Lateral bines

[BWN]

I have a lot of lateral bines growing off of my second year bines. They seem like they are going to grab onto my twine and start growing up. What do you usually do about this? Any reason they can't just get cut off?

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

If by "lateral bines" you mean side arms, those are the cone-bearing parts of the plants. If you cut them off, you have wasted your time growing hops. I let mine do whatever they want. If, on the other hand, you are referring to additional shoots/bines growing at ground level from the crown, feel free to cut them back. I let several grow up each line and cut back the rest.

 

[BWN]

Yeah they are side arms. I just didn't know the correct terminology. No they are growing from the bine itself not coming from the crown. They are 2 to 3 feet long and seem to want to grow up. I will just keep an eye on them. Thanks.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

What kind of hops are they? Two to three feet sounds awfully long for side arms (at least for my plants). Any burrs or cones yet? I've got a ton, okay, a lot, of burrs on mine, but the side arms are nowhere near that length. Are you sure it's not smaller bines coming up the same support line? Man if you have side arms that long you could end up with a great harvest.

 

[BWN]

I have them on my cascades and my Columbus. I will snap some pictures tomorrow.

 

[BWN]

This is what I have. I would say they are all on the first two feet. I have read about trimming off the first foot anyways.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

Those all look like additional bines coming out of the crown at ground level. It is safe to trim those, plus the lower leaves on the bines that are climbing. I don't think hops even put out side arms on the lower third or quarter of the bine or something like that. Trim away!

 

[WAORGANY]

BWN yeah cut those back...I have a bunch of side arms coming up from my crowns, chickens keep digging up all the dirt I throw back over the crown, trimmed some extra shoots coming up this am, will show you tomorrow.

 

[BWN]

I will trim them but they are definitely not coming from the crown I can see them attached to the bine.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

I will trim them but they are definitely not coming from the crown I can see them attached to the bine.

I believe you. Whatever they are, they aren't future hop-bearing side-arms. Good luck with your plants.

 

[B-Hoppy]

BWN, sidearms will form pretty much at each node along the vine. The lower ones just end up creating a mess of vegetation down near the lower part of the vines near the crown. Those should be ripped off along with the lower leaves to allow for better air circulation near ground level. They normally don't produce any useable hops so you're way ahead of the game if you get rid of them.

 

[Zantine]

I have a bunch of 3-4' side arms growing on my first year Chinook. But they started growing out early May when I accidently broke off the tip of the bull bine. The side arms are coming out of every node from that bine, and growing just as quick as the other original bines.

I decided to just let them grow and see what happens, since it is a first year plant.

 

[Kahless]

Same here; they'll help the root system grow stronger for the first year.
They are so long though that I ended up creating additional lines for them to climb up, at a lower angle, just to keep things tidy and provide good air circulation. From node to node i'm not sure where they end and the proper side-arms begin.