something strange...

What's wrong with this bine? I'm not worried about it dying on me or anything. I'm just curious if anyone can pinpoint the cause of this odd growth. There's no obvious sign of insects, physical injury or disease. I've never seen one come up like this before.

In the first pic, you can see a pretty tight twist to the bine itself. All three pics show how the bine only has recent growth on the far (south) side of the plant instead of putting out leaves in pairs. There's also a 'pigtail' loop at the top of the bine that's not normal. The last pic shows it in comparison to a healthy, normal looking bine - from the same rhizome! Also note that the abnormal one is much thicker.

The dog in the photo is also quite abnormal, but I stopped trying to figure him out a long time ago...

Looks like just one of those random things plants do sometimes... I'd probably cut it back, I wouldn't trust it to grow properly.

damdaman said:

Looks like just one of those random things plants do sometimes... I'd probably cut it back, I wouldn't trust it to grow properly.

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This is one of those <ahem> "hard to get" rhizomes I bought this spring. I'd hate to cut this 1st-year bine back and risk the health of a rhizome that I can't replace. The one other bine would probably pick up the slack no problem, but I'm not sure I want to risk it.

I would definetely cut the sick bine out. Looks like it could be a virus, phtoplasma, or just random growth patters from insect damage, but if it is an especially valued plant that only makes it more important to remove the damaged portion. Even if it is not disease, it seems like good insurance. The rhizomes will be fine, and you will not notice the difference in plants next year.

I'd leave it alone, nature knows what its doing...

It looks like it's twisting counter clockwise, correct? Do you have any artificial light sources shining on it at night?

My first thought is that maybe an insect may have bit the stem causing it to curl. I have had a head curl back in on itself keeping that shoot from growing; it looked like a small cain hook. It's hard to see the head in this picture though.

Is this really a serious question? It is a plant, it grows how it wants. Leave it grow. If you want to really help it you should plant it in the ground.

brewingmeister said:

Is this really a serious question? It is a plant, it grows how it wants. Leave it grow. If you want to really help it you should plant it in the ground.

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Not sure how planting the hops in the ground vs. a container will influence the growth of this bine. Plus, as hop growers, we don't necessarily want the plant to just do what it is evolved to do. We want it to give us lots of delicious hops, which sometimes requires active management.

I do vote for leaving it alone, but on the following grounds:

If it is a pathogen, you won't be able to disinfect the plant simply by removing the weird tissue. But since this is a new breed, it is probably resistant to the most common viruses and fungi. In my opinion, it's probably not infected.

Because this is a first-year plant, you really just care about maximizing the leaves it can make. It looks like there are several sets of leaves about to unfold at the tip of the monster bine.

Really, it looks like a green version of a thick mature bine. I see that twisting pattern all the time in my plants. The bines typically turn red or brown before they get this thick, but I think this will just be an especially hardy bine. See if it thrives. (And send me a cutting in a few years! Mmmm, climax hops.)