Trellis Designs?

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most people here are making a mountain out of a mole hill. hops have grown and will as long as there is sunlight and water.
i just got a roll of 99 cent jute and strung it up to the attic window sill, the front of the house is south west facing ( im in Massachusetts)
planted the hops in big azz planters and off they went..cost me $19 took all of 1/2 hr.
 
This what my hop set-up looked like until I had a neighbor snowplow my rhizomes and knock the post down. :(

Three years ago. All it needed was a few chairs and a jockey box....

Boozin_Susan_Hops_013.jpg

​

Right now. I still get a good supply of hops...

2009_Hops_-_June_001.jpg
 
I'm about to start work on a hop trellis system and stumbled across this thread. I was pretty much set on building a conventional T trellis about 15 feet high out of 4x4's, but then I saw the design by Boerderij and now I'm considering actually building this. It probably won't be much to look at for the first year hops, but it'd be an excellent addition to the yard. If you catch this thread did you ever get around to building it?
 
brokenanchor said:
I'm about to start work on a hop trellis system and stumbled across this thread. I was pretty much set on building a conventional T trellis about 15 feet high out of 4x4's, but then I saw the design by Boerderij and now I'm considering actually building this. It probably won't be much to look at for the first year hops, but it'd be an excellent addition to the yard. If you catch this thread did you ever get around to building it?
Click to expand...

It is still in the plans. My wife has approved the project, but to be honest hops are not real high on our priority list. We are renovating our house and have a ton of projects going on that demand my time. Not to mention that I am not done rebuilding my brewery... etc, etc, etc

Rest assured, I will update here once it is done.
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
Grave digging.....

hop_trellis.png
Click to expand...


I love the "Hop Gazebo" design, but it may limit you a bit on how many varieties you can grow as the tips will get all jumbled up if they grow that far in your area. It will also take more training work to go on an angle. I have found them to be pretty "self-winding" once they are up 5 or 6 feet.
 
Yeah the varieties may get jumbled at the top. Honestly, if it gets confusing I will just cut those parts off, and harvest them as a proprietary blend :D

The design is actually pretty close to a traditional trellis design. Many farms used to use a teepee trellis. All I have done is added some vertical height to make the space more usable.

Cross your fingers that I can find out how it works this spring. It is only going to cost about $200-300 to build, but that can be tough to come by...
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
Yeah the varieties may get jumbled at the top. Honestly, if it gets confusing I will just cut those parts off, and harvest them as a proprietary blend :D

The design is actually pretty close to a traditional trellis design. Many farms used to use a teepee trellis. All I have done is added some vertical height to make the space more usable.

Cross your fingers that I can find out how it works this spring. It is only going to cost about $200-300 to build, but that can be tough to come by...
Click to expand...

Post hole digger rental might be the biggest cost. Posts at the bottom don't actually have to bear much weight or lateral load. Center post and the post hole digger gonna be most costly unless you use galvanized rope for the stringers.

What were you planning to use for the center pole?
 
Randar said:
Post hole digger rental might be the biggest cost. Posts at the bottom don't actually have to bear much weight or lateral load. Center post and the post hole digger gonna be most costly unless you use galvanized rope for the stringers.

What were you planning to use for the center pole?
Click to expand...

You are right. I already have power post-hole digger though, so that is "free".

I am going to use a felled white oak stripped of bark for the center pole. It is handy living by a large forest.

The cost is in the posts, hardware, and cement.

Total needs for Hop Trellis
CODE Qty.___Item________________Cost/unit___Total
T001 44_____Eye hooks___________$2.00______$88.00
T002 11_____Landscape timbers____$4.00______$44.00
T003 11_____Hop Rhizomes________$5.00______$55.00
T004 02_____Bundles of Coir Yarn___$6.00______$12.00

SUB-TOTAL $199.00
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
Total needs for Hop Trellis
CODE Qty.___Item________________Cost/unit___Total
T001 44_____Eye hooks___________$2.00______$88.00
T002 11_____Landscape timbers____$4.00______$44.00
T003 11_____Hop Rhizomes________$5.00______$55.00
T004 02_____Bundles of Coir Yarn___$6.00______$12.00

SUB-TOTAL $199.00
Click to expand...

