Hops getting too much water or something else?

[alers22]

I live in Richmond, VA and over the last 3 weeks we have had quite a bit of rain to the point that I have not hand watered my hops for fear of over watering. Over the last week I have noticed that the leaves at the ground have been yellowing/browning and all of the thick foliage at the base of the plants has been eliminated leaving only the bare bine. The bines are all 10-15 feet high at this point and seem "normal" with the exception of at the ground level. There is even new growth in both containers. These are Mt. Hood and Cascades.

Did these simply get too much rainfall or is this due to something else. I have not discovered any bugs either.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[cperry7467]

Could be fertilizer burn, did you use any fertilizer?

 

[alers22]

I did add some Nitrogen about 3 weeks ago(sparingly I thought). I didn't think of fertilizer burn.

 

[cperry7467]

Yea, that'd be my guess. Hopefully all the rain has washed most of the nitrogen away and they'll be ok. You can try overwatering a bit for 2-3 days to help flush it out, then go back to normal watering and see how it does. Go easy on the fertilizer, I rarely use any on mine, just need some patience. Gotta be really careful with it.

 

[Hopfarmer]

Also it looks like you may have some spider mites Cheers Glen

 

[badbrew]

I suspect that your soil is too dense and/ or toxic from manure or something else. What's the mix? Also consider raising the pot on a couple boards to leave the drain free at the bottom. It may be plugged by sitting on the ground.

 

[alers22]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

 

[cram]

I'm with badbrew that there's a good chance your pots aren't draining and the hops have been drowned by all the rain and watering. Lift the pots up, check where the drain hole is on the pots, and make sure water is coming out of the bottom when you water. Maybe have the pots straddle something...

With hops-roots becoming monsters, drilling a two or three 1/2-1" holes on the bottom isn't a bad idea...they tend to stop up the hole on their own over time even if the pots are elevated.

 

[brian2can]

I concur with cram and badbrew

 

[kellanv]

If you look at the margins of the leaves (the outside edge) you will notice a dark brown border between the lighter brown dead portion of the leaf and the green. That dark brown line is almost always a sign of overwatering/anoxia.

I've also seen bines start to drop leaves at the bottom of the plant to allow more growth at the top. In hop farms they typically remove the bottom few feet (not exceeding 25% of the total height) to minimize moisture-based disease issues. I would clean all the yellow/brown leaves from the bottom to prevent the spread of any diseases.