# Are my hop plants f****?



## popmedium (26/11/14)

Hey guys!

My first year planting hops and I thing. At least one of them is in trouble and has stopped growing. It started with little caterpillars eating the leaves. I picked most of them off but it's a continual campaign. Since then the vine has stopped growing any higher and the leaves turn very brittle and fall off. Photos below and any advice much appreciated


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## _Mick_ (26/11/14)

Hey mate,

Its my first year growing too and i've found similar problems, I was able to overcome the bugs with tomato dust from bunnings and the stunted growth with a combo of seasol and powerfeed liquid fertilizers. 
Within a couple of days I had new growth and the bines now look great. 
Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mick


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## popmedium (27/11/14)

You're an absolute legend. Buying today! Will report back


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## wynnum1 (27/11/14)

Exclusion Net may be worth looking at when small Polly tunnel used for vegetables.


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## _Mick_ (27/11/14)

Just make sure you dilute the fert properly, don't want to burn the roots.


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## yum beer (27/11/14)

+1 for seasol and powerfeed, alternate 1 each week.
Spray seasol on the leaves, will help to keep the bugs off....obviously not in the middle of a hot day.


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## hoppy2B (27/11/14)

Hi Joel,

Your potting mix / soil looks a bit low in the pot(s). I assume that's a couple of different plants you have put up pictures of. Pots can loose a lot of their nutrients to leaching.

I've noticed with hop plants that the more they're watered the more they tend to grow. If they're not watered in sufficiently quantity or not often enough they can stop growing. 

Chuck half a bucket of dynamic lifter pellets into each pot and water them often, especially in hot weather. Seasol and Powerfeed will help as well. Hops in pots will grow best if you water several times a day to keep the soil nice and moist but not with enough water so it runs out of the bottom excessively and leaches too many nutrients out.

If any of the plants is really not growing you could cut it back to ground level and it should re-shoot. May be worth trying as an experiment.

As far as the eaten leaves go, I wouldn't worry about it. My hop plants get eaten but it doesn't affect the yield. I don't know why people worry about a few eaten leaves. Its fairly normal for some of the older leaves to dry as well. If they are growing well and healthy they shouldn't get eaten as much.


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