44 eye hooks? Why so many? You could get effective pulley systems for that much money! You have 11 posts and a center pole (where you could go 2-3 ropes per eyelet). I could see 15 at most eye bolts needed. Where do the rest go?


Also, you don't need cement if you can get down 4 feet in your area, even for the big pole. You ever see them use cement on a telephone pole? I haven't.

Oh, and put 2 rhizomes per mound/pole if you're going with the cheap $5 ones from the HBS's... Those things have a high "DOA" rate.

Looks great though and I am sure my wife would have preferred something functional like that to the current trellis system.
 
Each hop bine gets:

1 eyelet cemented in the ground
1 eyelet at the top of the post
1 eyelet at the top of the center pole
1 eyelet at 6' above grade on the center pole

4 eyelets x 11 bines = 44 eyelets.

With this design, when I want to harvest, my plan is to untie the wires at the 6' eyelet on the center pole. The wires should then drop, allowing the plants to fall to the ground.

Cement is cheap and I have always used it. I know I don't have to though, so maybe I could cut it out this time to save a few bucks.
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
Each hop bine gets:

1 eyelet cemented in the ground
1 eyelet at the top of the post
1 eyelet at the top of the center pole
1 eyelet at 6' above grade on the center pole

4 eyelets x 11 bines = 44 eyelets.

With this design, when I want to harvest, my plan is to untie the wires at the 6' eyelet on the center pole. The wires should then drop, allowing the plants to fall to the ground.

Cement is cheap and I have always used it. I know I don't have to though, so maybe I could cut it out this time to save a few bucks.
Click to expand...



What is the eyelet cemented in the ground for? Your bines will come up in an array of orientations and in a circular area that is hard to predict. Just stake them in each year as needed with a small pc of rebar or a tent stake.

If that 15 ft pole starts to list a little or get off-plumb, you can simply push it back into place during the first year or 2 of settling. If you cement it in place and it settles out of plumb, good luck!

I see what you are trying to do with the eyelets, but you could tie the rope ends to clips and just clip them in place at the top. Either way you will still need a ladder to thread it through the top eye bolts, so it's not like you are really saving yourself from having to service the ropes at the top of the pole and you'll have 11 extra eye bolts and ropes hanging down the center pole which may be unsightly or a PITA to keep people/kids from messing with.
 
In my research I found that people didn't think the bines would climb a post very well. The eylets cemented int he ground can be seen in the sketchup model. Basically, the bines grow up the wires all the way to the top, the posts are just there for structure. I will definitely consider your idea about cutting out the lower eyelets on the center pole.

Maybe a pulley system would be worth it.... I will have to price it out. It would be really nice not to need a ladder.
 
Boerderij_Kabouter said:
In my research I found that people didn't think the bines would climb a post very well. The eylets cemented int he ground can be seen in the sketchup model. Basically, the bines grow up the wires all the way to the top, the posts are just there for structure. I will definitely consider your idea about cutting out the lower eyelets on the center pole.

Maybe a pulley system would be worth it.... I will have to price it out. It would be really nice not to need a ladder.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I can comfortably reach my 13 ft lines with my ladder, but the next size up would be required to reach a 15 ft peak. Keep in mind that the choir ropes are usually about 20 ft long. This means you can't really string them from ground, up to the peak, and then down to a point reachable by ground, let alone have enough extra to let them down without having to let them all the way out. This means you'll either have to source continuous roll of choir or use some other material.

And the hops won't really grow on the pole itself, you're right. I just meant that if you put those eyebolts in the ground, Murphy's law states your bines will start popping up 2 ft away. Better to be able to move the staked in part of the rop to get them started toward the top of each post and then up from there.

Now, if you had a pulley for each 2 or 3 ropes, you could tie them into a clip or ring just before the pulley and have a single rope down to a cleat for that "pair" or set of ropes. Reduces the number of longer down-ropes required, keeps you from having to find 30 or 40' long choir ropes (down rope could be made of something other than choir), and still lets you go ladder-less once you have it up.

Just some ideas. Use as you see fit, of course!
 
This is what I did.

trellis.JPG






I have two lag bolts in the middle, so I can undo one, and pivot the whole thing to get to the top.

