Fuggles plant crisis, HELP!

[Brewer Gerard]

My fuggles plant seems to be in bother and it's at the stage where the cones are starting to become affected



They're really starting to ripen and I'm worried about losing the whole lot. I sprayed with some insecticide about a week ago which doesn't seem to have helped at all

 

[Brewer Gerard]

Any suggestions at all?

 

[day_trippr]

I'm going to guess that a close-up shot of one afflicted leaf and little textual context apparently isn't enough for an informed diagnosis...

Cheers!

 

[B-Hoppy]

It actually looks like you have a bunch of hops growing up the hill in the background of the picture. Also, how high up on the vine was that picture taken? Lots of times the lower leaves tend to go off color late in the season while the upper portion of the plant still looks good. All this diagnosin' makes me thirsty. Time for a beer!

 

[Brewer Gerard]

That leaf is at around head height. All the leaves below that have been removed with the same symptoms. It appears to be spreading up the plant. Some cones are starting to brown also and i don't think this is a result of ripening

 

[Veedo]

I think they are just ripe. All the leaves on ours started to yellow and fall off from the bottom up also. The cones were fine.

 

[Brewer Gerard]

Ok cool, probably panicking a bit so. Really dont want to lose any portion of the crop at this stage. Crossing fingers and toes

 

[Scotty_g]

I've noticed the same kind of pattern on the leaves late in the season and never worried about it. I pick the cones when they start to get dry and papery; they often have a little bit of light brown on them and that's ok. Too much brown and they will start to get cheesy (make sure you get good air circulation around the flowers while they dry!). I think what your plant may be saying is that the growing season is over and it's time to harvest.

I hope what you sprayed with is something that won't hurt you...1 week to harvest is a little closer than I'd care for.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Pull one off and grind it up in your hands and take a big whiff to see if it smells good. If its starting to brown like that they should be pretty tissue paper feeling and crunchy...if thats the case pick them before they go bad!

 

[Brothfeder]

I think your fine, its defenetly time to harvest. I waited a bit too long this year and they started to brown up a bit. When they turn from a dark green to a lime green they are about ready. Squeeze the cones. If they bounce back to their original shape they are ready. If they remain compressed they are not ripe.

When you sprayed that insecticide did you look carefully for any critters living on those plants? What did you see? Pictures? Never use chemicals unless you are sure.

Here is a link to a good pest/disease management pdf for diagnostic purposes. But at this point I wouldn't spray anything, just get em off the bine and enjoy.

http://ipm.wsu.edu/field/pdf/HopHandbook2010.pdf

Happy brewin'.

 

[Brewer Gerard]

Well i went and harvested d old buggers. I have to say none of them really smelled all that hoppy, at least not by comparison to what i get from my LHBS. In fact i just dried out the ones off my fuggles plant if i'm honest they just smell a bit odd.

Do people tend to find that they grow to the same quality that they buy?
Why is nothing easy

 

[Brewer Gerard]

Do people generally tend to find what comes off their vines as good as what comes from the LHBS.

 

[day_trippr]

I think my Centennial is pretty close to "store bought" wrt bitterness, flavor and aroma, my Chinook is good but only around 70% of typical bittering potential for the strain I guess, and my Cascade is prototypically bitter but not as heady as retailed leaf.

I adjust schedules to compensate and they're all good...

Cheers!

 

[Brewer Gerard]

my Cascade is prototypically bitter but not as heady as retailed leaf.

I adjust schedules to compensate and they're all good...

Cheers!

Yep, my cascades smell just well, not cascade like. In fact they just smell like the rest my hops which is not overly impressive. In fact I'm borderline classifying the fuggles as cheesy as scotty g described earlier.

Am on my own in terms of feeling a bit let down when it comes to homegrown hops

 

[ong]

I noticed a lot more lemon in the bouquet of all three of the hops I harvested this year (nugget, cascade, centennial) than I would expect in store-bought. May have harvested a bit young.