Centennial predators?

[RevFry]

Went to check on my hops today. Looking good but one of the two bines on my centennial has had the head and two leaves apparently bitten off. Cleanly removed.

There are no obvious critters lurking around. I'm up in the northwest and we've got slugs.

What do you guys look for and how do you keep the little guys safe?

Thanks.

 

[extra_medium]

doesn't really sound like slugs and might be too early for worms/catapillars. was the damage only on the top of the plant and the remaining leaves left unharmed? If it is due to an animal you could make a little ring of chicken wire or rabbit fence and make a small 1-2 foot diameter fence around those little babies. do you have any other bines? I think i had a rabbit eating the leaves off of mine all last season from base to two feet, never touched the stock, just the leaves (it was centennial also).

 

[RevFry]

Unfortunately he's a slow starter and only had the head and two leaves on this bine. The other only has the head on it. Pretty cleanly removed, no marks anywhere else. With no head that bine won't grow anymore, right?

 

[extra_medium]

no, it is still early in the season, it should grow back, even if it is a new rhizome. they are pretty resilient plants. Is it a new plant?

 

[RevFry]

no, it is still early in the season, it should grow back, even if it is a new rhizome. they are pretty resilient plants. Is it a new plant?

Yeah, first season. Only a few weeks, maybe a month, old.

I'm one of those people who tracks things. Watching hops grow and tracking packages. I need to chill and have a beer. =)

 

[extra_medium]

just to be safe, I would put up a little bit of fencing around it and wait a week or so. continue to treat it as though nothing happened. I would be willing to bet that there is another sprout waiting to pop up out of the ground.

 

[Jagdad]

I'm placing my bet on a cute little bunny. Another suggestion other than fencing and dog hair is to sprinkle bloodmeal or bone meal around the plant. (It acts as a great fertilizer too.) Some people suggest planting marigolds, but a determined wabbit will often go right thru them. Some people swear by spraying red hot tabasco sauce- ahh the solutions creative people can come up with. Personally, I sit on the porch with my trusty pellet gun and beer ... wabbit fricasse, yum!