Bad year so far for hops?

It's been a pretty crappy spring/early summer here in MI... tons and tons and tons of rain, and below average temps. My hops are in their second year, 20 plants, 10 varieties, and I have constructed a beautiful 18' tall trellis system for them... but I have 3 or 4 plants that are about 8' tall right now, and many others closer to 3' and 4'... and a couple even smaller than that. I would have expected these to be MUCH taller by now...

Thoughts??????

And when in MI do these STOP growing upward??? Leaves are pretty small too, compared to hop plants I have seen other people growing farther south in the warmer climates.

I am a little north of you, on the north side of Traverse City. I am loving how my crop is doing this year. Lots of rain is helping mine.

I am already seeing hundreds of aphids though. I am probably going to stop growing next year because of the aphids.

What kind of heights are you getting so far?

Hell, mine are in their third year, but i think this is the BEST weather/year they've ever had. The rain and heat are shooting these to the sky.

Im near Holland, MI and this is my first year growing Hops. My cascades are doing the best with some that are near 12-14 feet already. My centennials and willametes are between 4-10 feet tall. I dont know if this is normal growth or not for this time of year.

i've got some second year cascades and northern brewers in grand rapids that are upwards of 20 ft and more second year cascades and nb in elk rapids that are around 10-15 because the trellis got put up late this year. the ones in grand rapids are further along this year than last but thats most likely bc they are in their second year

rollinred said:

I am a little north of you, on the north side of Traverse City. I am loving how my crop is doing this year. Lots of rain is helping mine.

I am already seeing hundreds of aphids though. I am probably going to stop growing next year because of the aphids.

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Mine are HUGE. My cascades are going wild, I've been hacking the hallertauer like crazy because they are out of control and going everywhere, and the chinook are up and over the greenhouse and still going crazy.

I don't have any mold problems or aphids.

My first year hops from Conpewter are about 6' tall- the willamette and centennials.

My cascade and Chinook are all past the top of the trellis. I have had these plants for about 5 years, and this is the best they have ever looked. Even my Centennials are looking better this year, and they have never produced well. Of my 70 plants I think about 60 of them are experiencing their best year yet.

Get some lady bugs also make a warm casing tea and u will get rid of them

The other day I realized that most of my plants had far more bines growing that I thought... most had about a dozen bines per plant. I un-wrapped from the ropes all but 4 per plant and cut them back. 4 bines per plant now, I am thinking that may have been my problem??? Too much energy put into growing un-needed bines versus putting that energy into launching the keeper bines into the sky??? Hopefully that fixes them up. Im watering lightly and fertilizing as I should be... no bugs... the plants look healthy. Time will tell I suppose...

What kind of fertilizer are you using? If it's miricle grow I would add gypsum to the soil.

JRems said:

What kind of fertilizer are you using? If it's miricle grow I would add gypsum to the soil.

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Yeah, Miracle Grow once a week... I am going to switch to a slow release fertilizer in the fall. What is gypsum? If I were to add something like this to the soil, do I just pull back the mulch and sprinkle some on top of the dirt around the hop crown, then cover back up with mulch?

Thanks!

Yes, you can mix it with the top layer of soil. It will help remove salts and other byproducts of miracle gro