Also I made each rope / twine really long and tied off all the excess in the back so I can let just the rope/twine down if I want/need to get to some part of the vine.
 
What would you guys recommend for planting on "public" land? I am surrounded by cemeteries and in the rear of one of them there is a large wooded area where no one but the local kids go. I decided today to plant a few rhizomes this year and see how it goes. I was thinking about just using twine to let them grow up trees.
 
Airborneguy said:
What would you guys recommend for planting on "public" land? I am surrounded by cemeteries and in the rear of one of them there is a large wooded area where no one but the local kids go. I decided today to plant a few rhizomes this year and see how it goes. I was thinking about just using twine to let them grow up trees.
Click to expand...
Good luck.
 
Airborneguy said:
What would you guys recommend for planting on "public" land? I am surrounded by cemeteries and in the rear of one of them there is a large wooded area where no one but the local kids go. I decided today to plant a few rhizomes this year and see how it goes. I was thinking about just using twine to let them grow up trees.
Click to expand...

My first thoughts are:

1. if it is "public" anyone can harvest them if you're not careful

2. When you are planting them, be careful. Someone may think you are planting something else.

3. With that many trees, you may have problems. The bine will grow up the twine and then jump to the tree. It will keep growing up and have barely any cones. The ones it has will be several feet up.
 
Seabee John said:
My addition from last year.... 3 cascade crowns

cascade0021.JPG


by june 15th they were doing really well (below) by august they had completely filled out and were full of cones...

cascade0030.jpg
Click to expand...


LOOKS PERFECT for my 3 Rhizomes I just ordered!
I live in a 1 story house much like that.
Did you buy those 3 trellis' or did you build them?
If purchased... where? how much?
If you built do you have a materials list/cost?

I'm also toying with a W shaped twine trellis mounted to PVC pipe T at bottom and eye hooks to roof line...

THANKS!:mug:
 
Long time reader, first time poster. So, ya, I have decided that hops would make a nice addition to the back yard, but I just can't figure out how I want to support them. I have good horizontal space, but whatever I settle on can't be too 3 dimensional.

I've drawn this plan up for 4" PVC based on other things I've seen online. I've also made it so that the vertical posts slip in a sleeve attached to a concrete-filled bucket buried in the ground. That way, I can dismantle it and even replace the main structure with wood later on down the road.

Anywho, was looking for thoughts and feedback. Lemme know if you have any ideas. I love all the designs I've seen on here so far. You all are really rather clever.

Hop-Trellis.jpg
 
starrfish said:
LOOKS PERFECT for my 3 Rhizomes I just ordered!
I live in a 1 story house much like that.
Did you buy those 3 trellis' or did you build them?
If purchased... where? how much?
If you built do you have a materials list/cost?

I'm also toying with a W shaped twine trellis mounted to PVC pipe T at bottom and eye hooks to roof line...

THANKS!:mug:
Click to expand...

I made them. Here's the materials list and how I did it:

4 ea. 1" X 4" X 16' Treated
1/4 Dia step dowels (can use regular)
Gorilla Glue

4 ea. 1/4 X 6 galv. lag bolts
1/2" Pipe - 4 pcs 3 to 4 inches in length each. (for use with bolts as spacers to keep the trellis secured to the building)

Process: rip all 1 x 4's to get max width and 4 lengths (it ends up being close to 5/8" X 3/4" X 16')

Set rips in 3 groups of 4 (for three trellises) Use remaining rips to make the cross sections, and to replace the rips you broke while cutting them - they get fragile till they are glued up)

Glue and dowel the bottom 24 inches of the rips (this section will end up buried)

determine the placement and with of cross sections, glue and dowel the joints.

to attach to the facia, use two bolts and two pipe spacers per each of the two outside trellis', then screw the middle trellis to the outside two.

Hope it helps
 
ekasbury said:
Hop-Trellis.jpg
Click to expand...

Alright, well I was going to do something like this, but when I decided to actually read about the growing aspect of hops, I learned that different varieties need to be planted 5-7 ft apart. So I won't be able to plant as I've sketched. The other designs similar to this that I've seen had the rhizomes planted in front of each post, not to the side. But I fear my space is too narrow to do that. I really need to find an in-line solution. I'll keep thinking on it. Lemme know if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks!

