Hop leaves dry and brittle

[mbtech]

Ok, I am growing a Chinook and it sprouted and started to take off. At about 2.5", the leaves started curling upwards, and now the lower leaves are extremely dry and crumble when touched. Any ideas? Too much direct sunlight drying out the plant? I am watering enough because the soil stays moist with no mold. I am growing in Phoenix.

 

[SnaX]

Where do you live? Possibly not enough water, as it's so early in the year that I doubt it's hot enough outside to burn plants.

Otherwise, I would say the soil was not prepared properly, but since it was growing fine earlier, the plant could be sick?

I'm just throwing ideas out there: Where are the es'perts?

 

[JAG410]

I'm in Phoenix too, and my chinook is about the same size, but doing really well. How's your soil? What did you amend it with?

 

[mbtech]

its a mix of potting soil and mulch about 50/50 from home depot. i water it every couple days or so. it seems to stay moist, but im afraid to overwater. how often do you water?

 

[mbtech]

I'm in Phoenix too, and my chinook is about the same size, but doing really well. How's your soil? What did you amend it with?

I was wondering, do you use filtered water or just tap?

 

[JAG410]

Good ol' Mesa tap water, on a drip irrigation system that runs every morning at 4am for 6 minutes. This works for my whole garden (veggies and hops). I'm sure I'll have to adjust the timing when it gets warmer.

 

[mbtech]

Good ol' Mesa tap water, on a drip irrigation system that runs every morning at 4am for 6 minutes. This works for my whole garden (veggies and hops). I'm sure I'll have to adjust the timing when it gets warmer.

Well, I am in a rental house up in the northeast valley and have the rhizome in a 18 gallon pot. I bought a dechlorinator for the hose, but i may switch to straight carbon filtered water for a little while at least. I moved this thing into the shade to see how it works out.

 

[fred_zepp]

i had the same thing happen last year. i believe it was a combo of three things (partially based on what i read here):
1. too much sun - it was already warm when i planted and i had three or four plants put up shoots and leaves which consequently shriveled up. The ones that had a little shade to start with did okay.
2. not enough water. i was afraid of over-watering too. this year, i transplanted two plants and cut 8 more rhizomes. the two plants are getting one gallon a day, the others (not sprouted yet) are getting 1/2 gal per day. my soil drains well and it had been sunny.
3. planting too late in the season (mid-may) which is not one of your problems.

my cascade plant is doing pretty good, but it is already showing signs of nitrogen deficiency. it did not have mulch in the mound when i transplanted it - i was in a hurry. i have since applied very small amounts of 10-10-10 twice. i understand lots of nitrogen is needed when these plants are small - they are building up root systems...a butt-load of roots. it looks like a small plant on the surface, but there is a lot more going on down below.

check out the freshops.com site... there is guide (with pics) as to what the different types of deficiencies look like, as well as fungus and other pests.

 

[magnj]

Thanks for the link, some of my leaves are curling down and are a little brittle. I guess I should water more? There are in potting mix in the window.

 

[steinsato]

mbtech, did you ever figure this problem out? I'm in New Mexico and I'm having the same problem. They do well til about 2-3 inches tall then just shrivel and die within 24 hours.