Alternative to a trellis?

[fusa]

I live in an apartment. For the past 3 years I have grown hops on my deck. My deck is about 30 feet long and 9 feet high. Just last week I got a notice that if I don't remove the trellis I will be evicted in 3 weeks. I'm not very happy with this since if they just asked for it to be removed I would have. Threatening to evict me isn't very nice way to treat a resident that hasn't caused trouble and paid all rent on time for 3 years.

Are there any alternatives I could use? I've thought of just letting them grow on the railing of the deck. I might use twine, but they might evict me for that too. I might just call their bluff and not do anything.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Try something like this! They even sell a 3-pack with 1 foot stabilizing arms at Wally World or Home Depot for crazy cheap.

This is what I'm going to be doing when my tiny little bines are big enough to start training. Seems legit :rockin:

 

[fusa]

Very nice! Any idea what they are called? I don't think I've seen them at Home Depot locally, but I might be wrong.

 

[jborho]

I would not tempt them, if they think it could cause damage to the building.... they have every right. Granted we all know that is not likely but explaining that to a land lord could be more pain and grief. Also, I am sure they have a standard legal letter they use. I wouldn't take it personally. I don't think letting them grow wild on the deck is the answer either. What if you could take two or three pots filled with dirt, and stakes put in. And between those stakes run wire or string in a zig zag fashion. I think talking with the land lord before hand and acknowledging their concerns will serve you better in the long run.

 

[fusa]

The building is concrete/brick with metal railings so its not an issue of them damaging the building. The realtor has a VERY bad reputation in this town. Housing is in very high demand here. When I got a job here, I only had a couple of weeks to move, so got stuck with them, since they were the only ones with vacancies.

 

[jd3]

Why not just call them and ASK them what they'd be ok with?

 

[HOPCousin]

I agree with jd3. They probably think your growing marijuana ha ha! You should chat them up explain what hops are and bring over some home brew

 

[fusa]

that's what my boss said. They did remodeling to the building, which lasted from October to February. The construction started at around 8am every mourning and lasted to 5pm. I work nights, so spent the last 1/3 of the year without much sleep. My patience with them is pretty much worn out. If there's a cheap alternative to a trellis I'm willing to try that, but I will not get rid of my hops.

 

[strumke]

I set up two 12' stakes in a V shape in each pot and ran 20-25' of twine in a zig zag pattern. If you tie a dowel at the top and bottom it will keep the V in shape and allow you to make the twine taught.

I have 4 plants in a small DC backyard set up this way (I also have two plants that are growing over an old wooden ladder that sat unused along the fence for 2 yrs... one is a cascade, so I'm hoping it just takes over the ladder)

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I just used a small trellis and then I train them to run horizontally along my lattice fencing. once it gets to the end I'll turn it back around and do the same. Gets plenty of air flow, good spacing, and works for my vertically challenged yard.

 

[tchuklobrau]

I also agree with asking what would be ok. However if you insist on not asking you could(assuming they are in pots) just let em grow along the railing, training horizontal, then down and up the rail uprights. Not so much let em grow wild, as you would be just using what they offered you. 30' of rail is ample(depending on how many varieties you have)

 

[JRems]

Did they cite a violation in the letter? Read your lease and see if it has any restrictions on the deck. I think they are just being asses.

 

[Dawnhulio]

I have two of these that have been used in the past for beans. About 5 feet tall from the base ring, and you can train the bines how you see fit. Gonna use them this year for the hops I planted in a garden box.

 

[fusa]

That looks good too.

The violation they cite is:
"Lease Addendum #5: Exterior Appearance
The trellises cannot be attached to any part of the balcony. All non-outoor items (ie., cooler, tarp, keg, etc) must be removed from the balcony. The balcony must be kept clean and neat."

The cooler I threw in the trash, I only use it when moving to store stuff in the refrigerator anyway. The keg is with the rest of my brewing equipment inside. the tarp was covering a miter saw which was attached to a wood working bench I made. the tarp and saw are back inside. Right now all I have outside is some blueberry bushes, strawberries, some catnip plants, and 3 1/2 barrels with 3 different hops. I've left the trellis for now.
I plan on making another trellis either similar to the one above or the first response I got, they are both free standing trellis, so they wouldn't be "attached to any part of the balcony." The balcony isn't cluttered with junk so I don't think it is an eye sore.

