commandercool724
Well-Known Member
is there a minimum height to grow hops. i know they can grow up to 20 feet tall. I have a 5 foot fence that surrounds my yard and am unable to erect an sort of structure to support them.
minimum height ?
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carnevoodoo
Well-Known Member
It'll grow up that fence and just keep going. It will likely grow sideways and become a bush. But they really like to grow up, so it might inhibit the growth.
commandercool724
Well-Known Member
what do you mean it will just keep going? if it has no support how will it keep growig up ?
jimgriz
Active Member
He didn't mean it would keep going up. It will just grow where it can, sideways probably like he mentioned. It will turn all that good vertical growth into lateral growth trying to look for some other structure to climb. But hey, lateral growth is better than no growth. Give it a shot.
pilotdane
Well-Known Member
The worst thing is you might have to train the hops to follow the fence. Once or twice a week if the lead bine is trying to head straight up, gently tie or weave it through the fence to keep it growing along the fence. On the good side you will be able to easily pick the hops as they ripen without having to cut the bine down which will really help your production volume.
I'll second that. You wouldn't notice the production difference between a 5 foot bine and a bine that can grow as tall as it wants in the first two years, but by the third you would really notice. They want to go up 15 at least.
The guys on Basic Brewing video talked about a guy growing his in pots. He let them grow up a twine that looped over a 9 foot pole. As the bine approached the top, he let the twine down so the bottom dropped out of the pot and the top could still grow up. I tried this last year on a potted hop and it worked pretty well. It was only first year, but the bine went up 15 feet and produced as well as rhizomes I had planted in the ground. On the down side, you have to stay on top of it. If the thing gets to the top, you have a lot of careful unwinding to do to get it back on track.
The guys on Basic Brewing video talked about a guy growing his in pots. He let them grow up a twine that looped over a 9 foot pole. As the bine approached the top, he let the twine down so the bottom dropped out of the pot and the top could still grow up. I tried this last year on a potted hop and it worked pretty well. It was only first year, but the bine went up 15 feet and produced as well as rhizomes I had planted in the ground. On the down side, you have to stay on top of it. If the thing gets to the top, you have a lot of careful unwinding to do to get it back on track.
yuppiecruncher
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Hey there,
I agree with what everyone is saying here, your first and second year hops should be fine with the 5 foot height, I would recommend a separate structure if its possible though. If the bines grow along your fence, it will be extremely laborious to remove them after they die at the end of the year. If you don't clean them off you will be left with ugly dead vines tangled up in your fence all winter (I'm assuming you have a metal cyclone fence). If thats not an issue, go for it. For me, I keep a separate structure that I tear down at the end of the growing season to aid in picking the hops and so I don't have an eyesore all fall/winter/spring. Hope this helps.
I agree with what everyone is saying here, your first and second year hops should be fine with the 5 foot height, I would recommend a separate structure if its possible though. If the bines grow along your fence, it will be extremely laborious to remove them after they die at the end of the year. If you don't clean them off you will be left with ugly dead vines tangled up in your fence all winter (I'm assuming you have a metal cyclone fence). If thats not an issue, go for it. For me, I keep a separate structure that I tear down at the end of the growing season to aid in picking the hops and so I don't have an eyesore all fall/winter/spring. Hope this helps.
commandercool724
Well-Known Member
I dont have a metal cyclone fence. it iron fence with verticle bars
EvilTOJ
Well-Known Member
Nothing a flamethrower wouldn't fix. Just the same, you'll have to train the bines to climb laterally. I did that for my first year of hop growing. They grew 9' high and then went across my driveway about 20'. Yes, that far. I had to wrap them around the strings every day so they wouldn't start climbing into the sky.
My trellis is 20' tall, then another 3' for supports that I didn't intend to use for 'growing'. My hops went up the trellis, found the supports, when up those, then basically started to reach for the sky. The like 'up'. If I can find pictures, I'll put some up for 23' tall hop fines reaching for maybe another foot into the sky.
You can train them (and retrain them) to grow horizontally, but anything you can do to get them 'up' will be to your benifit. There are many pictures on line of 'bushes'. Low growing hops. I saw in a magazine a guy that grew them in his office at work. One long as bine that he kept roping around his cubicle. He must have the best boss in the world. Anyway, Im in Aurora IL, we've got the same climate. You'll be fine. I bet if you take the time, you could get your hops to grow vertically 'around' your fence/house. That might look pretty cool. Taking them down.... that's another story...
You can train them (and retrain them) to grow horizontally, but anything you can do to get them 'up' will be to your benifit. There are many pictures on line of 'bushes'. Low growing hops. I saw in a magazine a guy that grew them in his office at work. One long as bine that he kept roping around his cubicle. He must have the best boss in the world. Anyway, Im in Aurora IL, we've got the same climate. You'll be fine. I bet if you take the time, you could get your hops to grow vertically 'around' your fence/house. That might look pretty cool. Taking them down.... that's another story...
