Hop maintenance

[dstar26t]

I originally planted 5 different rhizomes in the spring of '09. Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Hallertau & Willamette. They were planted in a row in that order, about 4 ft from each other. The Hallertau and Willamette never produced a significant amount of cones. The other 3 produce a crap load and the side arms kinda grow into each other. I removed the Hallertau and Willamette this past weekend and transplanted the Centennial so now I can concentrate on the 3 good producers, they are spaced much better too. Man that was some tough work. The roots went very deep. Had to dig 2'+ deep.

pic from 2010


Removing Hallertau crown:



Centennial crown getting transplanted:


New layout:


All 3 plants had grown up to the rain gutter already due to the unseasonable warm weather we've been having. I cut them back to nothing so the timing for cone formation will be better.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

HOLY MASSIVE CROWN, BATMAN!

But seriously, looks awesome. Good luck!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I did the same thing. My bines were more than half way up my trellis when I came back from fishing mid April. They climbed up last years bines (which I'm always lazy about removing). I cut them back to the ground and now they are about ready to be trained again. I need to get my trellis in order here within the next couple days.

 

[Randar]

I have read this "roots go very deep thing" a bunch but hell if I have ever seen it in the heavy clay soils I have. I have confirmed it with others with similar soil types. Heck, I have even read Willamette Valley growers talking about 3' deep root system and I just chuckle.

I believe they will go as deep as they need to in order to get consistent moisture. In well-draining soils (sandy or light volcanic soils), this will obviously be deeper than in heavy clay that retains moisture very well.

When I dug my 3 yo crowns last spring and trimmed them and re-spaced my hopyard, I never saw anything deeper than 1 ft or maybe 18" directly below the crown and the majority of water/nutrient-seeking roots radiated outward from the crown as opposed to down.

YMMV, obviously, depending on soil type.