 

[Rivenin]

i need to keep my hops at a minimum height, so this may work for you too...
basically, it needs to be around 6' max in the yard so the owners don't complain (live onsite at work type of dealio).

Hopefully this is easy to understand. just drew out a sketch of what i'm planning

Hell, could even have it a titch higher and have some beers under a hop shade! haha

If you watch this episode of brewing TV, he is basically doing the same thing, and hell, you'd have shade off the deck as well (look for chip waltons episode)

[ame]http://vimeo.com/13647104[/ame]

 

[odinsgift]

How well will they train around the string horizontally? I've considered this for my noble varieties at the house, but I am under the impression they only train around the string to follow the sun.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Mine still want to grow upward but I just wrap them horizontally in and out of my lattice and they are loving it so far. 10-15ft in all and just started producing cones on all 4 bines. Id say either use lattice fencing or run multiple strings across. Its a little more manual labor but its been working so far for me.

 

[mjmac85]

I was thinking of doing something similar to this. If I cut it down to maybe 4 feet in height and 10feet long will that be ok?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

That looks good too.

Right now all I have outside is some blueberry bushes, strawberries, some catnip plants

I planted some catnip in my yard once. Damn neighborhood cats ate the entire plant before I could give it to mine lol.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I was thinking of doing something similar to this. If I cut it down to maybe 4 feet in height and 10feet long will that be ok?

As long as the bines can be turned around and grown back in the other direction to let them stretch as long as they like. My trellis, in the container, is about 5.5-6 ft tall and my lattice fence is about 9-10 ft long. Just let them grow all day then train them at the end of the day. This lets mine get to grow vertically how they like a couple inches a day before being weaved horizontally through the fencing.

 

[mjmac85]

I could install a few "levels" to wind back and forth on.

 

[fusa]

i need to keep my hops at a minimum height, so this may work for you too...
basically, it needs to be around 6' max in the yard so the owners don't complain (live onsite at work type of dealio).

Hopefully this is easy to understand. just drew out a sketch of what i'm planning

Hell, could even have it a titch higher and have some beers under a hop shade! haha

If you watch this episode of brewing TV, he is basically doing the same thing, and hell, you'd have shade off the deck as well (look for chip waltons episode)

http://vimeo.com/13647104

I also brew on the deck with a 3 tier stand. The hops would probably get way too hot if I ran them over the hlt. When I got the letter, I was expecting that to be the problem, not my trellises.

 

[fusa]

Here's what I have built for one of the trellis.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

PERFECT! That's basically a 4-stake version of what I'm doing.

Any idea of how many feet of usable line you have there?

 

[fusa]

It is 7 feet tall, including what is in the dirt. For the top, 2 are 14" the other 2 are 16". When I went to home depot, the guy in plumbing cut the 10' 3/4" PVC pipe to 7'. It was very easy to assemble, except running the twine around. I hate heights, and standing on a chair next to the railing wasn't fun. Got to redo the top part sometime, just wanted it finished for now.

I think the trellis looks better, but its not connected to the building so my realtor can't complain about it. Might paint it green or brown sometime, but not this year.

 

[Cromwell]

I don't have much input on the trellis, since it seems to be pretty well covered. But in your original post, you complained that they could have just asked instead of threatening to evict you. I see that they've just completed a renovation, and that you've been a tenant for 3 years....

So all that leads me to the conclusion that they'd really like you to move out. They think they can rent your unit for more, now that rents have gone up in general, and because they've renovated, and they'd like to have an excuse to evict you so they can rent to someone with a substantial rent increase. I could be wrong, but that's how landlords work. So.... I'd be pretty careful about calling their bluff. Go with the free-standing trellis.

 

[fusa]

Could be but I doubt it, both the neighbors above me and below have been here much longer. Its a college town so there is a high turn over rate for tenants, most stay a year then move someplace else in August. There's a few people moving out today now that the semester is finished.