Hop growing: when to prune?

[Blackaddler]

My wild Fuggle is sprouting well already. How high should I let it grow before pruning the smaller bines?

Is it worth splitting off some of the smaller ones for replanting now, or should I wait a while?

[Manx Guy]

Hi, Nice one !

All my hop plants have shoots but nothing like that ! I guess being a bit further north means its not as sunny and its still cool at night...

I'd wait until the threat of frost has passed ( a few more weeks?) and then select the strongest 4 or 5 shoots... give those a month then settle on the strongest 3...

(based on advice I got from the person that supplied my hop plants)

Hope that helps!

A little plant food couldnt hurt either!



Guy

[Blackaddler]

Thanks for the info.

They started sprouting a week or two back. At the moment, they back on to a SouthEast facing wall, so get some early sun [when there is any]. It's only the last few days we've had much. With clear skies, overnight frost has just returned with a vengeance, but soon disappears.

I read in another thread about pruning back to 4 shoots, but was wondering how high to let them get. It probably doesn't matter. Maybe I'll just give it till April, and then prune out some smaller shoots and re-pot them.

[Manx Guy]

Hi, sounds like a plan...

Did you get a crop last year or was it your first year growing?

Due to a few set backs - frost, slugs, cats etc etc. i didn't get any flowers but the plant did grow quite well (for a dwarf - first gold)



Guy

[Blackaddler]

Last year was the first crop. Only small - about 100gms [25gms dried]. It might need a bigger pot this year. Not that it really matters, because I kept an eye out last summer, and found loads of wild hops growing locally. Some in hedgerows or by the river. Some in people's gardens.

I ended up picking about 12kg [3kg dried]. One large hedgerow I found [consisting of hops and pyracantha amongst other things] is reputed to be about 250 years old!

I think that there must have been a lot of hops growing around here in those days...

[Manx Guy]

Wow 3kilo's of wild hops!

Have you used them yet?
Any ideas what variety they are?
I guess you are in the right region for hop growing...



Guy

[Blackaddler]

From what I've read, most wild hops are Fuggle derivatives.

I only brew dark beers, normally. I've used them fresh/wet in a strong dark porter to very good effect.
I treat them like ordinary Fuggles once dried. I don't need a lot of bitterness in my beers, so they work well.

[Wolfy]

IMHO there are only two reasons to prune hops:
1) If you are a commercial grower and want them all to grow/flower/pick at the same time.
2) If you are home grower and you do not have enough space for all the bines.
Obviously you are not the first, but only your growing location and situation can answer the second - I'm not sure if that pot is too large, so pruning may help you keep the plant under control somewhat.

[boingy]

Main reason to prune is to force the plant to focus on producing flowers rather than bines. A plant with 3 to 4 strong bines should yield more hops than an unpruned plant.

[scuppeteer]

If you leave them until end of April, then as boingy suggests pick the strongest 3 or 4 bines and pull out the rest, if you end up with a bit of root on the ones you have pulled off stick them in another pot, otherwise discard them. Should you wish to you can continue to pull off new shoots until July to encourage stronger growth of the main bines.
Your pot size is fine, as in a real hop garden distance between hills is generally 6-8ft, and the roots do need some room to grow once established.
Don't let the soil dry out too much in the pot when the summer eventually comes, you will notice the leaves start to curl if they are thirsty. I often water mine daily in the height of summer. It won't hurt to cut away last years bine which I can see in your picture. This will leave them less susceptible (is that how you spell it?) to disease and downy mildew.

[Blackaddler]

If you leave them until end of April, then as boingy suggests pick the strongest 3 or 4 bines and pull out the rest, if you end up with a bit of root on the ones you have pulled off stick them in another pot, otherwise discard them. Should you wish to you can continue to pull off new shoots until July to encourage stronger growth of the main bines.
Your pot size is fine, as in a real hop garden distance between hills is generally 6-8ft, and the roots do need some room to grow once established.
Don't let the soil dry out too much in the pot when the summer eventually comes, you will notice the leaves start to curl if they are thirsty. I often water mine daily in the height of summer. It won't hurt to cut away last years bine which I can see in your picture. This will leave them less susceptible (is that how you spell it?) to disease and downy mildew.

All good advice.

I hadn't got round to removing what's left of the old bines yet. I'll do that soon, and probably add a little more compost.

One other thing I should mention is that the soil in the pot needs to be well drained, as the roots don't like to get water-logged. I discovered this last year, after using compost that wasn't well rotted enough.