9-59-9

So I have four varieties of hops; Willamettle (biggest by far 20 feet, but no spurs and starting to yellow), Nugget (clipped in May as Hop farmers suggested, bad decision, only weak shoots came up afterwards, no spurs...it is also yellowing) Centinnial (massive aphid damage early in season and only lower parts of the plant recovered...green as can be, no spurs) and Saaz (Extremely healthy, tons of spurs but it is also yellowing a bit)

So I decided to fertilize all of them with a flowering/rooting formula of 9-59-9. What do you think? I refuse to build my soil and get soil samples. I got into hops growing because of the so called ease.

The best picture I can find in the hop manual that was posted last week is this associated with Hop Stunt Viroid. I am not convinced that this is the problem though because there is no way they all have the virus coming from different locations and being different varieties.



My Willamette and Nuggets looks exactly like that. Enourmous side arms...some as long as six feet, but no signs of spurs.

Is there anything else I can do without trying to split the atom?

For one, viroids aren't always sourced by the plant materials. Most often they are already in teh soil. From what I understand.

Oregons climate is often said to be similar to mine. Have you, like us, been experiencing days of torential rains followed by blistering heatwaves?

I've heard from several source in my area that even some pros are fighting a losing battle due to climate stresses. Plants here are confused and are tapping out quickly.

I've lost 7 crowns to fungal infections.

No, but we did have an extremely long and wet spring. I think it was like 87 days in a row where it rained. But, these are container plants with good drainage

Last year my first year plants in containers with Miracle grow soil all did very well. This year I put them in the ground and they started out great and were fooled by that early burst of heat we had in Portland. Since then the weather has been cool, cloudy and rainy so my second year hops are not anywhere as nice as last year. I don't even look to close because of all the bugs and damage they have sustained. It's easier to go to Brewbrothers and buy what I need for each brew.

Doubt if I will bother with third year plants.

I think your spot on with the fert. Hops increase P uptake during cone production. If your bines are full of burrs then it would seem that "possibly" the cones are robbing the rest of the plant for P. Only suggestion I would have is to use liquid fert...maybe a 10-30-10. I use this on my second year plants and hit them every 9 days with a direct root feeding followed by a very early morning foliar feeding. Any place that has lots of rain "generally speaking" will have low P. So since you said you had a very rainy spring it just sounds like you are runnning low on P. I know you said you didnt want to do a soil test..but they are quick and painless and would probably give you a good idea of how low you are on P.

The 10-30 10 I use can be used as often as every 7 days without worry of burning the plants (root feeding). Foliar feedings can be done daily if needed. The liquid fert should ensure that the P is ready for immediate uptake as P is not very mobile and is hard to get to the plant without tilling very deep and as close to the plant as possible. Since yours are in containers I would expect an allmost immediate effect from the liquid fert.

the container says to fertilize every other day....can that be right?