Is a 10' hop pole too short?

[cincybrewer]

I bought 3 rhizomes to try this year (two Cascades, one magnum) thinking that even though hops like to grow up to 20', 10' would still suffice. After reading around I'm starting to think otherwise. Does any have experience growing hops only up to 10' in height?

I have a community garden plot which is why I want to keep it to 10', but also I'd like my pole/trellis to not be too gaudy while remaining on a budget. Anyone have any suggestions on what my best course of action would be (it's in an open area - no trees or houses to attach to)? I was originally thinking two 10' poles (or 12' to allow a couple feet in the ground) connected via a line that each hop bine would grow up towards. But after researching it appears that the hops might try to grow horizontal which would cause the hops to grow into each other.

 

[david_42]

Much too short. I have 14' poles and the hops hit the top and spread.

One approach, which I have not tried, involves using a loop/hook at the top to thread the line through. As the plants grow close to the top, you slack the line and lower the bine a bit. You repeat as necessary.

 

[solbes]

My first years went 14 feet or so. I expect them to go the ful 20 or 25 feet up to my eye hook this year.

 

[brewingmeister]

If they only have 10 ft they will climb that high and start making an owls nest at the top.

How about the 10 foot pole and then a length of horizontal? like an upside down U.

It is a fairly common for them to go to 25 ft or more.

 

[cincybrewer]

@David - not sure I understand your last sentence. How would I lower the bine if it's starting from the ground. I may be just misreading you.

@brewingmeister - I thought of the upside down U. I guess I would need 3 for 3 rhizomes.

Instead of having the hops grow directly vertically, could I just have a 20' line that is angled at 45 degrees or so that would grow up to the 10' pole?

 

[Bobby_M]

Since the second year, my hops go 20 feet and still try to go higher when they reach the top. They will reach 10' sometime in June.

 

[steadfasthops]

When I first started growing hops I used a 10 ft trellis system. I put two vertical pieces of twine two and a Half feet off the center of the crown, one on each side. and then going from the center of the crown outward zig zag two more pieces attaching them to the vertical pieces making kind of a spider web design keeping the twine at about 45 degree angles from the ground.

It's a little more labor intense because you need to train the bines to the top but it gave me over 20 ft of twine to train on. Wish I had taken pictures.

 

[brewingmeister]

Instead of having the hops grow directly vertically, could I just have a 20' line that is angled at 45 degrees or so that would grow up to the 10' pole?

I don't see why that wouldn't work but the longer you get the lines the better. If you make some runs of 20 ft they will eventually go beyond that length. Why not make something you don't have to keep rebuilding?

(edit) steadfasthops has a good idea but like he said you would have to be out there all the time training them on the lines. If you plan to be in the garden a lot it might work for you.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

cincy, david means to have enough rope to let the bine sag at the bottom, in effect, giving the plant more room to grow. Have your rope go from the ground, through an eyelet at the tip, and then back down, with plenty to spare. You'll need about 35-40 feet of rope to do it.

 

[mbobhat]

That's a great idea with the zig zag between two ropes, I'll do that on mine. That will give me four lines per hill, two plants per hill, on probably a 15 ft pole.

The probably comes from the fact that I plan on drilling down the middle of my 6 x 6 post and 8ft telephone pole, and inserting some extension poles. That way the weight can be low to the ground but also extra extension that is not permanent.

 

[bruin_ale]

You can grow them however high you like. I've got some growing up a trellace that's probably 8' tall. They grow up to the top of that and then horizontally until they fill the whole thing. Yes, I wish I could grow them 20-25' but I live in the burbs and I don't think I'm allowed to have anything over about 10' in my backyard. The rest are on posts that are 12' and they tower above the fence but at 20' I think I might get in trouble

 

[cincybrewer]

When I first started growing hops I used a 10 ft trellis system. I put two vertical pieces of twine two and a Half feet off the center of the crown, one on each side. and then going from the center of the crown outward zig zag two more pieces attaching them to the vertical pieces making kind of a spider web design keeping the twine at about 45 degree angles from the ground.

It's a little more labor intense because you need to train the bines to the top but it gave me over 20 ft of twine to train on. Wish I had taken pictures.

Interesting. I was thinking of something similar the other day: have two lines of rope spaced further apart and train the hops to go all the way around the two lines to create a longer bine but using the same amount of height. I'm not sure if this would work though.

I don't see why that wouldn't work but the longer you get the lines the better. If you make some runs of 20 ft they will eventually go beyond that length. Why not make something you don't have to keep rebuilding?

(edit) steadfasthops has a good idea but like he said you would have to be out there all the time training them on the lines. If you plan to be in the garden a lot it might work for you.

because like I said earlier, I don't think I can have a 20' trellis in the community garden. Something that will work at a 10' height is really all I can work with right now....Also, this isn't at my house but it is only a few minutes away so I guess it depends if training them is a daily chore or a weekly chore.

cincy, david means to have enough rope to let the bine sag at the bottom, in effect, giving the plant more room to grow. Have your rope go from the ground, through an eyelet at the tip, and then back down, with plenty to spare. You'll need about 35-40 feet of rope to do it.

Gotcha, that makes sense now. Thanks. I may think about that.

 

[steadfasthops]

I should mention that as the bines reach the top you should make sure that you try and keep the bines on the twine. If you have a foot or two of bine flapping in the wind over your trellis you'll get stress breakage especially on young plants. It will make the crown produce more bines late in the season which lowers you yield. It can also happen lower on the trellis if your not careful.

 

[cincybrewer]

Thanks for the heads up. I will make a note.

 

[yzrider-86]

I have about a 10.5 ft tall space to work with I was wondering if I zig zag my twine if that will work out better

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Star B Ranch here in Ramona uses 10 ft poles

 

[Yaksha808]

I use 4 8' t-posts and i do twine like this...

 

[telp]

If I use a 10 foot pole and place it about 15 feet from the hops, and grow the hops up the twine at about a 34º angle, will that work? Or is that too small an angle?

 

[JohnSand]

I use a 6' trellis. When they reach the top, I pinch or cut the bine at that height. Any further growth is lateral.