Hops Side Shoots

[reverendj1]

I'm planning on planting my hops in raised a raised 3'x9' bed, with boards every 3' to basically make 3 3'x3' beds. Now, these will all be different varieties, and I don't want the hops to grow into the yard. My question is, how high does the raised bed need to be? 6", 1'? How deep are the side shoots on hops?

 

[day_trippr]

A bit confused, as "side shoots" typically refers to growth above ground. If you're asking how far under the soil a plant may send roots or "runners", I can only relate that so far I've found roots as thick as my thumb sent a good five feet from the crowns, and only a few inches below grade for the whole length.

There may be much bigger roots deeper down traveling sideways for all I know, I only got the ones I could find by probing around the plants - or that "showed themselves" by sending up bine tips far from the crowns...

Cheers!

 

[reverendj1]

That may be why my Google-Fu wasn't working. Yes, I mean the runner roots which run near the surface and sprout new plants. Not the deep roots which go down.

So they are only a few inches down then? So a 1' raised bed should be enough to contain them?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

That may be why my Google-Fu wasn't working. Yes, I mean the runner roots which run near the surface and sprout new plants. Not the deep roots which go down.

So they are only a few inches down then? So a 1' raised bed should be enough to contain them?

Ive read here that some people recommend going around the rhizomes about a foot out each year and making a big circle around it with a shovel to slice off any runners before they get out of hand.

I cant remember if they recommended to do this at the end of a season, during dormancy, or right before the new season....

 

[i4ourgot]

yeah get rid of that, focus on two shoots from your rizome when it grows about 2 ft, than trim the rest down. You want all the energy of the plant on those one or two bines (the "vines" if your hops). Than like said above take a shovel and "trim" the roots.

 

[day_trippr]

So far the older the plant the more ornery they seem to get. Why, just this April I cut back all the first growth on fifteen three year olds, and all that did was piss them off, making them send runners hither and yon, and sprouts many feet from their beds.

I go around each crown about a foot or so out and few inches down, trawling for runners, a few times early in the growing season. Once I get the second growth shoots winnowed down to the chosen few and up on the coir drops the plants seem to calm down with the runners. But until then it's like herding cats.

I'm not sure how far down you'd have to sink dividers to actually ensure no commingling, but I bet it's way too deep to consider doing...

Cheers!