How many things can you find wrong with this plant.

Hi, I have been growing my first hops of unknown variety for a few months and things going ok except for a few issues best explained through pictures.

At first I had two pests sucking on the bines. I am not sure if its the same insect at different levels of maturity or different bugs.




I dealt with them with 1 part dishwashing liquid in 20 parts water in a spray bottle. I have to do this every couple of days
also every praying mantis I find go on the plant. I don't know how effective they are to control the whole lot but I do like it when this happens.



I think that spraying in too much sun has caused the leaves and hops to brown. I would love a second opinion





Note on that last picture there is some white webbing type stuff. That is were I found my first tiny green catipillars which could explain why some leaves have large chunks missing. I squash these by hand when I see them. But I was inspecting my hops and I found two hops that had catipillars inside them. I dont know how to get rid of these since I cant spray anything inside the hop, and I cant open every hop to see if there is anything inside them since that will ruin the hop. Any thoughts?

And finally while taking these pictures I found some white spotting on some of the leaves. Its also noticable in the last picture. Not sure what this is.


all pictures + more at high res here (66mb)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on these problems

can't really help you. i just wanted to tell you how badass that picture of the praying mantis ripping the mystery bugs face off is.

The webbing sounds like spider mites. http://www.freshops.com/hop-growing/hop-diseases-and-pests/

Bummer man, however I just think that it's cool you live somewhere you can even grow hops! good luck!

Could also be Mealy Bugs or Foliar Mealy Bugs, and the thing the Mantis is eating might be Whiteflies?


You could definitely be scorching the leaves if you are spraying them during times when the sun is brightest, usually the early morning or late afternoon is the best time time apply direct spray on treatments or feedings to leaves.

looks like a bug problem. On my other plants I had a few bug problems. A nice, cheap replant that worked for me was crushed red pepper boiled in some water and a touch of oxyclean free. spray it right at dusk. Good luck!

khugs21 said:

looks like a bug problem. On my other plants I had a few bug problems. A nice, cheap replant that worked for me was crushed red pepper boiled in some water and a touch of oxyclean free. spray it right at dusk. Good luck!

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What does the oxyclean do? Like soap?

My hops in the PNW last two years got aphids so bad then the flies come in and eat the sugar the aphids make. It's gross. I have no hops left I can't use that garbage. This year I am going to spray something but don't want to spray on the hops how will oxyclean taste? Or pepper? Or soap? Or Neem oil? Choices seem limited. Early harvest may be the answer the longer they go the more they get attacked.

honestly was not to sure about the oxyclean too. A vet grower told me about it. The other plant i used it on when "consumed" did not have a oxyclean taste to it but be sure to rinse off the whole plant before harvest of course.

bethebrew said:

What does the oxyclean do? Like soap?

My hops in the PNW last two years got aphids so bad then the flies come in and eat the sugar the aphids make. It's gross. I have no hops left I can't use that garbage. This year I am going to spray something but don't want to spray on the hops how will oxyclean taste? Or pepper? Or soap? Or Neem oil? Choices seem limited. Early harvest may be the answer the longer they go the more they get attacked.

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Get yourself some ladybugs.

passedpawn said:

Get yourself some ladybugs.

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The biological control retailers here (New Zealand) dont sell ladybugs, I did look into it. I have bought a ton of marigolds to try the 'companion planting' thing but they havent done anything.

If I get enough space to build a larger crop I will possibly try the mini wasps mentioned here
http://zonda.net.nz/aphipar-aphidius-colemani.html
although I dont know whats worse, dealing with the bugs or having a swarm of wasps near my house.


I am considering getting a bucket and soaking the hops in dishwash/water at sunset. Although I wonder if the soap would possible destroy the lupilin or otherwise negatively affect them.

check this link. huge list of insects and diseases that hit hops
http://ipm.wsu.edu/field/pdf/HopHandbook2010.pdf

They were down the bottom of the property and I was using a mist type watering system. I have since put them on the deck (they are in large pots) and cut off all the basal foliage and they seem to be doing ok. regrowth is coming albeit a little slowly. Less bugs up there too. I am reasonably sure I have had a decent mould infection going and every hop this year is wasted unless I manually remove all the bad parts.

Cheers for the help all.

OP, are you growing in the best season?

pyrocam said:

They were down the bottom of the property and I was using a mist type watering system. I have since put them on the deck (they are in large pots) and cut off all the basal foliage and they seem to be doing ok. regrowth is coming albeit a little slowly. Less bugs up there too. I am reasonably sure I have had a decent mould infection going and every hop this year is wasted unless I manually remove all the bad parts.

Cheers for the help all.

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With misters it's easier to get powdery and downy mildew. Drip irrigation is preferred.

I've used this on my vegetable garden with good results. Not sure how it would work with hops. Don't know if you can get it in New Zealand.

http://www.arborgrow.com/organocide.htm