My Hops just Died or something - Help!

Two of them were growing just great, and one reached about a foot above the ground. Then the vines and leaves started to shrivel and turn brown within a couple days. We followed the directions for growing them to a T - any ideas? It's almost like something peed on them or poisoned them - it was so fast. I dug up two of the rhizomes and there was no new growth, and not much root structure either.

The 3rd one was also looking pretty crappy, but I left it alone after I saw new sprouting when I tried to dig it up too. I replanted them and this time mounded up the dirt in case there was too much direct watering. Any ideas what I can do? The rhizomes are still firm and haven't started rotting or anything, so I think there is still hope.

Thanks!

Best guess. Watering too much but it's really hard to say.

It's hard to say what's going on but one thing is sure, stop digging them up.

They are more of a weed than anything. I would put them in the ground, give them a little water once in a while, and mostly just leave them alone. As perennials, they are going to spend their first year growing roots and getting settled in. The second year they will creep, and the third year they will leap.

Weed killer maybe? Not sure if it affects them, but if you or your neighbor sprayed it could explain why they died so fast.

I'd have to agree with weed killer. Possibly the bine got cut below ground. There are many potential problems with hops, but I can't think of anything else that would result in a fast die-back like you describe.

Digging up rhizomes isn't a good idea, unless they are dormant. The surface roots are fragile this time of year.

I'll third a vote for weedkiller. pjj2ba had his Eggplants die in an afternoon last year from a neighbor having the lawn sprayed. Usually when anything just up and dies fast, it is an indicator that something intense occurred.

This sounds like what happened to me. Some of my plants came back, but one of them died again in the same way. The other ones that came back are not growing as fast as the ought to. I planted in pots, and there was no chance of weed killer. Not sure what to do. I'm hoping to get them in their permanent home and then just let them do their thing this weekend. What don't grow next year, I'll probably buy replacements for.

Perhaps overfertilization? I've read that too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, can kill a plant pretty quickly.