

It's called "Vigor" . Magnum, Nugget, Cascade and many more varieties fall into this general category (e.g. chinook, CTZ, etc).

Some varieties are simply more vigorous than others. Additionally, they may have a higher overall reach that other varieties as well. It really becomes a problem with tee-pee trellises when they have longer sidearms (e.g. cascade) as they tend to wrap up all the neighbors towards the top at which point it becomes difficult to separate them out.

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I see, thanks for your thoughts. The puzzling thing to me is that I planted two magnum rhizomes at exactly the same time which sprouted at the same time yet the one on the far left is growing so much taller with much bigger leaves than the magnum plant to its immediate right though I have treated them almost identically.

Does Centennial not fall into the vigorous category?

stpug said:

Clipping the top growth has never resulted in forcing sidearm growth for me. It generally results in two new vertical growing shoots to begin just below where you clipped.

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Thanks, that'd also answer what happens if a deer or some animal nips away the growing end of the vine.

Think it depends on your climate. But in western NC, my Centennials are by far my strongest, most aggressive. Followed by Columbus, then Galena, then Cascade. I also have some Willamette and some Mt Hood that struggle a little compared to the other 4.

beernutz said:

I see, thanks for your thoughts. The puzzling thing to me is that I planted two magnum rhizomes at exactly the same time which sprouted at the same time yet the one on the far left is growing so much taller with much bigger leaves than the magnum plant to its immediate right though I have treated them almost identically.

Does Centennial not fall into the vigorous category?

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First (and sometimes Second) year plants tend to not be as vigorous as successive years. If this is the first or second year for those hops then just wait it out and see how it works out next year.

There's also the potential for what are called "bull bines" or "bull shoots" that grow excessively thick, fast, and tall. It's been said that these bull bines tend to be the first ones out of the ground in the spring. I've also read of them being low hop producers of inferior quality and potentially containing the most disease potential (e.g. powdery mildew). I don't know how much of this is true but I have since taken to the habit of pulling out all initial big/fast bines around the beginning of April that look to match the description of 'bull bines'.

WNCBrewman said:

Think it depends on your climate. But in western NC, my Centennials are by far my strongest, most aggressive. Followed by Columbus, then Galena, then Cascade. I also have some Willamette and some Mt Hood that struggle a little compared to the other 4.

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You're correct. Climate will make a big difference as to how well various varieties of hops will grow. Willamette and other noble hops grow terribly for me in my hot summer climate.

I wish centennial was my strongest/aggressive variety. I just replaced my cascade with another centennial because I don't get nearly enough of it each year. First world problems I suppose