Distance needed between 2 species of hops

I finally bought a farm, and have been looking for a good one for years. So now i have plenty of space for growing hops, but am trying to figure out how i want it set up. I have a 3 year old cascade plant behind the shop at my work, so i will gather some from it, and wanted to buy 3 other species.

My question is, how far apart do the different species need to be from on another, so they dont cross breed. A buddy told me they cant be too close together. I have looked around on the web, and really cant find a strait up answer. Is distance a problem? Can they cross breed by themselves? Or can i just line up all of them on one line?

 

It's not necessarily about cross-breeding; it's about the bines intertwining between different varieties and you not know what's what come harvest time. The recommended distance is 5 feet for differing varieties and 3 feet for same variety.

Several of mine grow together at the top and I just harvest them all together and dry. As it's a mix of several C hops and no true noble hops, I call this my "Pale Ale Blend"

 

^Right^. If you get the basics right, there will never be "cross-breeding" as there won't be any male plants.

Interspecies intertwining can be a bitch. 5 foot spacing would be the minimum to avoid it, imo...

Cheers!

 

you just gotta keep up with pruning to keep em appart, which i do already. I prune the crap out of them. Gives you less hops, but you get big fat juicy cones like thei got this year. see pic

 

Great to hear. As long as you side cut them every year you can pretty much keep different varieties a few feet apart without the rhizomes creeping from one crown to the other. Hops look good!

 

thanks all. this is what i thought, but people were telling me otherwise.

 

As others said, no cross breeding to worry about, just bines intertangling. Someone mentioned 5 feet. I would agree if they aren't connected at the top wire.

In other words, if there is a physical bridge for them to grow across, the bines will get together pretty quickly. So 8 to 10 feet is better. If there isn't a physical way to bridge across, the only way they can intertangle is if the side arms are blowing in the wind and somehow connect. In that case, 5 feet should be enough, though you may want to have a weedwacker on a pole to separate them.

 

I have two lines above on pulleys (so I can lower them) This way I alternate varieties when I tie up climbing twine so they don't get mixed up when I harvest them. One variety on first pulley line. Next variety on second line. Third variety on first line and continue. Works for me.