# Hop trellis design



## heshtek (19/4/14)

I'm thinking about growing some hops this year and I've been looking at the different trellis designs people use.

Is there a reason that the trellis designs are always training the hop vines upwards?

I want to train the vines on a horizontal trellis that is closer to the ground so that i can pick them more easily but none of the trellis designs i've seen seem to do that.


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## yum beer (19/4/14)

Hops prefer to grow up but I have a mate who grows his along his ringlock fence.

I have run my own along a cross line last season as i didn't get around to getting a good set up done.
Yes it can be done, needs a little more work to keep the vine running sideways but I am not sure how it will effect yield.


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## Ducatiboy stu (19/4/14)

I trained some hops horizontaly...worked but they allways had vertical shoots coming off. 

Do some V shaped trellis, then when it comes to harvest just drop the side down. Wont worry the plant as come harvest time they need cutting back to ground level anyway


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## hoppy2B (20/4/14)

Hops will climb vertical strings unassisted, its what they do naturally. Its also a more efficient use of space to grow them vertically. Imagine a commercial hop yard if they tried to train them sideways. 

If you want a good yield and easy growing, then train them vertically. If you just want to grow them for the effect of having them draped over a pergola or something, then I suggest there are better plants you could utilize. For ease of harvest, thin bamboo poles or something similar which can be lowered to the ground, are my preferred options.


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## mr_wibble (20/4/14)

I'm going to do a triangular pyramid with 3 poles tied at the top, and 3 rhizomes on each bar.

Although they'll meet at the top, so maybe I'll have to do one variety per trellis.


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## JAM (21/4/14)

Yeah one variety per trellis, I think you are supposed to give a little space between different types of hops.. 
I train my hops each year up a rope that is tied to my balcony, very simple and easy to harvest. But I guess it all depends how much space you have etc..I live in an apartment and still manage to grow hops 
Gluck


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## mr_wibble (26/5/14)

Finally found some time to get these built. One for Hallertau, one for Goldings.

The poles are 5m long, they're fricken huge standing up, didn't seem so long on the ground.






Edit: they're 5 _paces_ long, about 5m.


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## technobabble66 (26/5/14)

Fwiw, I had my first year chinook grow vertically for about 1.5-2m then grow horizontally for 2-3m. Seemed to work perfectly, I just had to wind the growing tips back onto the strings once a week, as (as mentioned above) the new growth will reach upwards.
The bonus with this was that most of the flowers hang down a bit while the leaves sit up, so harvesting was easy for ~70% of the flowers on the horizontal sections.


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## LiquidGold (26/5/14)

Mr Wibble said:


> Finally found some time to get these built. One for Hallertau, one for Goldings.
> 
> The poles are 5m long, they're fricken huge standing up, didn't seem so long on the ground.
> 
> ...


Haha that is so similar to what I'm working on I flipped when I saw your pic.





I think mine are a bit longer so I tied them further down but am still considering cutting them shorter. They are massive! How many plants do you plan on planting for each one and are you also going to use twine/wire or just the poles?
I've got 2 Cascade and 3 Goldings still in pots from last year and although at first I had thought to make a tipi for each plant I realised since putting two up that one tipi would surely be enough for each variety.


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## mr_wibble (27/5/14)

LiquidGold said:


> Haha that is so similar to what I'm working on I flipped when I saw your pic.


I hope that's _Great Minds Thinking Alike_, and not _Fools Never Differing_... 



LiquidGold said:


> How many plants do you plan on planting for each one and are you also going to use twine/wire or just the poles?
> I've got 2 Cascade and 3 Goldings still in pots from last year and although at first I had thought to make a tipi for each plant I realised since putting two up that one tipi would surely be enough for each variety.


When I put these up on Sunday, I thought they were simply too big. After all how am I going to harvest stuff that's roughly (5 * sin(60)) => 4.3 paces in the air.

But then I took the photos yesterday, and I thought to myself - _nah it's OK._
So then this morning SWMBO comments on how huge they loomed when she was out feeding the cooks on dusk. Shit.

Anyway, at the moment there's no plan to cut them down. I'm going to plant one rizhome under the "angle" of each pole. None of the poles are attached to the ground at all, they're just sitting there. At the moment each pole is about 30kg (guess) so I don't expect it to blow over. Once it's covered in hops and catches the wind, maybe, but we're in a sheltered little nook in a valley, so I'm not concerned about it too much.

