New Growth on Centennial

[Homebrew Harry]

I went away for almost a week and came home to these side shoots. The only bine has stopped growing and is making cones.

 

[tracer bullet]

Are you asking if it's normal? I'd say yes, more or less.

I remember my centennial hops being really bushy, they didn't have a handful of aggressive shoots, they were more... bushy I guess though I already said it. I remember trying to cut a lot of the new ones to make it focus on a few originals so I could run them up my cables. It didn't really work out too well.

Having cones already... seems early to me but may depend on where you are. I'm in MN and things get off to a later start than other parts of the country.

 

[mashpaddled]

Hops send out runners like those looking to expand. They will climb if they can but if they lay on the ground they will root. Unless plant growth is your goal, you should trim them and keep the plant focused on hop development at this point in the season.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Are you asking if it's normal? I'd say yes, more or less.

I remember my centennial hops being really bushy, they didn't have a handful of aggressive shoots, they were more... bushy I guess though I already said it. I remember trying to cut a lot of the new ones to make it focus on a few originals so I could run them up my cables. It didn't really work out too well.

Having cones already... seems early to me but may depend on where you are. I'm in MN and things get off to a later start than other parts of the country.

I thought it was odd when it started making cones a few weeks ago. It has been a real go-getter. My other hop, a Crystal, has just started to flower.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Hops send out runners like those looking to expand. They will climb if they can but if they lay on the ground they will root. Unless plant growth is your goal, you should trim them and keep the plant focused on hop development at this point in the season.

Yeah I'm gonna try to get them to root for sure. Thanks for the reply

 

[superiorsat]

I'm thinking these were first year plants from past posts. If so I would just let it go. The more robust you can get these plants the first year the better and don't cut them back after the season so they can draw the nutrients back into the roots for the winter. My second year Centennial and Cascade both have cones already and have stopped trying to grow longer. New shoots have developed on both so I just have been letting them grow to help the plant get more robust. Trimming at this point I don't believe will get me more hops as every crotch available already has good size cones growing from them. My 3 year old Comet is insane I have been cutting shoots on that sucker daily for months, and my Cashmere is just about as bad. Seems like once the original shoots get to where they are basically maxed out the bottom of the plant takes back off in a second wave.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

I'm thinking these were first year plants from past posts. If so I would just let it go. The more robust you can get these plants the first year the better and don't cut them back after the season so they can draw the nutrients back into the roots for the winter. My second year Centennial and Cascade both have cones already and have stopped trying to grow longer. New shoots have developed on both so I just have been letting them grow to help the plant get more robust. Trimming at this point I don't believe will get me more hops as every crotch available already has good size cones growing from them. My 3 year old Comet is insane I have been cutting shoots on that sucker daily for months, and my Cashmere is just about as bad. Seems like once the original shoots get to where they are basically maxed out the bottom of the plant takes back off in a second wave.

Yes, these are first year from a puny rhizome. Those pics are awesome. I can't wait until I have a huge hop garden also !