Actually, PS, below is a sketch of the yard space I'm working with:
back yard.jpg
 
I have seen lots of people talk about a pulley system...however i went with a bolted setup where I concreted in 8 ft landscape timbers about 2 ft in the ground...to which...I used 1/2" galvanized carriage bolts (2 per post) and bolted a 16' 4x4 to the landscape timber.

24213_382746021058_734761058_4319538_605194_n.jpg


24213_382746026058_734761058_4319539_8165075_n.jpg


At the top of each 4x4 I used eyebolts (1 on each side, 2 per pole) for the main line connection and the anchor connection.

24213_382746041058_734761058_4319542_6438305_n.jpg

The above photo is from last years testing and this year I swithced out the screw type eyebolts with bolted ones. So you would need to drill some holes. I use 3/8" steel cable for the main line and the anchor lines.

At the moment I am using temporary anchors to get placement set correctly, but the plan is to use stainless poles from an old trampoline set. Ill cut them into 2ft sections and drill holes in the top and bottom of each pole. In the bottom hole ill place a long bolt with about 2.5" sticking out on either side and concrete it into the ground. The top hole will have a small eyebolt bolted in to attach the anchor line.

The anchor line connects to a tension adjuster which then connects to the anchor.

24213_382746036058_734761058_4319541_7671119_n.jpg

Once harvest time comes along - all you have to do is unbolt the top bolt and release the anchor line and the 16' post will simply lower to wherever you need it to. Once you are done harvesting...right back up it goes. No ladder needed.

Also note that youll need to set the poles so that they will drop inward towards each other.

24213_382746006058_734761058_4319536_548055_n.jpg


Cheers
 
I have an existing vegtable garden. Its about 25 ft wide. If i want to grow this horizontally, how high off the ground should they be? I was thinking of putting 4x4s in the ground, about 2 feet high. Put eye hooks at the top of the 4x4s and run rope all the way across the garden and have one plant per post. Sound like a good idea?

Ascii picture example

hopgarden.jpg
 
Kabouter, I plan on building a hop gazebo/teepee/pavilion similar to your design. Is there any insight you'd like to bestow, e.g., tips, suggestions, books, etc?
 
Well, thanks anyway. :)
I'm planning on building it very soon... just so I have as much done as possible to avoid any time-crunches in spring. If you could please upload into 3Dwarehouse the google sketchup in post #72.
 
My trellis system was limited to materials on hand, but chain link fencing top rails worked out very nicely. The rails nest/slide inside each other about six inches, and are typically 10 feet long. I drove the bases about three feet into the earth, and cut off the top after driving so that the next rail would slide into the base. I only used two this year as I only had two plants. One was 10 feet off the ground and one was about 14 feet off the ground. The bases were very similar to what Ekasbury was proposing, except simply driven into the ground without the concrete. Ground staked twine was tied in at the top. Harvest at the end of the year simply consisted of unseating the rail by lifting it up, and laying the whole thing, twine, bines, and rails, on the ground for harvest. After I harvested the hops, I reseated the rails and let the bines stay till after they were killed off by the first frost. Got all those nutrients back into the roots. Next year is simply a matter of reseating the rails and tieing in new twine. If I had to buy the rails, my costs would have run about $15 per trellis. For what in effect were first year plants, I did ok. Nothing came down and the harvest ended up at a little over half a pound per plant.

HopsSept2010001.jpg

That is a view of the top of the two trellis systems. The 10 footer is Cascades and a lot more bushy. The 14 footer is Glacier and not nearly as leafy, but actually produced more hops by dry weight. Go figure.
 
This thread was pretty interesting and full of great ideas.

I think I'm going to install and eyebolt into the eaves of my house and tie some twine to it. Easy peasy.
 
I went ahead and installed an eyebolt into the eaves, planted a hefty stake, tied the twine to either end, and my hops bine is about a foot or more off the ground.

My first time growing hops. Pretty fun. I was told to 'train' the bine around the string, so once it was just tall enough to reach the string I basically just put it on the left side of it, figuring I'd help it along as it grew. I left it alone for two days, checked on it, and it was climbing the right way all by itself. Now I just make sure it's watered and snip any other shoots that pop up.
 

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