Is this a bush or bine?!? Time to trim?

[kruegerBrew]

Its hard to tell from this picture, but this Columbus plant has 9 heads / side shoots. As a result, no shoot has took the lead to begin its journey up the twine. Should I trim this guy or is it still too small? It broke ground 5 weeks ago and it's brothers are ~2' tall now.

 

[stonebrewer]

Funny, looks just like mine! I have Columbus, Mt. Hood, Nugget, Sterling, and Williamette growing. Columbus was one of the first to come up but it didn't put out a main bine like the others, which are now a couple feet up the strings. Since mine are all baby (first year) plants, I am just letting them do their thing this year and not letting my expectations get the best of me. I kinda suspected something nibbled on my Columbus but saw no evidence of it, so perhaps this is just how it is...

BTW, my Williamette took 5-6 weeks longer to break ground than all the others so I think different types must grow very differently. I was reading on here about someone harvesting already! My plants are many weeks and months away from any potential harvest. YMMV...

 

[firebirdude]

Still looks small to me.

But maybe don't trust my opinion, as I'd like to know why people trim them back anyhow? I realize they grow buck wild. And I know some people say it so the plant can put all it's effort into the remaining bines. But on a first year plant, I'm not going to get much out of them anyway. I'm just letting it grow out into a solid and healthy plant. It's growing up my homemade trellis great and I'll just look forward into next year to get any measurable amount of hops. So what's wrong with that?