What's the deal with bull bines?

[autonomist3k]

I have 6 different varieties of hops in their 2nd year and I'm not sure how to identify the bull bines to cut back.
Here are some pics of my first shoots, first one is cascade, second one is centennial. Are any of them bull bines? or should I just let all growth go for a month or so and cut it all back?

 

[TriggerHappy]

I don't know about bull bines. I just kinda let 'em go for a little and take the biggest to wrap around my twine and trim back the littles. They seem to do all right. My one friend just lets them all grow over his arbor and he has tons of hops. Makes picking a little more challenging, just got to recognise where one plant starts and another ends.

 

[day_trippr]

This will be the sixth season for my hops, and since the second spring I took the simplest approach to bulls: let everything that sprouts grow 'til they're at least six inches tall, then mow 'em all down, start over, and pick the best two to four of the second batch.

I've yet to have a bull get through that...

Cheers!

 

[nagmay]

... take the biggest to wrap around my twine and trim back the littles. They seem to do all right.

I'm sure they do fine, but that is actually the opposite of what you want to do. The first, large bines that sprout are the bulls. In the wild (where there is nobody trimming) these would shoot up and create a natural trellis for the smaller bines to climb.

There are two problem with bulls:

1. The large bines tend to be hollow and will more easily snap later in the season.
2. They have a longer internode spacing. Less nodes means less sidearms means less hop cones!

Now, consider that not all varieties and conditions will produce bulls. However, given 2 plants of the same type - one with 3 bull bines, the other with 3 smaller bines - the smaller one will actually yield more cones.

Chopping em all back is how the professional growers do it. Your mileage may vary.

 

[autonomist3k]

This will be the sixth season for my hops, and since the second spring I took the simplest approach to bulls: let everything that sprouts grow 'til they're at least six inches tall, then mow 'em all down, start over, and pick the best two to four of the second batch.

I've yet to have a bull get through that...

Cheers!

This is what I've been thinking about doing, although I'm not sure if a certain time of the year is better or not, and some of mine are taking off fast and others have just a couple buds poking out of the dirt, should I just wait until they all have growth and cut them all back?

 

[day_trippr]

Allowing for differences between strains - and locations (sunnier spots will do better, earlier) - I try to let the "first wave" of shoots get a half foot tall, then take them all down to grade. The next wave will be even higher count (this gets ridiculous around Year 4) and shears come in handy to take down all but the Chosen Ones.

But robust crowns won't give up easily. While you're husbanding those Chosen Bines, the crowns will continue to send up shoots - and will also send out runners under the mulch bed, often reaching a meter or more away, before sending shoots up there.

It's usually the end of May here before the plants finally give up with the small stuff and really get into growing the selected bines. By mid-June, those bines will be 20-something feet tall...

Cheers!

 

[thaymond]

Allowing for differences between strains - and locations (sunnier spots will do better, earlier) - I try to let the "first wave" of shoots get a half foot tall, then take them all down to grade. The next wave will be even higher count (this gets ridiculous around Year 4) and shears come in handy to take down all but the Chosen Ones.

But robust crowns won't give up easily. While you're husbanding those Chosen Bines, the crowns will continue to send up shoots - and will also send out runners under the mulch bed, often reaching a meter or more away, before sending shoots up there.

It's usually the end of May here before the plants finally give up with the small stuff and really get into growing the selected bines. By mid-June, those bines will be 20-something feet tall...

Cheers!

What trip said. Let em grow for a while, hack everything down to the crown. Let it grow back and take your strongest bines to get them to climb. Cut all the other nonsense back as much as you can so all energy can go to those bines. Before long, they're 20+ feet and sending out sidearms and cones.

I didn't hack everything back on any first year plants, though. First year plants are left alone to help develop root systems. After year one, get out the shears, it's pruning time!

 

[TriggerHappy]

I'm sure they do fine, but that is actually the opposite of what you want to do. The first, large bines that sprout are the bulls. In the wild (where there is nobody trimming) these would shoot up and create a natural trellis for the smaller bines to climb.

There are two problem with bulls:

1. The large bines tend to be hollow and will more easily snap later in the season.
2. They have a longer internode spacing. Less nodes means less sidearms means less hop cones!

Now, consider that not all varieties and conditions will produce bulls. However, given 2 plants of the same type - one with 3 bull bines, the other with 3 smaller bines - the smaller one will actually yield more cones.

Chopping em all back is how the professional growers do it. Your mileage may vary.

Wow, That is some great info, I have had issues with late season snappage. Thank you for the great info.