Which shoot to prune?

[mccoconnor]

So my crown has finally taken off after 3 years. There are more shoots this year than the past 3 combined. Which do I prune and how many to leave behind. I've read to prune all but 2 or 3 shoots to go up the twine. What do you hop growers do in the spring?

 

[TheCADJockey]

I don't prune any, unless it gets too unruly or some look significantly weaker, or smaller than others. Last year my plant was 2 years old and we had a huge harvest. Today, it looks just like yours does now but with twice the shoots. It looks good man. I'm just saying, you might not have to worry about it... until someone tells you otherwise.

What type of hops?

 

[day_trippr]

- I first cut off any bines that appear to have woody stems, usually the tallest ones.
- Then I cut off all the little sprouts.
- From what's left, I pick the four with the closest node spacing, train those and chop off the rest.

Cheers!

 

[mccoconnor]

Cascade.
My first 3 years were embarrassing. No hops for 2 yrs. My hop was a bonsai. Literally about 2 ft. tall with mini leaves. Last year it showed life and grew about 10' tall and produced cones. This year looks much better.
What to you train them up? If you have twice as many shoots ... it must be a huge shrub by mid summer.

 

[TheCADJockey]

Cascade.
My first 3 years were embarrassing. No hops for 2 yrs. My hop was a bonsai. Literally about 2 ft. tall with mini leaves. Last year it showed life and grew about 10' tall and produced cones. This year looks much better.
What to you train them up? If you have twice as many shoots ... it must be a huge shrub by mid summer.

It is not the prettiest thing, but I have a 25' tall pole. Only the strongest make it to the top. There is a 6' long fence beneath it that it grows across which turns into the bush part. It wasn't pretty, but it still had a pretty great harvest for one plant.

 

[beernutz]

It is not the prettiest thing, but I have a 25' tall pole. Only the strongest make it to the top. There is a 6' long fence beneath it that it grows across which turns into the bush part. It wasn't pretty, but it still had a pretty great harvest for one plant.

How do you harvest with a 25' pole?

 

[TheCADJockey]

How do you harvest with a 25' pole?

Well, due to poor planning.. we just cut them down. Although we have since replaced it with a looped system that we can just untie from the bottom this year and let it drop down. I said it wasn't pretty :cross:

 

[ryanryates]

I know it's painful to do - but I cut all of my first shoots. Two reasons, 1) decrease risk of downy mildew and 2) second shoots will produce more cones. I know there is much debate on hop growing practices but a quick search through the forum will provide many resources from other growers.

I have five varieties in production and trimmed the first shoots back 2-3 weeks ago. My second growth bines are now trained on the trellis and some over 4 feet tall.

Good luck.

 

[jleiii]

Cascade.
My first 3 years were embarrassing. No hops for 2 yrs. My hop was a bonsai. Literally about 2 ft. tall with mini leaves. Last year it showed life and grew about 10' tall and produced cones. This year looks much better.
What to you train them up? If you have twice as many shoots ... it must be a huge shrub by mid summer.

I have a Mt Hood that's looking like Bonsai too. Planted mid summer last year to replace the one that did not make it and it got to about 4' with no cones last year. This year it's about 8" tall and the rest are 3-4 feet now.

I trimmed all the big woody looking shoots (tallest too), trained the rest to go up the trellis (7 strands) but it seems like any that started the growth spurt stopped sending out shoots, so a few have only 4-5 bines growing.

In total I have 10, 4 @ 3 yrs, 5 @ 2 yrs (only got cones on 4), and the Mt Hood straggler @ 1+ yr. The 4 oldest were moved to a new location when I added the 6 more, but still produced fairly well.

 

[beernutz]

Well, do to poor planning.. we just cut them down. Although we have since replaced it with a looped system that we can just untie from the bottom this year and let it drop down. I said it wasn't pretty :cross:

Thanks, I was curious how you managed the harvest. I'm a first year grower and I created a "flagpole" type teepee setup which allows me to raise and lower my bines but the height is only 15' tall. It will be interesting when I try to harvest to see whether it works like I planned or not.