How small can you grow hops.

[adamdillabo]

I wanted to start a rhizome this year but I don't have a house. I wanted to start it in a large pot half buried at my parents house till I can get something with a yard. My mom won't want 20 foot hops growing on her side yard and the home owners association probably won't allow it with out paper work.

I really just want to get a good root system going so in a year or two when I get my own place I can start off with a good bounty.

Can I start with just 8-10 feet? Is it like ivy were it grows little feet and will crawl right up a tree?

Besides sun drop anyone know a hop that does ok in partial sun? I can't find sundrop on the websites.

 

[JohnSand]

My Cascades grow in partial sun, on a 6' trellis. Yours will adapt too.

 

[ptrack]

One option to get more height is to have them traverse more latterly. A buddy of mine has two plants growing in a portable box that is about 2 ft by 4 ft. He has an 8 foot support coming up from each side of the box. Up each post he has screws drilled in every two feet or so. He then lets the plants start climbing up vertically until they are a few inches past current anchor point and then moves the line over to the opposite post. Once the plant reaches the opposite post and has climbed a bit past that anchor point he moves it back to the original post. He has one plant climbing up each side of the trellis and with 8 foot posts he gets over 22 feet of length with the plants growing at a 45 degree angle. It may not be ideal but he has had some decent yield on the two plants he is growing in there. At least it might be a temporary option for the time being.

 

[Terek]

Just trim the tops of the plant. They are a bine, not a vine. Vines have "feet" as you call them. Bines hve rough hairs to hold them and they spiral clockwise up whatever you grow them on. I believe if you constantly trim them, it will help the roots to grow faster. Just remember, hops are basically an invasive weed. Once you plant them into the ground, it is almost impossible to get rid of them.

 

[adamdillabo]

They are a bine, not a vine. Vines have "feet" as you call them.

I am not a smart man. Thanks for the info. It's a pretty long wall against the garage it's just not very tall. Maybe from corner to corner I could 20+ feet.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Find a 15 or 20 gallon pot and plant a rhizome or two in that. Put a screw hook in the ledge of the roof and grow them straight up. Mine are first year since I just moved into my house and I have NO backyard. I didn't see a point of planting them and having to plan a yard around them.

 

[sevilwa]

Don't let anyone tell you hops can't be grown in a small area! Though far from optimal I grew 8 varieties last year in the "backyard" of a condo that wasn't much larger than 6'x18' in 1/2 barrel pots. Each plant had 3 7' strings (plus the post) to grow and due to surrounding buildings only had a few hours of direct sunlight. These were first year plants which produced over 2 lbs total (dry). The only plants that didn't produce cones were Sterling and Mt. Hood.

 

[adamdillabo]

I'm definitely going to give it a try. Good luck with this years harvest.

 

[rekoob]

Holy cow sevilwa... That gives me great hope. Nice looking crop!

 

[rekoob]

This is what I was talking about.

 

[rekoob]

Ok, I don't know what I'm doing with this app and uploading pictures. Let me try again.

View attachment 1429824424581.jpg

 

[rekoob]

Well, it didn't show sideways on my phone, but at least I got it on here.