2010 Hop Plantations

[ekul]

I have figured out that my hops don't really like wind, and that is what is stunting them. Either that or chinook is the only variety that can deal with the weather up here. Although i'm pretty sure its the wind as the POR in the wind has done nothing yet the por in the greenhouse is powering away.

Is it too late to plant/transplant hops now?

I have found an area in a paddock that is surrounded by trees so it doesn't get any wind at all. However i will have to fence the area off from cattle and horses. So if they aren't going to grow much i'll wait till next year. Theres some big trees nearby so i'll be able to run some nice long strings from the top if that tree. I have cascade, chinook, por, cluster and hallertau to move over there.

The soil is beautiful over there, can't believe i didn't think of it earlier. A heifer got loose so i had to chase her through the scrub and i found the perfect spot, maybe its fate...

 

[Malted]

It's more the discolouration on the leaves that concern me, they turn brown from the center then start to "dissolve" away but I can see no obvious grey fuzz or spore like areas on the under side of the leaves.

Kind of like this is it?
I can't see what would be making this happen (in terms of spores etc) to mine but have a theory or two.
In my case it could be (1) got too dry whilst I was away (2) burnt off from being over fertilised (slow release stuff and some blood and bone - watered in) when I got back (3) both 1 and 2, (4) something else.

Any hop horticulturists got any ideas?

Most of my Chinook is like this (small plant) but with others it seems to be the younger & smaller leaves which makes me think it was (2) burnt off.

Bloody inch worms of sorts have been giving them a good go over, anyone know who these are and what to spray them with? I have just been looking under leaves and pulling them off and squashing them but they are hard to find until they get big and they've done a lot of munching:

And this is what the bastards have been doing, chewed the entire left lobe off (bird shit on leaf centre; they seem to like sitting on the trellis horizontals ):

And this Chinook leaf is sick AND chewed: Most of the plant is like this but it was the first to poke out but has stalled and is no greater than 30cm high and hasn't grown much in 5 weeks. Since it is so small I reckon it was more susceptible to being burnt by over fertilising?

I companion planted marigolds in the pots with my hops. I thought they attract beneficial insects/predators but it hasn't really worked...

I also have the occasional leaf curling ******* bug:

They are all first year plantings from good sized zomes. The Chinook below was the smallest zome. Even with water crystals in the potting mix, I think it drains too quickly.

Any advice?

 

[hsb]

The Mt Hood of mine has done bugger all too of late mate. About 1-2m growth then nothing! Warm weather should kick start it again. If that warm weather ever arrives....

Same here Raven, the leaves are quite small as per the pictures above your post. (a characteristic of the variety?) But it looks OK, think it is just 'holding' before it starts getting serious, it is still growing and throwing out shoots.

I also picked up and plonked down a Goldings (East Sydney Goldings) and that is going totally bananas, easily growing 6 inches plus a day with up to 15 shoots!

I'll try and put some pictures up next chance I get. They've both had a good feed of 'worm juice that should see them in good stead. Loving the hop growing, gardening never made more sense! :icon_cheers:

 

[jbirbeck]

Kind of like this is it?
I can't see what would be making this happen (in terms of spores etc) to mine but have a theory or two.
In my case it could be (1) got too dry whilst I was away (2) burnt off from being over fertilised (slow release stuff and some blood and bone - watered in) when I got back (3) both 1 and 2, (4) something else.

The caterpillar looks liek your standard white cabbage moth caterpillar. Relax. Pick them off when you see them. I get them all the time, pick them off when they are big and get rid of them. if I can't see them I'm not fussed even after they have chewed through a few leaves. One of two leaves here or there is no big deal. I've found they can't keep up with the growth of the plant and because the eggs are laid on established leaves the caterpillar can't and doesn't attack the new growth.

the leaves - they look burnt to me. Sun burnt, like something has been sprayed on there on a hot day. I've not seen anything like that to be honest even when I've done silly over fertilisation and not watering enough.

 

[Malted]

The caterpillar looks liek your standard white cabbage moth caterpillar. Relax. Pick them off when you see them. I get them all the time, pick them off when they are big and get rid of them. if I can't see them I'm not fussed even after they have chewed through a few leaves. One of two leaves here or there is no big deal. I've found they can't keep up with the growth of the plant and because the eggs are laid on established leaves the caterpillar can't and doesn't attack the new growth.

the leaves - they look burnt to me. Sun burnt, like something has been sprayed on there on a hot day. I've not seen anything like that to be honest even when I've done silly over fertilisation and not watering enough.

