- “Poles are expensive so let’s really space them out”
- “don’t need such long poles if I don’t put ‘em 3 feet in the ground”
- “This thinner wire should work . . .”
- “the rows have to be really wide ‘cause I got a big tractor”
- “let’s grow 10 varieties in 4 rows”
- “we won’t need irrigation”
- “fertilizer is just too expensive.”
- “healthy hop plants don’t get bugs or disease.”
- “I’m gonna plant the hops first and then put in the trellis and irrigation . . .”
Selecting the Right Trellis Design
Selecting the Right Trellis Design to Grow Great Hops
By: Great Lakes Hops | July 21, 2013
Creating the optimal hop yard that produces maximum yields with minimal infrastructure, labor, and inputs is critical to long term success & profitability of a hop yard. Hopefully the following discussion can help improve understanding of how to achieve the optimally yielding hop yard for those just starting.
Choosing the right Trellis design begins with and ends with an understanding of the hop plant itself. It is very important to understand how hops grow, what makes them produce optimal yields, and what the differences are between varieties and genotypes.
Some thoughts to immediately discard: