Hop-growing basics - when to prune the main hop rhizomes and why

Tell me when the main hop rhizomes are pruned? Last year we planted three rows of seedlings, all of them took root. Since the bushes were young, no measures, except for feeding, preventive treatment and garters, were carried out. Will it be possible to cut rhizomes in the second year of life, and in what time frame should this be done?

Hops are grown for harvest - female cones, which are used in the manufacture of beer, yeast, medicines, cosmetics and perfumery. It is a perennial crop, but the aboveground part of the bushes dies off in winter. Therefore, one of the important activities is pruning the underground part and meeting the deadlines when pruning the main hop rhizomes is carried out. Timely and correct haircut allows you to increase the amount of young growth. And the more shoots there are and the stronger they are, the larger the harvest itself will be.

When the main hop rhizomes are pruned

Since the underground part of young plants is not yet highly developed, it is better to prune only 2 years after planting the hops. At the same time, young hops are trimmed by hand to minimize damage. To do this, first, a ripper plow passes through the rows, which uncovers the plantings and opens the roots. Then each rhizome is "dug up" hoes, is cut off and at the end must be covered with the ground again. After removing the cut roots from the rows, they are loosened. For pruning older plants, it is more profitable to attract equipment equipped with special pruning knives. She walks along the row, cuts and immediately covers the mother bushes.

You cannot stretch the crop. It is necessary to meet a maximum of 10 days, or even better - to have time to cut the entire plantation in a week. Pruning is carried out in early spring. And it must be finished before the buds wake up on the rhizomes and germinate.

Cutting methods

Depending on the age of the hop, on how developed the bush is, there are 3 pruning methods:

1. Low: all underground roots are removed at the junction with the upper part of the rhizome. It is used for developed bushes 3-5 years old with at least 5 fruiting stems.
2. Medium: a pair of buds are left at the base of the stems, cutting off the underground parts above, above the bud. Used for hops of the same age, but underdeveloped, with 3-4 shoots that yielded.
3. High: up to 2 pairs of buds are left at the base of each stem. This is how young hops, bushes with damaged rhizomes, as well as old ones, which are more than 10 years old, are cut.

If the hop plant is already old and subject to liquidation, in its last season it is grown without cutting the rhizomes.

Hop growing in Chuvashia