How tight is your twine?

I strung my twine up and left it slightly loose. Not hanging or dragging but loose enough that the wind blows them 4-6 inches side to side. Is that OK? or should they be tight.

 

Moisture will make them loose.

Tighten now and they will be loose when it rains again.

 

If you don't have shoots up, it won't make sense to tighten your twine yet. I've had shoots pop out some 8-10" away from where I thought they should be.

 

I personally believe in giving them some slack. When the leaves are full and the size of dinner plates, they act like giant sails. By allowing slack, they are less likely to snap in high winds (like we had last night).

Worked fine last year even when my pots blew over, nothing broke.

 

I have shoots that are about 3 feet already.

 

Which side? How much wind? Is it raining?

Even if they start tight, yarns and twines stretch.

 

Its in an open back yard with sun all day. Since I live in washington, yes, it rains...... all the time. As far as wind, light breezes on the regular and 25-45mph winds about once every other week.

 

I strung my rope tight last week and already have a good amount of slack. Start 'em tight!

 

I looped mine around the stake at the ground with an adjustable slipknot(?). Basically, I can adjust the slack by moving the knot up or down the main line.

Should I just wait for the hops to get tall enough to catch the twine? Right not its like I'm fishing for the hops. I dangle the slack hoping when I come home from work it will have wrapped itself around the twine to begin its journey upwards. Is there a proper way to train it up the twine?

 

My twine tie off height is about 15 feet. I use 6X strands of twine and tie them off about every 1.5-2 feet.

They are staked into the ground and raised to the top bar. I twist my twine about 25 times to make it more compact and stronger. Then tie them into place without any slack.

I checked them the other day (will check again tomorrow, 10 May)) and at least 6 of them are over 6 ft tall already.

 

You might also try using tie wire.

 

What I do is use a twist tie (from the sandwich baggies) and carefully wrap it around the vine and twine, leaving space for growth, to get it started. Works for me, remember not too tight with the twist tie

 

If you used sisal, it will actually tighten when it gets wet.

 

My stakes come up some which loosens the twine...

 

I leave a little bit of slack in mine, but periodically adjust them using a taut-line hitch (yay Boy Scouts!).