So this is what I’ve got, next steps

[Saboral]

So I transplanted my hops two years ago and he last two years I’ve had about one to four poorly yielding bines that managed to climb. So here you can see they’ve surfaced for 2018. I want to improve their climbing and yield but I need to know where to go from here. I’m thinking about trimming them back to just one or two individual vines every 4 feet and then giving them some jute to climb hanging from the trellis above.

Is that the correct way to handle them at this point? Any other suggestions like fertilizer?

Also I’m aware I need to weed.

 

[bpgreen]

How many crowns do you have and how close are they?

Hops of the same variety can be planted 3-4 get apart, but different varieties should be at least 5 feet apart.

I trim back all but 2 or 3 bines per crown. If you have more than that, they'll be too crowded and won't get enough sun.

They grow fast and need a fair amount of nitrogen to do well. If your soil is deficient in other nutrients, a balanced fertilizer is a god choice, but my soil has plenty of potassium and phosphorous, so I use either urea or ammonium sulfate. These are fast acting, so I have to be careful not to use enough to cause burning.

You can start to fertilize any time after the bines have leaves (If you fertilize before that, the nitrogen will leach out before it is used). Fertilize once a month in spring and early summer. Stop fertilizing when it's close to the time they'll start to flower. Nitrogen produces growth but suppresses flower production. Mild slow release fertilizers can be used all year. I've used coffee grounds and spent grain in the past, but I've cut back on my coffee drinking and the spent grain sometimes attracted animals, so I've stopped doing that.

 

[Apimyces]

Looks like they got a lot of weed pressure. Dealing with the weeds could most likely help with yields.

 

[Saboral]

Ok so this weekend I'm going to work on the weeds and get some fertilizer on them. I'm thinking about using some weed fabric cut around the remaining bines to choke out the weeds. I have johnson grass real bad in that area, I pulled a lot of it too death last year by keeping up with it, but its the worst. As far as crowns there are four of them each about 4 feet apart and they are all Cascade.

 

[bpgreen]

Keep two to three bines per crown. To be honest, three is pushing it. Maybe try two with two and two with three and see which works better.

 

[Saboral]

One more question on that topic. Any particular way to trim or cut the bines for the best health of the plant?

 

[Saboral]

Well I did a tiny bit of trimming today. More to come.