Minimum height for hops

[Sadu]

Hey all, just bought myself a hop plant. Will probably get another plant shortly and see how we go with that for the first season.

I wanted to ask about where to plant. I have a choice of a few locations but none of them have structures/walls in the 15-20' range as most tutorials suggest.

I have a portable office with a roof about 10' high, otherwise the kid's play fort is a bit higher again, maybe 12'.

Would either of those be suitable to run some strings up?

 

[porterpounder]

I've always used 10-12' trellises. Works perfectly. I recommend putting the strings on a pulley at the top so you can lower them at our leisure to pick instead of tearing down the bine or being stuck on a ladder.

 

[Sadu]

Cool. That makes good sense. So is the trellis necessary or is it just anything that will support the strings? I actually have some spare trellis in the shed.

I guess what I'm asking is that if my vertical height is limited, does a wider area of trellis allow the plant grow wider rather than taller and still have plenty of cones?

Being the first season I was thinking of allowing 2-3 bines to grow.

 

[Yooper]

Cool. That makes good sense. So is the trellis necessary or is it just anything that will support the strings? I actually have some spare trellis in the shed.

I guess what I'm asking is that if my vertical height is limited, does a wider area of trellis allow the plant grow wider rather than taller and still have plenty of cones?

Being the first season I was thinking of allowing 2-3 bines to grow.

They climb for sure, but I have some plants on an arbor, and they do ok. You may get a better harvest if they have more climbing space, but I get tons of cones on the arbor. These are cascades, and they are about 9 or 10 years old(?). I don't take care of them, and they are popping up all over the yard and under the deck.





(yes, there IS an arbor under there. And yes, I know they are overripe- I haven't picked any hops this year due to time constraints).

 

[Sadu]

That looks amazing Yooper.

To be honest I'd rather have a plant that looks good in the garden rather than maximising the harvest with large commercial-looking support structures.

Aside from your arbor not being visible, I actually like the fact that it looks like a normal plant.

 

[Yooper]

That looks amazing Yooper.

To be honest I'd rather have a plant that looks good in the garden rather than maximising the harvest with large commercial-looking support structures.

Aside from your arbor not being visible, I actually like the fact that it looks like a normal plant.

I should take another photo- the chinook are up the outside of the greenhouse. Very pretty!

They are attractive plants, and I have some up a telephone pole, some up the sides of the garage, one going up a beam holding up the roof of my porch, etc. I have 7 varieties altogether, about 10 plants. They are a bit invasive, so I wouldn't put them in a garden where I want something else to grow (the chinook have overtaken the elderberries and anything else they can).

 

[bruteforce]

Gorgeous hops Yooper.

 

[cavman22]

I grow mine just like yoopers example. I'm sure I could get better production with a taller setup but I use 8' decorative trellis' as privacy walls between you the neighbors. Due to me HOA I can't go higher. I got almost 5lbs wet off of 1 3rd year cascade this year, I'd a all that decent production. I also have a chinook, crystal, and fuggle. Those have much less production but still close to 1-2 lbs. and they are very pretty and fun to grow. I check them every day and its neat to see the progression.

 

[JohnSand]

I use a 6' trellis, the hops grow up, across, back down. Picking is easy because I am as tall as they are.

 

[Texconsinite]

Same here. I have a small backyard and am trying to use my limited space efficiently, so I have 1st year cascade that is growing up a 4ft trellis, then diagonally from there up to an 8ft fence. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1473187945.369293.jpg

It's made picking VERY easy. I've been harvesting 1 wet oz or so at a time as they've ripened for last several months, 2.7 dry oz sofar for the season.

I'm sure I'd probably get more if I had a 20ft pole for every one, but I don't, and it's nice to be able to pick them at head- height as they ripen, prob get more ripe ones rather than Just having to cut down and harvest all at one time.

 

[enkamania]

I use a 6' trellis, the hops grow up, across, back down. Picking is easy because I am as tall as they are.

This is good news as I only have a six foot fence. I'm going to try and grow next year.

 

[thaymond]

I have a thread on my build here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=474201
Tl;Dr version - it's a 6 foot cage trellis. I get decent yields, roughly 1 lb dry per plant, depending on the season. This works for me also due to HOA constraints.

 

[enkamania]

I have a thread on my build here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=474201
Tl;Dr version - it's a 6 foot cage trellis. I get decent yields, roughly 1 lb dry per plant, depending on the season. This works for me also due to HOA constraints.

All I have is a little plant box at the end of the driveway, so mine will be for show

 

[tegan]

I have a neighbor who has hops growing on top of the rock wall in front of their house, both down the wall and up a 4' fence that's above the wall. They're looking nice, lots of ripe cones, even though they're on the shady north side of an opaque fence. I'm jealous every time I walk by but who knows if they're a brewing varietal -- here in the Northwest a lot of garden stores sell "golden hops" as an ornamental vine.

My hops did poorly this year, after getting a few ounces of small cones last year. The plant is in a big pot on a patio where I can have them climb a wire to the deck 15' above. I've realized that if I'm not going to be really careful about pruning them and getting the support wire up before the plant grows too much, I'm probably better off putting them in the ground even in a less optimal place and letting them grow as they will. I have my own wall/fence combo that's got an established carpet of ivy, and if the hops are more invasive than the ivy and can crowd it out at all that's a good thing for me.