zanemoseley
Well-Known Member
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?
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?
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