Snapped the tip of the plant...am I doomed?

[Franzi]

I noticed yesterday that the bine on one of my plants (1st year) "untrained" itself and was not crawling upward. In my effort to untangle and retrain it, I snapped the tip of it by mistake...about 3 inches.

I've read that it's not good to snip the tops, so am I screwed? Will my plant recover and grow like it has been? Right now it's about 12 feet tall...well, 11 feet 9 inches

Thanks in advance!

 

[david_42]

Sometimes a side shoot will develop that takes over as the primary bine, but even without that, you should see cones on the sidearms.

 

[bosox]

I have a similar problem with my first year Mt. Hoods. I was told that 2 shoots may start growing off from the snap, and one will become the dominant one, and you can just trim the other.

 

[Franzi]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm not expecting much from the first year hops, but would like to get at least a handful of some fresh Hallertau!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I can't help but to chuckle a bit when I see these threads.

This plant is extremely vigorous and consider invasive for a reason. That reason is because it can overcome many obstacles. Mine 13 plants have seen all manner of weather and infestations and always manage to spring back with a voracious appetite for survival.

Just about the only thing I have heard that can obliterate a hop is a viral infection. And even then, they still try.

 

[Franzi]

I just wanted to ask again since I saw somebody once made it sound like cutting the top off of a bine would trigger Armageddon . I figured hops were just like any other plant and would adjust.

 

[uechikid]

Hopfarmer's hop yard suffered allot of damage from a hale storm last week. The consensus from other commercial hop growers was, they will recover and do well.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/hail-9000-plants-182194/

 

[Franzi]

Yeah I saw that...that's some crazy hail!!!

 

[atomicflatulence]

i almost started the exact same thread. I'm still working on my permanent struture and thought i could untwine the lead bine. broke about three inches off the tip...

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've noticed that once the leading tip breaks off they stop growing.

As mentioned earlier, some side shoots may take over and grow northward.

This can also be seen as a way to control how high they grow.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I've noticed that once the leading tip breaks off they stop growing.

As mentioned earlier, some side shoots may take over and grow northward.

This can also be seen as a way to control how high they grow.

Yes. It is called Apical Dominance. The growth tip releases a hormone that travels back down the plant towards the roots to suppress lateral growth (branching, sidearms).

This is a chemical process common to many plants.

As the hormone fades once the tip has either been removed or is inverted the lower parts of the plant begin lateral growth first until the hormone is completely denatured and the whole plant is no longer suppressed for side growth.