First year hops Rhizomes health check - red-tinted and slow growing

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

growguys111

New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2021
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Pictures attached of the two varieties I've planted next to each other earlier this spring - the more mature ones with young leaves are the "Perle" variety and younger looking shoots are the "Magnum" variety. I've added some detail/thoughts below but basically I'm looking for opinions on whether the red color is indicative of issues, either nutrient deficiency, stress etc.

The Magnum hops rhizomes are a deep red color, much more so than the neighboring perle hops. They also seem to be growing a bit slower, but hard to say if this is the case, may have planted them a bit deeper or the rhizome may have been less mature.

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to hops growing and I'm going in pretty blind, but I've made sure to cover the basics in terms of mixing native soil with Compost, regular watering and planting in full sun. Unfortunately these did have to site in the fridge for a couple of weeks until the conditions were right to plant, so this in addition to the rhizomes having been shipped would understandably impart some stress.

My soil is slightly acidic (right around 6.0 PH) and as of last fall was below average in phosphorus and potassium, but since one variety is growing well I'm not really convinced that those are issues,
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20210426_154249873.jpg
    PXL_20210426_154249873.jpg
    3 MB · Views: 23
  • PXL_20210426_154256455.jpg
    PXL_20210426_154256455.jpg
    2.7 MB · Views: 22
  • PXL_20210426_154338808.jpg
    PXL_20210426_154338808.jpg
    3.7 MB · Views: 21
  • PXL_20210426_154359450.jpg
    PXL_20210426_154359450.jpg
    3 MB · Views: 16
The red is normal for early hop shoots, some varieties are redder than others.

Hops, like a lot of vines, sometimes take a while to get going. Once they have been cared for for a few seasons, they usually grow robustly. Cool temps can also make for slow start in spring.

I planted 7 varieties a few years back, one died off, a couple are doing OK, and the rest are thriving, the rhizomes have spread and grown many times the original size. Some varieties are more vigorous than others, and some better suited to particular growing conditions/areas.
 
Those look pretty spot-on to me.
First year growth is usually slower than later, and you probably won't get much of a crop - most energy is spent growing the root system. Second and third years should show increasing yeilds. |Over time it's not a bad idea to fertilize - there are better hands than me at that. I have 10 year plants and they're so deep and spread out that fertilizer doesn't really get down to them.
 
That's great info, glad to hear that things are looking normal!

Feeling impatient and overly protective now that they're showing progress, but it seems like I'll continue with what I'm doing and fertilize down the road. Thanks for the replies!
 
Back
Top