Lettig hops grow at an angle

[famouslastworts]

Hi there,

about two weeks ago i had a little time on my hands and build this here. Unfortunately i didn't do a lot of reading beforehand. I couldn't go any higher than 3m, but still wanted to grow 4 different kind of hops (Hallertauer, Spalter, Tettnanger, Saaz). Do you think this construction will suffice to grow hops for like eight 5 gallon batches per year? Will the slight angle be a problem or will the hops find its way? Of course i could train them manually but propably only once a week.

After my plants arrived and i knew what the leafes really look like, i found two spots where wild hops are already growing. In one spot just 200 m away the plants are 100% female according to the neighbor. Another one further away im not sure about but i guess i could still dig out the rizome. From your experience, at what distance wild male hops are problematic?

 

[Kent88]

Hi there,

about two weeks ago i had a little time on my hands and build this here. Unfortunately i didn't do a lot of reading beforehand. I couldn't go any higher than 3m, but still wanted to grow 4 different kind of hops ... Do you think this construction will suffice to grow hops for like eight 5 gallon batches per year? Will the slight angle be a problem or will the hops find its way? Of course i could train them manually but propably only once a week.

I don't know which way north/south is or what hemisphere you are in, but in my not remotely professional opinion, this should be fine.

As far as yield and whether it's enough for you to brew a certain amount of beer using them, that is really a question that you will have to figure out for yourself. I've been growing hallertau for a few years now, and I get a terrible yield compared to the nugget that grows just a couple feet away from it. I think I've read that Saaz doesn't like my part of the world, either.

Edit, bumped the post button to early: Your yield really depends on the varieties, your location, soil quality, and environmental stress. Whether that will be enough also depends on the recipes you make.

You'll likely have fun finding out.

 

[Kaz15]

Yep, that trellis looks totally fine to me. As kent88 mentioned, there’s no way to know how big the yield will be going into it. You won’t really know until after 3-4 seasons.

Sorry I couldn’t tell you how far male hops can send pollen. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hop plant in the wild. Lol. Which is crazy because I love hiking in the woods.

 

[Kent88]

A quick google search suggests that hops don't rely on pollinators like bees, the wind carries their pollen. I don't really know how well that works over distance, though.

You might just have to see if you find hop seeds in your boil kettle and adjust from there. I've watched videos of brewers who find seeds and don't panic, so they must not be completely detrimental to growing and using hop flowers.

 

[Beerisgud]

Keep in mind that hops want to grow up to 25ft. With the lower height they will begin to bush out sending many entangling laterals when they meet at the top. It may complicate harvest and confuse you of what is what. Next year you could add some cross bars and wires on the tops ends to separate the varieties a bit more.

 

[Saunassa]

I have to grow mine at an angle on our fence. The nuggets are 14' and 12' and the Willamette is 10' so far and they are growing about 6" a day right now.

 

[Brushwood Brewing]

Don't worry about males in the area. Seeded hops are still good for brewing. A number of references could be provided, but see below study as an example. (Thanks to a post from @Northern_Brewer from several years ago.)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1978.tb03887.x

 

[T Murph]

Very interesting trellis you have constructed. It should do well supporting your hopes. My concern is the height. Looking forward to future years growth they will intertwine and it will be difficult determining which cones are which variety. If you could establish separation at the top to keep them apart that will simplify that issue.

 

[mashpaddled]

I suspect in future years you will want to rethink having two varieties meet at the same place because they will entangle and you'll have a tough time separating them to harvest.

The height may be an issue with getting a good harvest. Hops produce cones once the bines reach a certain height so limiting their vertical growth to 3m may be an issue. Each variety is different about when it will start producing. I also grow four varieties (cascade, chinook, mt hood and sterling). The cascade starts growing cones around 1.5m, chinook and mount hood a little over 2m but the sterling barely starts throwing cones at 3m. I'm not sure about the varieties you picked but you may find after a couple years you're getting a lot of bines but little to no cones.