Hop aphids cause enough stress to turn plant male?

sukkafree · Jun 26, 2015

My first year perle has grown great since day 1 . It was the first to the top, but i noticed alot of aphids on this particular plant.... Can they stress a plant enough to turn it male? The burrs that are starting to form dont look like normal.... And from a little googling looks to be the start of a male...... I can attach a pic tomorrow.... But heres a recent pic of there growth!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1435369377.509878.jpg

sandyeggoxj · Jun 26, 2015

Do they look like this? These are male parts.

nagmay · Jun 26, 2015

Edit: sorry, below I was referring to the 2nd pic. Didn't realize that was posted as an example by someone else (view on my phone was a bit wonky).

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I don't know the cause, but those are undeniably male flowers. Some varieties are prone to throwing male flowers. My cascade does it almost every year, but still puts off a ton of cones.

sukkafree · Jun 26, 2015

sandyeggoxj said:
Do they look like this? These are male parts.

They are starting to look like that here is a pic of what i can reach without a ladderView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1435376944.082248.jpg View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1435376944.082248.jpg

sukkafree · Jun 26, 2015

I may be over reacting..... But my 2nd year hops dont look like this...

B-Hoppy · Jun 27, 2015

The differences in appearance between first and second year plants can be pretty drastic. You've got a week or so before you'll actually be able to tell what type of 'parts' those will produce and even if you determine that they're male, you still have another week or two to decide what you're gonna do with them as it takes that long (or longer) before they begin to open up and throw pollen. Most of the time the sidearms on first year plants can be very much less developed as opposed to what you'll see once they've had a year or two to mature. Let us know what happens!