Hops care questions

2026-04-19 15:35 UTC

Hello! Hope its okay to ask some questions here. I read you’re supposed to trim away the earliest sprouts on hops, as they’re usually bull bines. Bull bines are recognised by their large spacing between nodes as well as being hollow inside. These don’t look hollow to me and the nodes are rather tightly spaced I think. Should still cut them down?

Replies (3)

@The_v@lemmy.world 2026-04-19 16:16

How old and large is the plant? The first few years as the plant mass grows you don't want to prune anything. Once the plant is established, cutting the early vines helps with increasing and concentrating yield. Commercially the spray a dissicant on the early growth to knock them back.

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@Kaffeburk@lemmy.world 2026-04-19 16:14

Just realised the other pictures didn’t get included! ![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/254f2466-4062-4b77-9937-6639a97ff277.jpeg) ![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/4e9f2674-8ad6-4c65-abaa-dbf55c1b8c3b.jpeg)

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@just_another_person@lemmy.world 2026-04-19 16:12

Bull Shoots will look abnormally large compared to regular growth. They grow too fast because they are using up all the stored nutrients from the dormant plant, and that's why they end up hollow. If these aren't hollow, it's good growth.

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