Do you rehang your bines after harvest?

[kilohertz]

Just wondering if it's necessary to rehang the bines after harvest of each plant is complete? Most of mine are 17' tall and I could rehang, but if they will continue to be happy on the ground, it would be great. I have about 100 plants so it's a bit of work. I will still cut them back mid November when they have died off.

What do you guys do?

Cheers

 

[day_trippr]

I have a setup that has the bearing portion of my bines (the upper ~12') conveniently located along my second story deck. I lower the suspension lines, clip off all the bearing arms, then raise the remains back up, where they stay 'til the frost gets 'em...


Cheers!

 

[stpug]

I whack 'em so there's no rehanging for me.

 

[Mismost]

I have a setup that has the bearing portion of my bines (the upper ~12') conveniently located along my second story deck. I lower the suspension lines, clip off all the bearing arms, then raise the remains back up, where they stay 'til the frost gets 'em...
View attachment 305635

Cheers!

Do the vines provide a fair amount of shade for your porch? I might trying growing them if I could get some shade too.

 

[day_trippr]

Oh yes - the last couple of years it's almost like a hop tunnel by the end of July.


The house is oriented 185° for solar gain (a ton of glass on that south side) so once the solstice has passed and the bines have reached the ~24' high suspension line the shade they provide is much welcome. That's another reason why I leave them standing 'til the frost kills them...

Cheers!

 

[peejcj8]

I read that you allow them to dry up before cutting as they pull some of the energy back to the roots from the vines. But this might be totally bad info.

 

[GVH_Dan]

If you can pick the hops without much damage, go ahead and put them back up.

If there is a lot of damage, then the fresh sap will tend to attract insects and disease. If you leave them on the ground, it will tend to get downey mildew. So its best to either cut them off or hang back up.

 

[mtyquinn]

I usually just cut them.

 

[Experibrew]

Cut them all down. Truly in nature, they'd just simply regroup and regrow from other root extensions beneath the ground on the core root even with leaving these bines to flourish until they died from the advance of winter. Think about the garden parallel of canes on heritage raspberries. They'd just normally continue to generate new shoots and extensions. Chop them back and mind the growth from the new shoots that are the best next year. Beware of bull shoots for sure. If your goal is purely ornamental or the neeed for dead raw or dried up bines to block some sun, then ignore what I am saying. For growing and producing quality cones, you need to cut them back. No end gains really from attempts to extend the growing cycle. Been there. Not the same forgiving kind of plants.

 

[Homercidal]

I just cut them down and pick flowers on a table. The bines go on the brush pile, the bed gets cleaned out eventually. Before winter if I'm ambitious.

 

[beernutz]

I left mine up but mostly due to laziness. I'm redoing my bine hanging structure and I knew if I took everything down then the clock starts on getting that done. I'm just hoping my next year's hops actually smell like hops as this year, my first, even after drying I couldn't detect much hop-like aroma.

 

[kilohertz]

Okay on all, good info. The ones I have left on the ground are still healthy, as are the hanging ones, but we are now getting 0C at night and the leaves are starting to turn yellow. I still have Nuggets, Galenas and my mystery hops to pick, as they are still maturing, but otherwise, all plants are harvested and looking good. Above post mentions smell..I actually took some of my Centennials and Goldings into a brewer today to get his impression...I thought they smelled very strong, almost skunky, but he assured me they smell wonderful and are awesome. I was glad, as I picked some of the same varieties earlier in Sept. and may have picked too soon, they smelled nice, but no where near as strong. Once the bines show signs of fading, I'll cut them all back and put them in the burn pile, mow between the rows and be ready for next spring. :rockin: It was a challenge to get everything picked and dried this year, but my container trailer worked out great for drying, with about 3-4 days per load.

Still learning.

Cheers