Cracked/split bine

Could this split be causing my cones and leaves to brown? I assumed that it was due to a lack of water. It has been really dry here lately. It could be that the bine has grown too large, I only trained two rather than three bines from this crown. I've also heard that sisal twine can contract and cause problems like this. There are splits like the ones pictured all up and down this bine. It is a third year crown take a look at the pictures and let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/img1458br.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/img1459y.jpg/
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http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/img1462t.jpg/

Hmm, to me that looks like a split that is caused by lack-of-water-stress followed by large amounts of water being dumped into the soil. What I've seen happen with other plants is that the soil gets too dry and the plant goes into water stress. The gardener figures out at some point they've been neglecting giving the plant water, so they dump tons and tons of water into the soil all at once. The plant then sucks up as much water as it can, causing it to swell up and crack.

Don't know about the browning cones, maybe they're just ready to harvest?

I think you may be right.

was gonna suggest the same about the cones they look like they are ready to harvest. Ill try and post a pic of my one plant. I laugh at your split(well not really). that is not very bad i will try and get a pic and post a bad split. however on the plant that has splits i have dead leaves alot higher than the rest of my plants so perhaps there is a link to splits and dead leaves.

I think it may be Verticilium wilt.

Page 21/86 at http://www.usahops.org/userfiles/file/Research%20Reports%20&%20Presentations/HopPocketGuideFINAL%5B1%5D.pdf

Here's a pic of mine.

Sounds like verticulum wilt to me...I had a Cascade bine that almost cracked from the ground to the crown (~15ft) continually which i blamed on verticulum although not positive of ID. The leaves were slowly dying from the ground up and the cones were starting to brown pre-maturely as well. A second auxillary growth was starting to occur from buds above the leaf scar from the dead leaves. Actually did a fresh hop beer with them on Wednesday. Best of luck with yours.

This one is Nugget. My Cascade wilted from the tip down and then a new bine popped up. It is just now starting to form cones. The Cascade bine is also brown like the Nugget pictured.

I wouldn't worry about the one pic with the one brown leaf...often times leaves get strangled by the twisting vines which basically form a tourniquet around the leaf, killing it.

As for you hops, they look ready to harvest, doesn't look like anything wrong going on there, IMHO.

When it comes to watering, although hops like moist soil, almost all plants benefit from their soil fluctuating between dry (but not too dry) and wet (but not too wet!). We all know plants like water, but their roots also need air, and soil shrinks when dry which allows air to get at the roots. Soil that is constantly wet prevents this from happening and can cause root rot, so don't overwater your hops! Letting the soil get dry is not bad, so long as you keep an eye on the situation and water your hops if the soil has been dry for too long.

I wouldnt worry about the split in the vine, hops are very tough.

Well, my Cascades pooped out too. I went camping for 4 nights and they weren't watered so that could be the cause. I'll post a picture of the cross section cut of my Nugget bine when I get to my camera. I cut the bine down and harvested at the risk of losing everything. I got about 5 ounces.

Pictures of cross section, 1 and 2