Hop growing question!

Hey guys,

My hop plant is beginning to take off and all I have is one string of twine that it's starting to grow on. I just wanted to make sure it was okay if both buds start intertwining with each other on the same twine or should I tie another string and separate them.

Thanks for the help!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1430529830.264901.jpg

You're alright. You can have more than one bine growing up one line.

You are fine. But when I planted a rhizome, I liked to stake down three lines or so per plant as many bines will rise up and grow. Looks like you have a nice plant growing. Keep it in fully sun and soon you will have a robust plant. The growth will amaze you.

Depending where and what you read, most documents suggest 2-4 bines per rope. My 5 year old plants get 3-4 per rope. For what it's worth: I think first year plants look nicer (fuller) when you run several bines together; not that this has anything to do with yield or performance. Just aesthetics.

I ran 2-3 on a line last year. I got great results. Food for thought though: my Nugget plant had nearly 10 bines trained on 4 lines. My Chinook had only 3 bines one 4 lines (one was open). Chinook out produced Nugget by 1 dry oz. Not sure if there's a connection, but there were sidearms on my Nugget that withered and died before cones could grow. I wonder if they were choked out by other bines competing for space. I'm keeping it to 1 bine per line this year to try and maximize yield.

These are all first years. Took them from rhizomes into what they became. I noticed a difference in behavior by the hop type vs any other variable. 2-4 lines per line is fine. It won't hurt the plant.