Hops training

Thinning out the hop vines and starting the training up the leads.

These cascade hops are on the south side of the house. i use those auger style dog leash stakes at the base and run the line in a V up to the roof line. this creates shade on our south windows and a small archway to get to part of the back yard (and a place for spiders to attack when not paying attention).

i will run 4 vines per lead.

as soon as each vine gets about 3 foot i will trim the leaves off the bottom foot. this will help prevent any mold or havens for unwanted insects at the base. when each vine gets about 5 or 6 feet then i will cut the leaves off another foot up.

hops get wild growing fast so trimming is absolutely necessary.

one perk of this prolific growth is that there are always so many rhizomes that can be harvested for other brewers.