Corbeermite
Member
Hi all,
I'm container growing some hops in large, 20 gallon planters, and have run into a bit of a snag. I'm growing two different varieties: Willamette, and Sterling. This is their first year, started in mid-April from rhizomes. The planters were filled with a mix of about 50% potting soil, and 50% compost, mainly composted yard waste and spent grains.
While growth has been good, for the past few weeks, new growth has been pale green in color, and delicate/translucent, with a bit of leaf curl at the margins. Some, but not all, of the newer leaves that form develop yellow spots that seem to eventually become holes or deformations in the leaves. Older leaves are a dark, healthy green, and show no signs of yellowing or curling. There has also been some wilting, but curiously only at night. Both plants perk up nicely during the day. Both plants are showing the same symptoms, but the Sterling is showing symptoms more strongly than the Willamette.
Thinking this might be a case of nutrient deficiency, I applied a mild solution of Miracle Gro, the older 15-30-15 formula, at 1/3 of normal strength. Things seemed to improve for a few days, then worsened slightly. A week later, two days ago, I applied another dose of Miracle Gro at 1/2 of normal strength.
This time, something strange happened: today, 48 hours later, new growth is showing a pronounced yellowing, starting at the center of the leaf, and radiating outwards towards the margins. The same thing is happening on both plants. Many of the topmost leaves are doing the same thing. The older leaves, toward the bottom, remain healthy and dark green, with no signs of yellowing or curling.
I can't quite figure out what's wrong, despite some furious googling and forum reading. The outward radiating yellowing reminds me of iron or sulfur deficiency, but Miracle Gro has both sulfur and iron. The best I can come up with is manganese deficiency caused by a soil pH that's too high, maybe due to our fairly alkaline tap water, but I'm unsure if a manganese deficiency can suddenly intensify so severely. I don't have a way to measure pH beyond some broad range test strips, but the runoff I tested came out approximately neutral. I'm not sure if that casts doubt on high soil pH or not.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to answer any questions, or provide any information I may have missed.
I'm container growing some hops in large, 20 gallon planters, and have run into a bit of a snag. I'm growing two different varieties: Willamette, and Sterling. This is their first year, started in mid-April from rhizomes. The planters were filled with a mix of about 50% potting soil, and 50% compost, mainly composted yard waste and spent grains.
While growth has been good, for the past few weeks, new growth has been pale green in color, and delicate/translucent, with a bit of leaf curl at the margins. Some, but not all, of the newer leaves that form develop yellow spots that seem to eventually become holes or deformations in the leaves. Older leaves are a dark, healthy green, and show no signs of yellowing or curling. There has also been some wilting, but curiously only at night. Both plants perk up nicely during the day. Both plants are showing the same symptoms, but the Sterling is showing symptoms more strongly than the Willamette.
Thinking this might be a case of nutrient deficiency, I applied a mild solution of Miracle Gro, the older 15-30-15 formula, at 1/3 of normal strength. Things seemed to improve for a few days, then worsened slightly. A week later, two days ago, I applied another dose of Miracle Gro at 1/2 of normal strength.
This time, something strange happened: today, 48 hours later, new growth is showing a pronounced yellowing, starting at the center of the leaf, and radiating outwards towards the margins. The same thing is happening on both plants. Many of the topmost leaves are doing the same thing. The older leaves, toward the bottom, remain healthy and dark green, with no signs of yellowing or curling.
I can't quite figure out what's wrong, despite some furious googling and forum reading. The outward radiating yellowing reminds me of iron or sulfur deficiency, but Miracle Gro has both sulfur and iron. The best I can come up with is manganese deficiency caused by a soil pH that's too high, maybe due to our fairly alkaline tap water, but I'm unsure if a manganese deficiency can suddenly intensify so severely. I don't have a way to measure pH beyond some broad range test strips, but the runoff I tested came out approximately neutral. I'm not sure if that casts doubt on high soil pH or not.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to answer any questions, or provide any information I may have missed.