Will hops grow horizontal instead of vertical?

[brewer8700]

I have been reading a lot online about growing hops, and now I finally live in a place where they will grow. I have a 4 foot high fence around my entire back yard, and was wondering if hops will grow horizontally down my fence line. I have read they will grow up to 20 feet high, but I don't have that luxury. So if I space them out, I would love it if they would just grow up my existing fence, and then grow linearly all they way down it...any thoughts?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Yes, you can train them to grow horizontally. They won't do it naturally, you will have to hand train the bines down the fence. I grow on fences myself. It's a great way to take advantage of wasted space. You won't have much work to do the first year. But by year two or three, you'll have some training to do about every 4-7 days to keep the bines from getting too long and breaking off as they grow above the fence line. It's a little more work than growing on a trellis, but it balances out in the end since they're much easier to harvest.

 

[Fordzilla]

Edit: Nevermind what I said. Take it from the guy who's done it!

 

[GVH_Dan]

Yes, they will grow horizontal. They will grow any direction they can but the key is that they won't produce unless they get a certain desired height.

Sure, you may get a few ounces off a bine growing on your fence. Just don't expect to get several pounds.

Should you bother then? Of course you should. Grow away. If nothing else, it will improve the look of your fence. Just be careful of the number of variates you select. There is a good chance they will grow together and then you'll end up with a mixture of hops.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Yes, they will grow horizontal. They will grow any direction they can but the key is that they won't produce unless they get a certain desired height.

Sure, you may get a few ounces off a bine growing on your fence. Just don't expect to get several pounds.

Should you bother then? Of course you should. Grow away. If nothing else, it will improve the look of your fence. Just be careful of the number of variates you select. There is a good chance they will grow together and then you'll end up with a mixture of hops.

I'm afraid I have to disagree. I don't see a significant decrease in yield growing on a fence vs trellis. I grow both ways with two different varieties (cascade and centennial). My largest producer is CTZ (which is grown on fence only) and I usually get close to 4 lbs dried out of her. As long as they get plenty of sun and have plenty of room to stretch out, both vertical and horizontal growth will provide a good harvest.

 

[mtyquinn]

In my experience, horizontal is okay. You can force them to grow in that direction, however, when I switched to vertical, the bounty became prolific. That also comes with plant maturity, but I did horizontal for 4 years with limited yield. Vertical was significantly better.

 

[brewer8700]

Thanks for the advice. I dont really have the option of going vertical right now, so I think horizontal will have to do. It will put a visual barrier between my dog and the neighboors yappers, too, so maybe they'll quit barking at my dog all day I was think of growing cascade and centennial for now. How far apart would you guys suggest planting them?

 

[GVH_Dan]

To keep them from mixing together? 30 feet-ish if you don't want to do anything. at least 6 feet if you are willing to keep training them back. Once they grow up, they will start to spread out for 10 to 20 feet in either direction.

 

[pelop777]

I'd like to add that if you have dogs make sure yours (and your neighbor's) don't have access to the hops. I've read they are toxic to dogs so I fenced off my garden area to keep mine out.

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[brewer8700]

Wow, good to know. If we'd have lost our dog due to my brewing my wife would probably never let me drink beer again, let alone brew it. Thanks for the warning!

 

[pelop777]

Np. I actually need to clarify my statement. They're toxic if the dog eats them. Just didn't want to scare you too much!

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