Dried out buds!

Hey all,

I'm a hopefull first time grower/harvester this year. I have 2 second year plants; a Hallertauer and Willamette. So far the Hallertauer is doing really well and I have some decent cones forming. My Willamette however, has suffered a set back.

It started out really strong and hundreds of buds formed. So I started thinking that I'd have way more hops than I knew what to do with. Well cut to 3 weeks later and I have no cones on this plant and the buds just seem to be drying up. I've attached 2 pictures, one of 3 weeks ago, and another from today.

Having started to read about proper growing technique (I've just been winging it until now) I suspect maybe it is caused by a lack of proper fertilization. The plants are well watered once per day.

The other difference between my 2 plants is that I trained about 7 bines from the Willamette up 2 separate lines. I only trained 4 bines for the Hallertauer up a single line. Might this be too much for the Willamette? Maybe a combination of too many bines and no fertilizer regiment?

Any advise would be greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks!

I'm interested to read what people say about this. To me it looks like a hop plant and something else growing up the vine. All my cones are further separated, not so bushy.

I'm not an expert. But that sure looks like a weed vine groin up with your hop plant.......

LabRatBrewer said:

....To me it looks like a hop plant and something else growing up the vine. ....

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This

But it's not cannabis.

I have a similar looking problem. Did you mulch any leaves in the garden last fall?

Hmm, I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if they were separate vines of some sort. I've been meticulously pruning. You know how crazy they shoot up new bines. I've been making sure there are only 4 running this entire line. And each of the Willamette lines that I have look just like this. Same massive budding and then die off. Here are some more pictures. In the picture that shows all 3 lines, I don't think I even need to tell you which ones are the Willamette bines...

I don't think its necessarily bad. The hops still look healthy and the dying plant will feed the soil. I think some people grown beans in tandem with hops. IIRC they also compost tea while waiting for the beans to die off.

Well, the new pictures look more like hops. I'll shut up now and listen.

dobberson24 said:

I have a similar looking problem. Did you mulch any leaves in the garden last fall?

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No, not really. All I've been doing is putting grass clippings down each week and watering daily. I think I may have put down some composted manure down early this spring as well.

Please don't laugh (too much) at my ghetto setup either.

Hey what is this?

haha! That is Hay-suse. My scare crow. I see he's done his job.

Here is one last picture just prior to the massive budding. As you can see, 4 fairly hoppy-looking bines on this line.

LabRatBrewer said:

I don't think its necessarily bad. The hops still look healthy and the dying plant will feed the soil. [...]

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Interesting. Because I look at this picture and the last thing I think is "hops still look healthy".


They look like toast to me.

Which is tragic, because the earlier pictures show the most prodigious mass of young cones I've ever seen. Doesn't even look real there are so many...

Cheers!

I was thinking the hops were a separate plant when I said they look healthy. Here is a pic of a hop and non hop climbing together

Pretty much looks like a healthy male hop plant to me unless there's something else growing alongside the hops. But the last picture about the 'massive budding' pretty much shows a male. Where'd you get the rhizomes? Sometimes a male makes it's way into the mix by mistake. No biggie, just dig it out if that's the case.

That picture looks like obviously like two plants. Now I'm starting to get concerned. I thought this would be a straight forward "You ****ed up your hops, dude."

B-Hoppy said:

Pretty much looks like a healthy male hop plant to me unless there's something else growing alongside the hops. But the last picture about the 'massive budding' pretty much shows a male. Where'd you get the rhizomes? Sometimes a male makes it's way into the mix by mistake. No biggie, just dig it out if that's the case.

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I got this plant from a local nursery. They weren't selling just rhizomes, they were selling small starter plants. I bought both my hallertaure and this Willamette at the same place. So this is a male plant? That could certainly explain the odd budding. Is there any advantage to keeping a male plant?

I don't know for sure if it is a male, but if it is, they do nothing for you. They are only used for reproduction for the female plant (the one you want). They produce no cones themselves.

I think that's a good call, B-Hoppy. Looks like I got a male. You think I can return it to the nursery?

http://www.herbalmedicinefromyourgarden.com/hops-health-benefits/

Thems ain't no female flowers.

You got yerself a genuine impostor.

I would be getting a refund from the nursery- a hop plant labeled as a production type must always be female. Since they are asexually propagated, somebody messed up. Where did they get this? An agricultural extension office that is breeding hops?

For a homebrewer, you might as well plant azaleas as this.


gnarlyhopper

Hitokiri said:

Here is one last picture just prior to the massive budding. As you can see, 4 fairly hoppy-looking bines on this line.

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It looka like a man!

Hito,

If you bought it from a reputable garden center, I'm sure they'd replace it for you - although I'd try to find another supplier. If some of what they were selling were plants - rather than rhizomes, there's a possibility they were maybe starting them from seeds. If that's the case, I understand why it's a male. The other slim possibility is that it's a variety that reacts adversely to stress which causes the plants to put out male bloom. If there are any 'normal' cones on the plant I'd give it another year and see how things go next season. It's your call.

Most garden centers that sell hops sell them for ornamental reasons. Some people like them to grow up and around a gazebo or something but don't want to have all the hop cones around.
I wonder if they sold them for this reason, might have to ask them.

Thanks for all the help everyone. This has been quite the learning experience.

If it is a true male, your Hallertau should be loaded with seeds. Keep an eye out for lil tiny seedlings next Spring within about a ten foot radius of the plant. They pull out real easy - unless you're gonna start breeding. Make sure to have plenty of liquid refreshment nearby in either case!

Do a quick google search, but I'm certain that those are male flowers.

That is full blown male!
I have had a tranny plant that had both the male and female buds and I have had the full blown male.

You may want to destroy it if you are anywhere close to any hop farms....
The seeds will get pretty big in your female cones.

I had to destroy a male cascade this year and a tranny EKG last year....

Nothin wrong with your set up. Wish mine was as good as yours. Mine did the same thing last year (the whole garden). I kept looking and finally figured out that there were not nearly enough butterflies and bees visiting. This was causing stuff to try to go to flower and die. I polenated a few with a paint brush and nearly 100% of the little flowers budded into fruit ot berries. Might look at you germinatig crew to make sure they are getting the job done.
Wheelchair

So my Hallertauer hop cones will have seeds? Is that going to be a pain in the ass when trying to brew with them? Do the seeds affect taste or anything?

And if I did find a seedling next spring that I wanted to nurture, would it be a Willamette/Hallertauter cross?! That is kind of intriguing...