Is it dead or dormant?

I have four second-year hops plants here in central Kansas. We had a horrible year of heat and drought. Three plants seemed to survive, but with difficulty. My other plant died back to the ground about six weeks ago. Nothing since then has emerged. How can I tell if it is dead or dormant? There must be a thread for this, but couldn't locate it.

They go dormate when there is a freeze. Best just to water them and see if they can recover.

Do they die back midsummer but still come back? Should I dig it up in the fall and look for some sign of life?

kansasbrew said:

Do they die back midsummer but still come back? Should I dig it up in the fall and look for some sign of life?

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at this point i would leave them in the ground and check next spring. if the hops sprout new bines, they're alive. if they're alive & dormant, best to not disturb them. if they're dead, you'll find out next spring.

I'd brush back the soil near the base of the crown and you'll probably see some buds that have formed for next year. If you don't see any, then gently dig a little deeper to see if any have formed lower on the crown. If you still don't see any all you can do is to wait till next Spring and see if anything comes up. You could try to dig the whole crown up but if it's stressed at this point there's no sense in stressing it any more. Hope this helps.