I have several hop plants. They are about 4 years old. They are CRAZY! 20-50 bines coming up for each. Literally ripping them out of the ground to try to keep them manageable. What do others do. If I keep snipping them off will they stop coming up after a while? Right now, I am tearing 1-2-3 foot sections of root out of the ground to keep them from spreading. Strategies?
Probably the best place to start it to dig a ring around each crown, out about a foot. As you dig, pay attention to any rhizomes you sever (they should be within the top 6 inches of soil). These are the animals you want to control - pulling the shoots off only pisses them off. Once you’ve cut through and removed any wandering rhizomes you can now dig the crowns up. Much like digging a 10 foot maple tree. A pry bar and plenty of beer help get the task done. The whole thing is easy-as-pie if you do regular (yearly) rhizome pruning. Have fun!
Or simply steak multiple pieces of twine around the hill. I have a single Chinook plant that is now seven years old and it produces 26 lbs of wet hops. That single plant runs up four strans of twine 10ft high then to the peak of the roof.
26lbs wet hops…shiiiiiit
