Tis a sad sad day.....

California heat wave day 3...... Tally, two rabbits, 3 cascades, 1 columbus and a pair of flip flops (stepped on a pop top... damn you Buffet get out of my head!!!). Seriously though this heat wave has hit 105,108,109 and the low is Wednesday predicted at 101 with a return to 109 the next day. What the hell do I do? The first years are dropping like flies. Am I screwed till next year or am I just screwed and have to replant?

try water

I agree, why would heat waves be killing plants if you water them properly?

Granted its not quite as hot here but its been 95 for several days now and my hops are loving it.

Yeah water the hell out of them til we get through this heat wave. Mine are happy as hell, especially my first year chinook. OR this could just be weeding out the weak ones.

I got a really late planting. The one that have about a foot or more seem to be doing great. The buds that had and inch or less are in hell. they dies back quick even with water.

Yes, from experience in my garden, "too hot" and "not enough water" aren't the same thing. Sometimes it is too hot for a plant, even if you water it thoroughly and continually. Sorry about your hops. My cascades are going great this year, but the willamettes are struggling - I know others grow them in the Midwest, but there's something about my exact location they don't like.

Here in WI, we had that drought last year with some high temps. Sure, we were dumping tons of water on the roots but above 90-95F, certain varieties went into a state of dormancy. We didn't have any die, but we also didn't have many 1st year plants.

Maybe try spraying the plants down to allow for evaporative cooling? I recall hearing about the PNW growers doing that. Just be careful that it doesn't promote other fungal growth.

By that, I mean the same as pappers is getting at. You can water them all you want but its still too hot. I'm talking about misting water in the air, on the leaves, etc. so that it evaporates and locally cools the air/plants.

Any way to shade them? Rig up something to possibly block some direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day? I dunno just thinking

It is weather like you are having now that makes me glad I left the Central Valley 4 years ago. The humidity can suck here in the Upper Midwest, but those 100+ degree days in Sacramento were killer. Sorry for your heat losses. I'm thinking misters and some shade are the way to go, but probably not economically worth it for a few hops plants.

Indianhead_Brewer said:

It is weather like you are having now that makes me glad I left the Central Valley 4 years ago. The humidity can suck here in the Upper Midwest, but those 100+ degree days in Sacramento were killer. Sorry for your heat losses. I'm thinking misters and some shade are the way to go, but probably not economically worth it for a few hops plants.

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I would kill myself if I was down in they valley. It might be hot but I can breath up here. I have checked my main hop crop and they all seem to be doing fine. Just these three that were a gift really took this heat wave full shot. Free becomes worthless when I have to dump money into shade and well water for misters. The rabbits on the other hand are under misters, with ice bottles and constant water checks. I can live with plant loss but I hate to lose good meat.

I'm in Canada in the okanagan valley it is 104f and 16 hours of daylight today. My first year hops have drip lines and get water for 10 minutes 3 times a day. My centennial is finally coming to life and my cascade grew like 2' yesterday. I had some aphids but just checked under the leaves and each leaf has a ladybug eating the aphids. Awesome. Sorry to hear about your heatwave and your hops

snowtires said:

I'm in Canada in the okanagan valley it is 104f and 16 hours of daylight today. My first year hops have drip lines and get water for 10 minutes 3 times a day. My centennial is finally coming to life and my cascade grew like 2' yesterday. I had some aphids but just checked under the leaves and each leaf has a ladybug eating the aphids. Awesome. Sorry to hear about your heatwave and your hops

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Man it has been so man years since I heard that name thrown around. I went to hockey camp as a kid at the lake one summer before I started a scouting camp schedule getting ready for college. Beautiful place and a ton of puck slu..... we can just leave that part out I guess but the hockey was a bit light for what I needed back then. Always wanted to go back. As for the hops I have noticed that anything in the 2-4in range seemed to shrivel up and quit and anything above shot up like a rocket. It has been 109 in the shade the last few days. I lost another couple of young meat rabbits and the little hops are aobut out of the game but today was only about 106F and tomorrow is a 101 day before it gets back up to 109 again. Surprisingly saw two fresh buds popping up on one of the cascades today so at least they are not dead. Just really mad.

Just water like crazy. Double your watering schedule from about 6am till 5PM then stop and let them drain. Hops dont like to sit in slop overnight. Hammer them again in the AM. I planted 60 plants ohhh about 5-6 yeas ago (I am in NOR CAL) and when the temps would get to 110 to 117 we would just water like crazy and feed them just as much. They did KILLER in the heat.

Cheers
Jay

RoughandReadyRanch said:

I would kill myself if I was down in they valley.

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Greetings from lovely Visalia, CA!

bigbeergeek said:

Greetings from lovely Visalia, CA!

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I am sure that was meant in the nicest possible way...

My sister used to live there.... HOT AS HELL from what I can remember.

Cheers
Jay

Jaybird said:

Just water like crazy. Double your watering schedule from about 6am till 5PM then stop and let them drain. Hops dont like to sit in slop overnight. Hammer them again in the AM. I planted 60 plants ohhh about 5-6 yeas ago (I am in NOR CAL) and when the temps would get to 110 to 117 we would just water like crazy and feed them just as much. They did KILLER in the heat.

Cheers
Jay

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That would be great....... but..... The mist line I had in place keeping the rabbits somewhat alive yesterday managed to show the true flaw in my properties design. Our well is officially dry and I am just trying to keep the bunnies alive with ice packs at this point. The hops are screwed for the moment. When it rains it pours I guess. As for the valley comment, I meant every word of it. I lived in Fresno and in Davis. I would kill myself before I moved back to the valley. There is something wrong with a place that has just as many allergy clinics as it does Starbucks on the corner. At least there was a breeze in Davis. I moved to Humboldt to purge myself of the valley. Had it not been for all the hippies we would have stayed. It takes a very special person to say they love living in the central valley. I am not that person.

RoughandReadyRanch said:

I would kill myself before I moved back to the valley............It takes a very special person to say they love living in the central valley. I am not that person.

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Ask me in about 4 months as the Upper Midwest is transformed into eternal winter, and I will tell you I would kill to live in the Central Valley again. What I would give to live in Davis again.......at least during the winter months. After spending 4 winters here on the tundra, I sure do miss those 15 years in the Peoples Republic of Davis and Sac and Woodland. I would have to say though that my optimal location for living if I were ever to move back would be the Central Coast.....anywhere between Santa Barbara and Monterey. I just need to save up another $1M so I can buy that beach property. Hops like sand right?

Jaybird said:

I am sure that was meant in the nicest possible way...

My sister used to live there.... HOT AS HELL from what I can remember.

Cheers
Jay

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You guys gotta be dying up there right now, I'm up above Paradise, and it was 102 up at 2300ft today. Just frikkin' brutal.

Misting the stems/leaves should let them benefit a bit from evaporative cooling right?

Yankeehillbrewer said:

You guys gotta be dying up there right now, I'm up above Paradise, and it was 102 up at 2300ft today. Just frikkin' brutal.

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Yeah it was a killer! We had a July 4th party/BBQ at our house and we were baking till the sun went down, then it was real nice. My SWMBO and I decided after that madness we would load up the kids and go to the coast for a few days. Man it was nice over there!

Cheers
Jay

Jaybird said:

Yeah it was a killer! We had a July 4th party/BBQ at our house and we were baking till the sun went down, then it was real nice. My SWMBO and I decided after that madness we would load up the kids and go to the coast for a few days. Man it was nice over there!

Cheers
Jay

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About this time every year I really miss living in Humboldt. Something about shorts and a hoodie in July just make me happy.