One thing is that there is a whole lot of space between each of the three poles. Maybe next year I'll make a 6-pole version, but they're very heavy to put up. Maybe I should cut the poles now for next year. At least then they'd be seasoned - there's still a bunch of saplings I'm letting grow out. Undecided at which point to harvest them.

cheers,
-kt


PS> what sort of bamboo is that?
I am on the lookout for some rizhomes of some "construction grade" clumping bamboo.


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## Pogierob (27/5/14)

I would not add poles, add string or rope like a flag pole with eyelet hooks at the top and tied off at the bottom Come harvest time you can just lower the bines to the ground and harvest. 
That way your structure doesn't have to be lowered or moved, rhyzomes can stay in the ground at the base for next year.


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## mofox1 (27/5/14)

Good idea, I'm thinking about stringing a line from the roof to the fence and running lines up to it from the ground.

Mick


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## Wilkensone (27/5/14)

mofox1 said:


> Good idea, I'm thinking about stringing a line from the roof to the fence and running lines up to it from the ground.
> 
> Mick


the brewing tv/chopnbrew had some good info about this stuff if you wanted to check it out. Can't post the links atm. 


Wilkens


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## heshtek (27/5/14)

technobabble66 said:


> Fwiw, I had my first year chinook grow vertically for about 1.5-2m then grow horizontally for 2-3m. Seemed to work perfectly, I just had to wind the growing tips back onto the strings once a week, as (as mentioned above) the new growth will reach upwards.
> The bonus with this was that most of the flowers hang down a bit while the leaves sit up, so harvesting was easy for ~70% of the flowers on the horizontal sections.


Awesome that is pretty much exactly how I was planning to run mine.


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## LiquidGold (27/5/14)

Mr Wibble said:


> I hope that's _Great Minds Thinking Alike_, and not _Fools Never Differing_...
> 
> 
> When I put these up on Sunday, I thought they were simply too big. After all how am I going to harvest stuff that's roughly (5 * sin(60)) => 4.3 paces in the air.
> ...


No idea of a species or name but I know its definately a creeper type and not clumping. I cut down 20 poles from a big wall of the stuff and couldn't tell the difference and I have been invited to go get more whenever I want. Very weedy and hard to stop from overtaking the lawn. They are not as thick stemmed as the big clumping ones I've seen and they are pretty light so I plan on tying mine to star pickets or something so they don't blow over.

I have been wondering how the plants would behave when they all reach the intersection if they were to grow up the poles and whether they would eventually keep going up the poles past the intersection. The idea with leaving the branches up top were so the hops have a kind of labyrinth to wind around when they reach terminal height. I think some are around 7 metres to the tip though so might be way overkill.




Rob.P said:


> I would not add poles, add string or rope like a flag pole with eyelet hooks at the top and tied off at the bottom Come harvest time you can just lower the bines to the ground and harvest.
> That way your structure doesn't have to be lowered or moved, rhyzomes can stay in the ground at the base for next year.


I am considering doing something like this with mine if I can find a way to attach an eyelet to a thin bamboo pole and make it strong enough. I could essentially plant in the space between and out from the legs and string them up to the pole overhanging the centre from the opposite side (hope that makes sense).

Obviously I'm still undecided about the best way to plant and string up so maybe I should do a side by side with two tipis to work out which method works better for me.

On a side note, I've heard of curing or treating bamboo using heat (propane torch or fire) which could be a way to make it more weatherproof and not have to replace as often.


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## mr_wibble (27/5/14)

LiquidGold said:


> On a side note, I've heard of curing or treating bamboo using heat (propane torch or fire) which could be a way to make it more weatherproof and not have to replace as often.


On an even sidier note (is that even a word? Is now.) ...
So, on an even sidier note, when we were kids we used to ride our bikes about 10km to hack down bamboo poles and drag them home. Luckily it was downhill on the return.

Then we'd cut them up into whole sections (one cut every two rungs), and burn them in the fire so they'd go bang.

God I miss fireworks. :huh:


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## mofox1 (1/6/14)

Wilkensone said:


> the brewing tv/chopnbrew had some good info about this stuff if you wanted to check it out. Can't post the links atm.


Great tip. Here is the link for those interested...

http://chopandbrew.com/2013/05/19/chop-brew-episode-06-growing-hops-at-home-part-1/

Mick


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## Martrix (1/6/14)

here is my setup. Top of pole is 6mtr so some of the stringlines are 6m plus. Raise and lower like a flag pole. After 2 seasons with this setup, I'm not so sure max height is what you need. I reckon 4-5m is as high as you need to go. Its all the runners that come out of the main bine is where all the cones form. You want them to really bush/fatten up before January. I've worked out that these guys are voracious feeders. This coming season I am going to step up the fertilising regime a few gears. Natural as possible of course. 1kg of dry cascade is simply not enough! All of my flowers were at a minimum height of 4-5mtrs and above WTF!


