Do hops wilt during the day ?

Two of my hop plants from last year that I thought were dead have come back pretty good and they're growing nicely. But I notice they look nice and fresh and healthy in the early morning but if I got out an check on them in the afternoon they are wilted even though I'm keeping them watered nicely. Temps here have been 100F+ in the afternoons. Is it normal for them to be wilted like that in the heat ? I was under the impression that Hops liked full sun - possibly I need to move them to a partially shady place ?

Also, when I look at pictures of some other people's hops the leaves appear bigger than mine. Mine have small leaves not much bigger than a quarter. Its the second year I've had them and they are already more than 6feet, but they aren't lush and green with lots of leaves at all. They do have some cones already, but they are very small about the size of a pea.

Mine looked like they were wilting during the hot part of the day last year when it got to 105+. I made sure they were getting plenty of water and they did do ok. What variety of hops are you growing?

If I'm not mistaken, the two that survived to this year are a Willamette and a Centenial. I could be wrong because its been over a year since I originally planted them and I'm not 100% sure which is which. I'm Pretty sure about the Centenial, but the one that I think is a Willamette might actually be a Nugget.

Curious to see how other Alabamians are doing with their hops. I have two Cascade bines in partial shade. They have both gotten over 20', but have yet to produce a lot of cones. The few I had in direct sunlight got torched in the heat/drought.

OK last night I got online and looked at pictures and now I'm thinking that the hop plant previously identified as Willamette actually is a Nugget after all. Of course I'm still not 100% sure. I wish I could remember exactly what order I planted them in.

Anyway, I still think they are having trouble growing due to the heat.

The Centenial is nice and lush and green, its just not very tall probably because I ran over it with the lawn mower a few times this spring before I noticed it had came back - I had written it off as dead.

The Nugget/Willamette mystery hop has some really long bines, but not many leaves and the leaves it does have aren't very large and constantly look wilted. But it does have some flowers on it already though.

Also, for those of you who want to grow some hops but haven't ordered any rhizomes you might try looking at the farmer's co-op if you have one. I was there yesterday to shop their garden supplies for annuals and saw them have hop plants of unknown variety in 5 inch peat pots for sale. Thier hop plants look healthier than mine do by the way. Which also leads me to believe that my problem might be too much sun/heat. At the co-op they keep their plants in a partially shaded building sort of like a green house except with green screen or net/mesh type material instead of glass where I have mine in full sun for most of the day.

Probably will buy a couple of their mystery hops this weekend.

Lack of root mass is most likely your problem. Deeper, less frequent watering will help. I switched from watering (drip) a couple times a week to once a week for 6 hours. The hops are doing better this year. Dave, at Freshops, says a mature field gets 24 hours @ 1 gallon an hour, every three weeks.

Mine do that a little bit too, but the Cascades more than the Centennials. When it gets 100F+ around here, I water a good deal in the early morning and then for about 5 minutes in the afternoon around 3pm. The Cascades tend to look a bit tired in the heat, but the extra water helps.

They appear to be doing a lot better now. I watered them with some transplant booster formula fertilizer a couple weekends ago, and have laid off watering them since and the are nice and thick and lush now, even though they are not nearly as long as they were before I dug them up and moved them.

I got some 6-6-4 organic fertilizer, so this evening I will feed em again and see if maybe they might make something this year.

Aubie Stout said:

Curious to see how other Alabamians are doing with their hops. I have two Cascade bines in partial shade. They have both gotten over 20', but have yet to produce a lot of cones. The few I had in direct sunlight got torched in the heat/drought.

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Mine are doing fine. Ive got 5 plants in direct sun. I water pretty frequently. Three of the Cascade Vines are putting out a large number of cones. One is probably 25 feet long at the others are probably around 15-18 feet. The Centennial that I have didnt grow nearly as fast. Its almost ten feet.

Im still trying to figure out when to pluck them. I guess Im looking for the yellow at the bottom.

Of course soils make a difference too and the amount of companion plants you have there. I was deep watering mine ( 1 hour, Once a week) and they were loving it. I forgot about them for a week in 100 degree heat and the healthiest of them all has just about withered away. Leaves dropped as I watered. So, now I may be into a short, frequent watering schedule with periodic deep watering just to keep moisture in the soil.

As screwed up as this season has been, I am not I even want to harvest this year. I am thinking I'll just focus on plant health and hope for a "normal" season next year.

My second year Cascade has really started putting on cones. The little side arms off the main bine are putting them on. They are all small right now, but hopefully it will come through. The soil I have is excellent as I mulch it often. However, it only gets filtered sun all day. I guess we'll see if it produces well. Either way, it covers my neighbors privacy fence so I don't have to look at it........