What's wrong with my hops?

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dunleav1

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These are cascade hops, I'm thinking they nitrogen deficient.
Does anyone have an idea what is going on.
These are second year hops, the first year they looked great the entire season.
Thanks,
JD

hops1.jpg

hops2.jpg
 
They look dry, I'm thinking they need more water because of the heat we've had lately. Spray them down daily in the early morning or evening, spray the plants as well as the soil.
 
I'm a n00b to growing, but from what I've read, and what I've seen on my plants, that looks similar to my spider mite damage. Kinda hard to tell on the pic.

It looks like little dry/yellow/brown spots in many many places starting around the middle stem of the leaf. If you see light white webs under the leaves, especially lower stalks, then most likely spider mites.

There are a couple of links around the internet with pictures of various hop diseases & pests.... try to find some samples and compare...

I picked up a vegatable-safe spray to combat my mites. That has worked well, but I did have to pick & discard any infected leaves. I caught mine before burrs started fortunately....

Good luck!
--LexusChris
 
I doubt it's dry. Generally in plants a dry season means an obvious wilt appearance. I got a very little bit of that sort of thing on my hops again this year, but it was so tiny an area that I never even bothered to look and see what was going on. I thought it might have been due to a late frost. Maybe it was bugs.
 
I have a cascade that looks like that too, but there is quite a bit more that is that way than yours. Is that side facing the sun? It is only my plants second year, so I'm no hop growing expert by any means. Just a guess.
 
Yes, that side is facing the sun.
There are no bugs on the hop plants.
There are no white webs under any leaves.
 
Where on the bines was this photo taken, top, middle or bottom ?
What are the leaves like on the top of the bine ?
The reason Im asking is that the hop bines have set flowers, which is good and now the bine wants to put all its energy into producing seed, so the bottom leaves start to die off.
Ive just had another look at your pics and by all means Im no expert I think that the the leaves are just naturally dying off. Maybe time to harvest?
 
I ended up harvesting this weekend.
This picture was taken in the middle of the bine.

My guess is that it was a soil ph problem. I'm going to take a ph reading and check it out.
 
It almost looks like mineral burn, or fertilizer burn, or whatever you want to call it, from too much fertilizer.
 
Hmm. I'm in the same boat. Came to start a thread but I'll just post here.

2nd year--grew AMAZINGLY this year and ran about 16' in some spots. But then leaves started browning and falling off. I didn't panic. Cones were starting to produce and things were looking okay up top. Then now I'm noticing... definite atrophy in the cones and things are likely going to die off completely this year.

Crap.

Hopefully the photos aren't too large (if they are I'll repost).
Hopsbad2004.jpg

Hopsbad2003.jpg

Hopsbad2001.jpg

Hopsbad2005.jpg

Hopsbad2009.jpg


I'm quite bummed as they had insane production this year and was looking forward to many ounces. That's life 'as a farmer' though I suppose.
I did use Miracle Gro I will admit. Once a week (sometimes every couple weeks when I'd forget) and to specified manufacturer dosage/mix.

Maybe I scorched them. Or maybe it was all the rain we've had this year. I thought maybe it was too much direct sun.
Suggestions? Don't want to have it happen again next year. I should just do what my neighbour down the street does. He grows his in the alleyway up against his fence and basically lets nature run its course.

The really INTERESTING part about the browning/leaves falling off is the REGROWTH that you'll see on the bines!
 
I think, unfortunately, I'm going to have to pull off whatever 'mature' cones I have and go with that--they're not quite ready but that vs. dying off...
 
In general, purple is indicative of phosphorous deficiency. However, it could be a mite issue too (which can be really difficult to see). But my guess is they could use a shot of low nitrogen fertilizer.
 
to OP, looks like what happens when little tiny bugs suck the juice out of the back of the leaves. Turn the leaf over and look very carefullly. Magnify glass if you have one.

The other thing is that spray fertilizers generally don't have any Iron, magnesium, manganese etc. Try fertilizing with a granular two or three times a year, look at the element content. If you can find one with 1% iron, it will be a bit pricy, but worth it.

When do you usually harvest?
 

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