Hop is a perennial climbing plant that grows very large and develops many shoots. If you want to harvest hops, you have to thin out the plant. Otherwise the fruits remain very small and contain little valuable lupilin. How to properly prune hops.
Fall, when the hops are turning brown, is a good time to cut back
Prune hops once a year
- Cut hops once a year
- either in autumn or in February
- Thin out the plant after new growth
Basically, you only have to cut back hops completely once a year.
However, you cannot avoid thinning out after new growth. Hop plants form countless sprouts that rob each other of light and nutrients.
The best time to cut hops
Opinions differ on the question of the best time to prune hops. Some experts cut hops down as early as autumn. Others wait until early spring to cut back.
There is a lot to be said for pruning in February. Hops wither in the fall and then turn brown and unsightly. The nutrients contained in the dried plant are drawn into the roots.
If the brown stalks are too unsightly for you, shorten the hops to 50 to 60 centimeters in autumn and only cut them down to the ground in February.
Leave only a few tendrils on the plant
As soon as the hops sprout again in spring, thin them out. Cut off all shoots except for four to six hop tendrils. Then the plant can develop properly and produce many fruits in autumn.
The cut sprouts are edible and can be used in the kitchen to make delicious dishes. They are prepared in the same way as the popular asparagus.
You can also use the sprouts to propagate the hops. Stick them into prepared pots or straight into the garden soil. Even if you keep them in a jar of water, roots will develop so you can later plant out the sprouts.
tips
If you want to grow an opaque privacy screen from hops, leave all shoots on the plant. This makes it pretty tight. In addition, the hops then do not grow as quickly and remain significantly lower at three to five meters.