string/wire for hops?

[JLem]

I'm going to be planting my first hops this spring (two each of cascade and goldings). I have the gist of how to set it up, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to use for the bines to climb - wire? if so, what gauge? twine/string? if so, how thick? I assume it needs to be thicker than standard garden twine.

Also, is it one bine per wire? or do multiple bines grow on a single wire? I was going to set things up so that I had two wires per plant...is that correct?

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[BrewMehr]

The first year you can easily get away with twine. I had mine grow up 6' tall garden posts. The second year is a different story. They will pretty much grow anywhere they can including wrapping around themselves to get closer to the sun. I'd say after year two, you may want to go to wire -- especially if you are prone to get strong winds

 

[Ruint]

It's called coir....it's the most recommended twine for growing hops and using in a trellis. It's very coarse and hops readily cling to it...not that they have much difficulty in clinging to things... You can search the internet on places to buy it. Normally they are sold in Bundles of maybe 20 or 25 and will cost about a buck a piece. They are normally 20 feet long each, so it gives you more than adequate length. The first year I grew hops, I had plants that reached over 14 feet. In the picture, the rows on the right are 2 strings per plant, in what's called a "V" trellis design.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Dave has some listed on his site: http://freshops.com/shop/merchandise/accessories/

 

[Rockit]

twine works fine....my parents grew hops for 40 years as shade on the end of a 2 story house....many times hops went all the way to the crown. Never used anything but normal hardware store twine.

 

[thaymond]

I'm using baling sisal to string my bines once my 4 ply coir roll is used up. The coir for me is overkill, but I also have 4 foot sections of diagonal growth with supports, not 12 to 16 feet of vertical plant growth. I'd go with coir to be safe, but I'm sure the baling sisal will work just as well.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, this will be my sixth year using the same ~24' coir drops.
The stuff is pretty much indestructible. A couple of years I've even left them post-harvest in a heap outside, buried under snow for months...


Cheers!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Like other posters said already. I used twine. I used the natural hairy type twine and made a multi-stranded (like 4 and knotted every 6 inches) 1 for each rhizome.

I started with 2 ft wide, 1 ft deep hole, dropped a 20# bag of manure, laid a rhizome horizontal, then covered it with a 20# bag of black dirt. Then stuck a tomato cage over the top of the mound. Pounded a 6 steel corrugated fence post behind the mound. Then tied the multi strand to steel post and then ran strings from each vertical wire on each cage.

I never had to teach the bines where to grow. I had 3-5 bines per multi strand. I had 2 multi strands tied to 30' long 6" PVC post. Them damn things grew 30' feet. Nearly three stories on the side of my 2 story house with a walk-out basement. Never broke any twine strands.

Grew Nugget & Cascade.

This pole broke from the weight but the twine did not.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Tomato Cage helps start the bine training

People told me I have a hop boner...

I used rope to bend the PVC for picking...

 

[Schlenkerla]

Monster Hops

My hop oast - Old dresser, see me link below

Copious Dry Hopping Indulgence - 4 oz

 

[Schlenkerla]

Last bit of inspiration....

Triple Hopped Miller Light Clone Getting Dry Hopped!!!

Lupilin Fingers... don't pick your nose.. you'll smell Cascade for a week. LOL

Hop Umbrella

Triple Hopped Miller Light was all the rage in 2009's March Madness Beer Commercials. Mine was way friggin' better!

 

[Schlenkerla]

FWIW - I once put an extra ounce of cascade hops in my pillow case so I'd dream of Cali-Common while I slept!

:fro:

 

[newtobrew1981]

Don't use twine it's not strong enough, the sun will rot it. For my first year hops I used 1/4 sisal rope. You want something fibrous. Wire is no good. Two bines per line is all I would use. My first year hops grew 20 plus feet. The picture is 1 month and a half of growing.

View attachment 1491299819263.jpg

 

[Hayden Oldham]

I know this post is old but... twine works great as does coir and wire, for first year plants put upto 4 bines per twine with two twines per plant after this 3 bines is a good number.

 

[bracconiere]

FWIW - I once put an extra ounce of cascade hops in my pillow case so I'd dream of Cali-Common while I slept!

:fro:

damn it, i know this thread is old too...but dito, i think i might have even done it with some tobacco i had curing!

edit: and i think i once put my pillow cases in the smoker too! (toxic masculinity at it's best!)

 

[CodeSection]

fwiw, this will be my sixth year using the same ~24' coir drops.
The stuff is pretty much indestructible. A couple of years I've even left them post-harvest in a heap outside, buried under snow for months...
View attachment 394971

Cheers!

You are reusing the coir year after year? If so, what happens to the dead bines that were wrapped around it? Isn't it difficult to remove the bines?

Btw, I like the lush green yard! Quite a difference when compared to the desert!

 

[CodeSection]

Tomato Cage helps start the bine training

People told me I have a hop boner...

I used rope to bend the PVC for picking...

Here I thought the pictures showed ED....

 

[Beerisgud]

Has anyone used wire then wrapped with a fibrous twine up the wire with success? I have some pretty good wind blow through my back yard and I was wondering if this is a good solution

 

[myndflyte]

Has anyone used wire then wrapped with a fibrous twine up the wire with success? I have some pretty good wind blow through my back yard and I was wondering if this is a good solution

I don't see why that wouldn't work. Why not just use the twine? Is the wire just for more support? Last year I just used fishing line and the hops clung on just fine.

 

[Beerisgud]

It’s like a wind tunnel back here. We have a huge open field across the street. I have both 1/4” sisal and regular thinner baling sisal. I planned on using the thin stuff to reach the first 9’ vertical stretch to a horizontal support wire between my posts then, from there, diagonally attach lines of the 1/4” sisal to the roof of my garage for more strength where the majority of the weight will be. I’ve heard of the thin stuff snapping in storms. I figured the possibility of ditching the 1/4” stuff and do reusable lengths of wire and wrap with some twine. Idk spit balling and just getting anxious to figure out my game plan, they need training soon. Then again what am I worried about they are only first year plants! Probably will just about reach the top of the posts lol. Here’s a shot of my set up a couples months ago when I planted.