Hops Tower design

Feb video of growth


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## heshtek (4/6/14)

Martrix said:


> here is my setup. Top of pole is 6mtr so some of the stringlines are 6m plus. Raise and lower like a flag pole. After 2 seasons with this setup, I'm not so sure max height is what you need. I reckon 4-5m is as high as you need to go. Its all the runners that come out of the main bine is where all the cones form. You want them to really bush/fatten up before January. I've worked out that these guys are voracious feeders. This coming season I am going to step up the fertilising regime a few gears. Natural as possible of course. 1kg of dry cascade is simply not enough! All of my flowers were at a minimum height of 4-5mtrs and above WTF!
> 
> 
> Hops Tower design
> ...


That sir is bloody impressive to say the least. Such a mighty mighty tower of hops.


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## fattox (17/6/14)

For those interested, slightly off topic but I've been using worm farm runoff for my chillies to... painfully good results. Chocolate brain strains coming in well over the 1.5m mark (est) 

Maybe an idea for amping up the fertilising? Some places will sell it by the litre


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## LiquidGold (17/6/14)

Good to hear the worm juice is working for ya as I grow chillies also and am about to setup a small worm farm. Have you used it on hops as well?


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## Beertard (17/6/14)

What would be the minimum height for a potted hops plant trellis?


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## mr_wibble (18/6/14)

Beertard said:


> What would be the minimum height for a potted hops plant trellis?


I've only grown them for a few years, but 3 metres I'd guess.

Once they get to the top they form a ball/clump that tries to go off in all directions.

Of course you may not get that sort of vigorous growth in the first year.


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## mr_wibble (18/6/14)

fattox said:


> For those interested, slightly off topic but I've been using worm farm runoff for my chillies to... painfully good results. Chocolate brain strains coming in well over the 1.5m mark (est)
> 
> Maybe an idea for amping up the fertilising? Some places will sell it by the litre


Is that better than the (dead)carp-based fertilisers ?

My son had a worm farm, but I think the worms are all gone.

cheers,
-kt


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## Trevandjo (26/6/14)

I've got 7 rhizomes planted in a row 1m apart (2m between different species) and am planning on running a line between 2 flag poles with string lines above each plant. 

Does this sound ridiculous? What diameter string lines should I use? I was thinking of using sisal but not sure if it would last the season. 

Anyway, I welcome feedback on my plan. 

Thanks,

Trev


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## LiquidGold (26/6/14)

Sounds like a good setup. How tall are your flag poles and how many string lines per plant? I imagine the line between the poles would have to be something that doesn't slacken with time like a clothes line or something.

I've just purchased some 3mm jute rope in bulk at what I thought to be a reasonable price. Hoping to have some leftover for next year so I can simply bring the lot down and throw it on the compost no hassles. If it turns out to be super hardy though I might consider re-using it the following year. The sisal I used last year still feels pretty strong but since I'm doing a completely new and different setup I wanted to start fresh.


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## Trevandjo (26/6/14)

I haven't got the poles yet but they will be 5.4m above ground which may be a bit on the short side. 

I was planning to run plastic coated galv clothes line between poles with final tension taken by the flag pole ropes. 

Also I assumed that I'd only need 1 string per plant. How many would you recommend? And how far apart?


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## mr_wibble (26/6/14)

Trevandjo said:


> I haven't got the poles yet but they will be 5.4m above ground which may be a bit on the short side.
> 
> I was planning to run plastic coated galv clothes line between poles with final tension taken by the flag pole ropes.
> 
> Also I assumed that I'd only need 1 string per plant. How many would you recommend? And how far apart?


When it's 5 metres up in the air, it will look to be on the long side 

Obviously it depends on the plant, but I reckon at least 3 per plant would be a start.
You can train more than one vine up a string. 

I think I got about 5 vines out of a Perle hop once. Grew like buggery on the first year, then never again.


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## Trevandjo (26/6/14)

Thanks for the advice. 

Now to get some flag poles made and work out how to mount them.


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## Beertard (27/6/14)

Made up a wee pot for some hops, 300litre tank cut down to 200litres, solid brace bolted to the steel frame to support the upright but i used what I had @180cm, unsure how to get a 3meter length of timber for the upright home from bloodyswearhouse in the hyundai?
Will have 80cms, if thats enough? between two plants or one that goes up then down the other side?


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