How to train your Hop Plants?

[imperialipa]

I have just built my first hop garden. I bought Centenial and Cascade. The order came with 2 rhizomes of each.

I built Two 4x4 10ft tall T's strung with wire connecting them on the right and left side of the T.

I planted my cascade on the right side of the T and the Centenial on the Left.

The plants are about 5ft apart from one another.

So here is the question. I am in the process of connecting the twine vertically down from the metal wire running horizontal.

How many strings should I run to each plant? I was thinking 3.

The 2nd question is how many shoots from my rhizome do I train on each string? I was thinking 2.

That would mean that I let a total of 6 shoots grow out from each Rhizome and cut back the rest.

Does this sound correct?

 

[Gridlocked]

I think my first year, I had 3 strings per plant and I eventually had 2 vines per string. Six may spread a 1st year plant a bit thin, but there is a lot of relativity to that.

 

[Wobbegong]

I have 2 lines for each plant. I train 2 bines to each. Im not sure what the perfect set up would be, but that's what I have.

 

[tchuklobrau]

First year let them all grow, helps build root structure, and prep for making through 1st winter. After that general rule is 2-3 strings per plant, 3-5 bines per string.

 

[sweetcell]

First year let them all grow, helps build root structure, and prep for making through 1st winter. After that general rule is 2-3 strings per plant, 3-5 bines per string.

+1

although i'm tempted to not let *all* my first-year bines grow... just most of them. maybe clip a few if i get above, say, 15 bines. i'll certainly be allowing more than a second/third/etc year plant.

 

[drummstikk]

although i'm tempted to not let *all* my first-year bines grow... just most of them. maybe clip a few if i get above, say, 15 bines.

Not to disappoint, but most rhizomes will put out 2-4 bines total.

 

[sweetcell]

Not to disappoint, but most rhizomes will put out 2-4 bines total.

if my 'zomes put out that few bines, then i won't have to worry about wether to prune or not

pretty sure i've seen pix of first-year plants with more than 3-4 bines, but maybe those were over-achievers.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Even some under-achievers have the audacity to put out more than 4 shoots. Not complaining but I actually think they have an 'inside' competitive thing going on to see which rhizome can outperform the other. Hops, can't live with 'em . . . can't live without 'em so stick 'em in the ground and stand back!

 

[drummstikk]

Yeah, I imagine it depends a lot of the 'zome. I am not a hop growing expert, but I've planted about ten, and in the beginning of the first year, I've only gotten as many shoots as there are buds that I can see on the 'zomes when it comes in the mail. The rhizomes from Freshops have between 0-5 buds, and vary from a twig to a sizeable chunk of rhizome.

It's actually baffling why rhizome quality is so variable: they only cost the labor of digging them up, and they're essentially a waste product of hop farms. Why not just send us the good ones?

Anyway, Sweetcell, do you remember how many buds were on your 'zomes?

PS You can definitely get hops out of the first year. When your shoots get to the top of your trellis, make sure to pinch off the tip. The shoots will send out side-shoots, and these are what produce hops. I discovered this the hard way when my building's gardener (who is actually paid just to destroy plants -- he does nothing to promote their growth) snipped off the top 3-5 inches of my Columbus plant. Well, the plant produced cones in its first year, and none of the other uncut plants did at all.

Happy growing! (And if your climax plant does well, I'd be very interested in a rhizome 2 years from now!)

 

[sweetcell]

Anyway, Sweetcell, do you remember how many buds were on your 'zomes?

not too many. the rhizomes were on the smaller side, with maybe 2 or 3 white buds poking out. frankly i'm happy that i've got anything at all, given their size and what they went through. looking forward to returning home tomorrow and seeing if #2 has decided to poke out of the ground.

(And if your climax plant does well, I'd be very interested in a rhizome 2 years from now!)

yup, hit me up in spring 2014. if for some reason i'm not still active here (doubtful), i can always be reached via sweetcell at gmail.

 

[drummstikk]

not too many. the rhizomes were on the smaller side, with maybe 2 or 3 white buds poking out.

Oh, that's plenty! You will be in good shape -- I had a rhizome last year with only 2 buds (and only 1 surviving shoot) that developed a huge root structure. (I had to transplant so I got an opportunity to check out the roots.)

 

[imperialipa]

Thanks for all the info guys!

 

[cincybrewer]

I'm glad I read this thread. I thought as soon as the shoots started poking out you were supposed to remove all but one bine....So if I'm reading this right, you are supposed to grow multiple bines per rhizome? I just planted a rhizome in a container to grow up a trellis and I was thinking I'd only use one bine.

 

[tchuklobrau]

I'm glad I read this thread. I thought as soon as the shoots started poking out you were supposed to remove all but one bine....So if I'm reading this right, you are supposed to grow multiple bines per rhizome? I just planted a rhizome in a container to grow up a trellis and I was thinking I'd only use one bine.

You are in fact reading that correctly, If you went the heavy side of the normal "rule of thumb" you will have 15 bines per plant climbing. Lol or You can be like me who has an average of 35 bines per plant climbing away:rockin:

 

[cincybrewer]

Wow, I had no idea. So if you have multiple bines per rope, do they all just intertwine with each other? Not that it matters since they are the same variety but just for curiosity sake.

Also on a similar subject. Can hops grow up a wooden trellis (4 x 4 wood beam) or are they better climbing rope? I've decided to grow one rhizome from a container and have it grow up to an 8' trellis and then grow horizontally but wasn't sure if I needed rope. Of course this was before I learned that you are supposed to grow multiple bines. I might need to rethink my setup.

Basically my trellis is similar to this but it is over pavement, hence the container. I was going to have a rhizome grow up one end of the trellis and cover the trellis horizontally. But maybe I should do it similar to the picture?

 

[snevey]

Instead of wrapping the bines around the 4X4, could you just screw in some eye bolts that might hold some twine about 2 inches away from the 4X4?

 

[cincybrewer]

Instead of wrapping the bines around the 4X4, could you just screw in some eye bolts that might hold some twine about 2 inches away from the 4X4?

Yea, that was my plan B, but for ornamental purposes I am now hoping to wrap the rope around the 4x4's and have them climb up that way. Plus it will hopefully give them a little more length to climb...But right now I have 8 shoots coming out so I'm not sure how I'm going to get that many to go around a single 4x4.

 

[strumke]

They are going to want to go around the twine, so if there is no space between the twine and the posts, they aren't going to be thrilled. As they grow, they form a loose corkscrew and they have tiny hairs that point away from the growth tip which catch on to the fuzzy twine (similar to little barbs).

Anything thicker than ~1" or so will be tough to get them to climb on their own. You can try and lay them over the twine in big circles, but they likely keep falling off at the tip.

 

[cincybrewer]

Very interesting, thanks for the info. Sounds like my plan won't work to well so perhaps I should just run the twine up to the top of the trellis without going around the 4x4.

 

[cincybrewer]

Well here is what I ended up doing. Not sure if this is the best route but since it's in a pot I can adjust if need be.