so i just put my first hop plant in the ground yesterday. my dad and i bought a 5 year rhyzome (kinda), and were able to get 4 full plants out of it. i'm letting the 3 small plants establish a root system in our greenhouse, but i decided to plant the 5 year because it was quickly outgrowing it's pot in the greenhouse.
now, we erected a pole that's about 16 feet, 3 feet in ground, 13 feet out. what WE did was run 3 pieces of twine/rope from the top of the pole to stakes in the ground, thinking that 3 lines for the 5 year plant to climb would be better than just one (they're about 18 inches apart. we also tied them into one main piece of rope and hooked it at chest level for easy access for harvesting (thanks t-bag!).
now from what i've read, you're supposed to clip all but the three strongest vines, and harvest from those. we're planning on training each vine to a different rope.
i'm curious if there's any reason we shouldn't be doing that? i would think the hops would flourish more so than just 1 rope, and so does my dad (a horticulturist). but i thought i'd toss a post in here just to get some opinions on the subject.
thanks in advance!
-Kelly
now, we erected a pole that's about 16 feet, 3 feet in ground, 13 feet out. what WE did was run 3 pieces of twine/rope from the top of the pole to stakes in the ground, thinking that 3 lines for the 5 year plant to climb would be better than just one (they're about 18 inches apart. we also tied them into one main piece of rope and hooked it at chest level for easy access for harvesting (thanks t-bag!).
now from what i've read, you're supposed to clip all but the three strongest vines, and harvest from those. we're planning on training each vine to a different rope.
i'm curious if there's any reason we shouldn't be doing that? i would think the hops would flourish more so than just 1 rope, and so does my dad (a horticulturist). but i thought i'd toss a post in here just to get some opinions on the subject.
thanks in advance!
-Kelly