How many Bines to keep per plant

One or Two. Got my Rhizomes in pots until I build my hop rig up and planting them this weekend, so need to decide if I want one or two bines. I'd like to get as much hops as possible. Should I grow one bine per plant since it is the first year and then two for the following years?

I thought I've read 4 but not sure. Last year my 2nd year cascades had about 4-6 and I got a ton, maybe 20 oz total. I have second year Columbus, chinook, and us goldings already coming up. Looking forward to this years crop.

Your first year is important because it's an 'establishment' year. Your plant is trying to do two things - grow upward(shoots) and downward(roots). The more foliage it can produce, the more roots it can help to produce. First year, you shouldn't cut back any shoots (other than sickly ones) to enable it to stock up on reserves for years to come. Just make sure you try to train everything up off of the ground. This will help reduce the chance of disease and other pest development. Also, check out: http://www.crannogales.com/site/downloads/HopsManual.pdf . It's based on an organic culture but provides some solid info.. Have a good season!

Yeah just read a book that had a passage about grapes(none of the books I've seen have hop things; sure I can find one if I want) and it said to allow as many bines as possible for root growth and then cut them down when they get dormant for the winter. Not too concerned about immediate hops this year. More concerned about a hop plant at it's best for years to come.

Can more than one bine go up one rope given the rope is strong enough? Will they choke each other? Would like to limit my ropes to what I would use when I'm only training the minimum amount of bines in the second year.

Is it advisable to remove the rhizome from outside for the first year to avoid the cold? I have some large pots that can be used.

I'm probably going to use a 3/8 thick knitted nylon rope for $.17 per foot. Any problems here? It's tensile strength is over 200 lbs and I think it would last more years than the natural fiber ropes/twine. Just worried about the ability of the bine to climb it.

use jute twine. it is$1-2 for a 150ft roll. and is biodegradeable. many bines can grow on 1 string i had 6 on one before. put your rhizomes in the environment they will grow in...no need to shelter them.

B-Hoppy said:

First year, you shouldn't cut back any shoots (other than sickly ones) to enable it to stock up on reserves for years to come

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I hear both to cut them to the strongest two or three, or let them all go. If you let them all go, what do you do with them? String up all of the bines or them them fall where they may?

Homebrewers garden says 2-3 trim the rest. but if u let them go they will find a way to go up. I missed season start last year due to death in family and forced trip to Germany. when i came home mid may they were everywhere. climbing up everything they could.

trevorc13 said:

I hear both to cut them to the strongest two or three, or let them all go. If you let them all go, what do you do with them? String up all of the bines or them them fall where they may?

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After the first year you can cut back to however many you want to let grow, but the FIRST year you want to enable the plant to build a strong crown/root system for years to come. The more leaves to collect sun energy will help produce an overabundance of food energy that will be sent down to be stored in the crown. String 'em all up. You generally only have 3-6 that will really climb on a first year rhizome and the growth is usually not that excessive that it will be overwhelming. The second and successive years is when you'll see a BIG difference in the vigor.

when do you know when to cut bines off at end of year? How do you know the plant went dormant or when you should force the plant to go dormant?

After a frost or two the leaves turn brown, whither up and drop off. Things are done for the year - at this point you cut them back if you like, and put things to bed.. This happens naturally. You really can't 'force' anything unless you have control over daylength and the weather in general

Do hop plants overwinter? Do you cut your growth down to the ground and start over?

I made the mistake of listening to some wrong advice last year(first year) and cut them back to 1 bine per plant. Don't do that, I basically have brand new plants this year because they didn't get enough energy last year. Right now they just sprouted and I have between 2 and 4 buds coming up from each rhizome (1 cascade, 1 centennial, 1 chinook). I am letting all the vines grow this year.

ultravista said:

Do hop plants overwinter? Do you cut your growth down to the ground and start over?

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After the harvest in the fall the vines will die off you can cut them at the soil and leave all the leaves and stems on the ground to compost over winter. Next Spring new shoots will pop up.

Cut back nothing the 1st year you need it all to establish the crown Cheers Glen

Hopfarmer said:

Cut back nothing the 1st year you need it all to establish the crown Cheers Glen

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Does this apply to container hops too?

if they are 1st year let them all grow 2 nd year + 3 tto 5