First time grower

[tally350z]

After reading a lot on growing hops I decided to start some this year. I have been lazy and haven't posted any previous pics. But here is what they look like so far. I have Cascade which from what I have read are really heat tolerant which is good in North Florida. I also have Centennial and Willamette, which are doing ok, but not as good.

I can't wait till I can harvest them, it is so tempting to pick them and start but I must wait until harvest time..

 

[day_trippr]

Got cones? Ayup!

As the The Great 2012 Two-Spotted Spider Mite War rages on, the Chinook are doing their best to pump up the yield...

Cheers!

 

[HolyKrausenBatman]

Are the purple leaves from your mite issue or from a lack of fertilizer? That creates one heck of an effect for a photo either way! Hope the mites didn't get to your cones.

 

[day_trippr]

Hmm. I hadn't even noticed, but now that you mention it, there is some "blueish" color there.

There was a high blue sky, and I hit everything with Neem Oil yesterday evening which can leave a bit of a sheen, so I'd chalk the effect to reflection. If you look behind the "leaf tops" you can see colors that are more representative.

In "Real Life" the leaves are prototypically green - not deep green nor light green, but pretty much in the middle. I also note some of the cones - particularly in the middle of picture - look almost yellow. That was due to a early evening sunbeam peaking through the trees. The cones are actually quite uniformly "middle green" as well.

The mites had made it to about the 12 foot mark before I finally realized what was going on. Fortunately that is right about at the bottom of where the cones start, with the highest concentration between the 15 and 22 foot levels. So I think I'm ok on that count.

But the extent of the damage from ground level to around 10-12 feet is significant enough to suggest a humongous population at its peak, and I assume I'll have to keep up my end of the war until the last eggs have hatched.

Curiously (to me, anyway) I had zero problems with either two-spotted mites or "hop worms" last year. This year they've both been a plague...

Cheers!

 

[tally350z]

Dang, those are some serious looking cones you have there daytripper. How old is that particular plant?

 

[day_trippr]

Dang, those are some serious looking cones you have there daytripper. How old is that particular plant?

All of my plants are 2nd year, started from rhizomes.

Cheers!

 

[GoodRatsBrew]

Day Trippr... Great looking cones... What do you use to fertilize? Ours are no where near that nice...

 

[day_trippr]

I actually didn't fertilize at all until the middle of June when I hit them with regular Miracle-Gro. Did that again a couple of weeks later, haven't fed them since, as I've had the sprayer tied up with mite sprays.

So they basically got to where they are on the remains of the bed prep I did when I planted the rhizomes last Spring. I guess it was pretty potent stuff

Cheers!