Never have we been so infatuated with “the trellis”
Trel?lis. Noun.
- A frame or structure of latticework; lattice.
- A framework of this kind used as a support for growing vines or plants.
- A frustrating necessity of growing hops.
The third definition is really hitting home. Fortunately we’re not the only ones dealing with this problem. And there are many potential solutions. Trouble is, we haven’t yet found one that pertains enough to our situation. Specifically, it can’t look like crap. And there’s nothing for it to lean on. And it has to be at a minimum 10-12 ft tall. But it can’t look like crap.
Any ideas?
You can go old school and grow them on poles:
http://www.dcnyhistory.org/Fact_Fancy/images/6.06.jpg
Tellis ideas? Yeah, just put a couple beefy-er posts in (PTwood with concrete). Nothing to crazy, just so it can be free standing. You could build it really as tall as you want and it won’t fall over (as long as the bases are deep enough vs. the height & wind resistance expected). You could just put up two posts on either side and build whatever trellis you want between.
Or, you could get three bamboo poles/dowels and go for a tripod/teepee type structure. I just made some for tomatoes at our house, and it classed the house right up.
easy picking & larger harvest (I think) vs. aesthetics
The taller they grow the more they produce (I think). Of course, you have to ask youself, “Am I really trying to grow a large portion of my own hops?” Two Cascade plants produced 5.6 lbs of green (undried) cones/flowers for Bryan and I last year. That was about 21 ounces of dry hops. Not bad I guess. These were not on a super high trellis, about 6.5 feet. It took a while to pick them because they were entwined through the fence and the gate. (took us many hours) Check out these posts for pictures and more info…
The Harvest
http://beerbits2.blogspot.com/2007/09/hops-harvest-2007-beer-bits-2-brew.html
The Packagin & Yeild
http://beerbits2.blogspot.com/2007/10/growing-hops-dry-hops-2007-yield.html
Long pieces of rebar would stay upright & you could run wore up it for the vines to grow on. I have copper tubing that I’m about to make a trellis with. I usually keep PT lumber away from anything I am going to ingest.
I have created the monster trelis this year with (4)- 12′ Bamboo posts on rebar posts driven into the ground. I then ran 16 heavy wieght jute twines vertical between two posts and then creating an overhead structure with more jute. This makes it easy to cut down come September. I am scared to see how much I produce on the 16 vines this year. I cut them hard to the ground this past week, to make sure I produce hardy vines for the summer months. Once again good luck boys. Maybe we do a hops exchange this fall.
Troy, do you have a pic?
I will take one in three weeks when I go back home