[flbrewer]

I've got two hop plants in big buckets near the woods in our yard. I'm curious if any wild animals, wild cats or dogs, birds or otherwise eats them.
FWIW, I've seen rabbits, stray cats, and armadillos in the area at times.

[erockrph]

The only animal I've seen eating my hops is Japanese Beetles. For the most part, I think most animals leave hops alone because of the bitterness.

[wv_brewer]

I'm pretty sure a rabbit has eaten some of my hop shoots.  The deer seem to leave them alone.

[guido]

The only animal I've seen eating my hops is Japanese Beetles. For the most part, I think most animals leave hops alone because of the bitterness.

For some reason Japanese Beetles once devoured my East Kent Goldings, but left the Chinook alone.  The plants were side by side.

[SiameseMoose]

I was recently discussing this with a guy near me who has planted about 70 hills. He has a problem with groundhogs and rabbits eating the foliage, and with deer eating the cones of his noble varieties only. It's on the grounds of Cincinnati's largest German heritage group, so maybe the deer have become German by osmosis.

[morticaixavier]

lot's of things would eat the shoots I would think. they are tasty, like asparagus... sort of.

[denny]

lot's of things would eat the shoots I would think. they are tasty, like asparagus... sort of.

Yep. 

[flbrewer]

Maybe the big buckets will prevent this partially. What are the shoots?

[Jimmy K]

Maybe the big buckets will prevent this partially. What are the shoots?

The vines when they're new and only 6" tall.

[morticaixavier]

Maybe the big buckets will prevent this partially. What are the shoots?

as the plant begins to grow above ground the little stems that come up are the shoots. first year just let them all ride. you want the plants to grow as much leaf matter as possible so they can build a strong root system. after a year or two you will want to cull most of the shoots that come up leaving only a few shoots per crown. generally the early shoots get culled because they can be a bit weaker so if you let them get 3-4 inches tall and slightly less than pencil thick you can snip them off, steam them, and eat them with butter.

[flbrewer]

Should I be training any of the shoots this season?

[morticaixavier]

Should I be training any of the shoots this season?

give them something to climb. if they flop over train them to a string, just don't cut any off this season.

[flbrewer]

Just checking back in as I've got a couple of shoots approaching a foot in one bucket. It sounds like I don't have to train any of them to climb this year, is that correct? Since they won't product any cones and I won't be snipping any, is there any point other than aesthetics?

[Stevie]

They should produce some cones, just not much. I would still train them. Getting them up in the air exposes them to more sunlight.

[b-hoppy]

Just checking back in as I've got a couple of shoots approaching a foot in one bucket. It sounds like I don't have to train any of them to climb this year, is that correct? Since they won't product any cones and I won't be snipping any, is there any point other than aesthetics?

If this is their first year you should let everything grow.  Hops are near the top of the heap when it comes to being able to produce more photosynthate (energy) than is needed to sustain above-ground growth.  The additional energy not utilized by the vines will be directed back down into the crown for use by the rhizome/crown as it develops roots.  Any excess will be stored in the crown to be used in the future. 

You should train them on something as opposed to letting them crawl all over the ground as this can create an excess of moisture/dampness near the base of the plant that can lead to conditions that favor disease development.