Brand new to the forum and hoping someone can help me out. Third year for these hops. Several different types, but I'm starting to see this on all of them. Can anyone advise me on what I've got going on here? Thanks!
Hops leaves browning
- Thread starter Jim G
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
madscientist451
Well-Known Member
I just noticed similar issues with mine, we've had a drier than usual spring here (south/centrtal PA) and I thought it was lack of water, I haven't watered them at all. So I just started watering, we'll see what happens. Note that last few years I haven't watered or done anything to take care of the hops and they seemed to grow just fine.
I’d guess lack of water. Hops are greedy for water.
Northern_Brewer
British - apparently some US company stole my name
With hops, you rule out the Big 3 diseases - Verticillium wilt, powdery mildew and downy mildew - and then any obvious animal pests like aphids and spider mites, before you start worrying about anything more exotic like nutrient deficiency. But usually it's one of the Big 3.
And if you've got purplish-brown lesions following the veins as you do in the middle of each of your photos - the first suspect has to be downy mildew, caused by Pseudoperonospora humuli. If it is in the crowns then it will make them push up lime-green stems with leaves curled downwards, that don't twist like normal bines. Later on you will see the furry "down" on the underside of the leaves - you may have reached that stage already given the state of some of the leaves.
And just as a general tip for any kind of plant health problem - the underside of leaves will usually tell you more than the upper side. That's where pests tend to hide away from being eaten by birds etc, and it's also where you get the characteristic features of some diseases.
I mulch over the winter with a good amount of quality compost. I've fed them a few times with a 5-1-1 fish fertilizer through the drip line. I talked to a local nursery guy and showed him the pics. He said he thought it was frost burn from a pretty good frost we had about a week before these pics. Since then I've scratched in some 14-14-14 Osmocote and given more Fish fertilizer and some 8-4-4 through the drip line. I also finished weeding and cutting back the extra bines and things are looking pretty good now.
Thank you. I will keep a close lookout for the rest of the symptoms you listed. I was told by a local nursery guy that it might be frost burn. They are looking pretty good right now. I've been hit the last two years with leaf hoppers that did some serious damage. I appreciate the very detailed info you posted.