Thanks RK. Glad to hear that someone else has grubs too.
The catepillars are quite mobile and get about the plant a bit. Buggers seem to chew a bit of one leaf and move onto another. One pillar seems to chew on quite a few leaves. I'll keep squashing them as I find them (inspections in the morning and evening - SWMBO thinks I am obsessed!). I'll try to relax...

Funny enough the plant that gets the most shade is the one that has the most 'burning', it is also the Chinook that is stunted around 30cm or so.

 

[MaltyHops]

And this Chinook leaf is sick AND chewed: Most of the plant is like this but it was the first to poke out but has stalled and is no greater than 30cm high and hasn't grown much in 5 weeks. Since it is so small I reckon it was more susceptible to being burnt by over fertilising?

I companion planted marigolds in the pots with my hops. I thought they attract beneficial insects/predators but it hasn't really worked...

This could be due to earwigs - I've also had some damage like this without any
signs of caterpillars or other mite type bugs but have a lot of earwigs about,
which others have thought can cause damage like this. DrSmurto and others
have posted some ideas on how to trap and "relocate these buggers earlier on
this thread.

T.

 

[Malted]

This could be due to earwigs - I've also had some damage like this without any
signs of caterpillars or other mite type bugs but have a lot of earwigs about,
which others have thought can cause damage like this. DrSmurto and others
have posted some ideas on how to trap and "relocate these buggers earlier on
this thread.

T.

Sounds a likely bug as I'd expect they'd have to be small bugs if they can't or won't chew throught the ribs/veins of the leaf like the catepillars seem to.

 

[MaltyHops]

HAVE TRELLIS, WILL TRAVEL!
Finally got the bits and pieces yesterday and couple of hours of
sawing and design thinking on the fly, my mobile trellis is almost
ready, just need to glue some of the horizontal pieces. There's
actually more pipe to raise the horiz bar another 1.2m higher but
I just put the pieces together for show n tell.
T.

Well, my trellis and the hop ladies - Hoodie, Saazi, Goldie, Cascie and Chinnie - have
traveled to their new location (hopefully for a few seasons).
T.

 

[AussieJosh]

what sparys do you guys use to kill caterpillers and other little bugs that like to chew on your leafs? They seem to like my cascade....

 

[raven19]

Just remove the caterpillars by hand. Once the hops get going they wont be able to keep up in any case!

 

[manticle]

Probably white oil which you can make yourself or buy. As non-toxic as pesticides get.

 

[bluejed]

what sparys do you guys use to kill caterpillers and other little bugs that like to chew on your leafs? They seem to like my cascade....

give a pyrethrum spray a go, I use this on cherry trees for cherry slug and as it is a natural plant based insecticide it breaks down readily. its available from your local hardware as concentrate mix with water and spray

 

[Kieren]

Probably white oil which you can make yourself or buy. As non-toxic as pesticides get.

I have read white oil works but not used it myself - only critters I have found on my hop plants are a few spiders which I leave so they can eat any other nasties.

Kind of like this is it?
I can't see what would be making this happen (in terms of spores etc) to mine but have a theory or two.
In my case it could be (1) got too dry whilst I was away (2) burnt off from being over fertilised (slow release stuff and some blood and bone - watered in) when I got back (3) both 1 and 2, (4) something else.

Any hop horticulturists got any ideas?

Any advice?

No, not really, though they are some pretty patterns you got going there. Mine is a more dull brown radiating out from the center. It hasn't been too dry here, I water every day unless rain is forecast, the standard off the shelf potting mix I used had some sort of fertilzer in it which I suppliment with a liquid seaweed fertilizer mixed into the watering couple of times a week.

 

[proudscum]

Sounds a likely bug as I'd expect they'd have to be small bugs if they can't or won't chew throught the ribs/veins of the leaf like the catepillars seem to.

looks like over fert to me but i had a look at deficiency as well and this is as close as i could find after 30min search.you could maybe ask Boston to look at the photos as he propagates hops and works in the industry i think.could be and interesting threat to start on bugs and other growing problems we hop farmers face.look at over watering too,to check if they need water grab a handful of soil and squeeze it if it forms a compact ball you dont need to water if it crumbles away then you need to water.

here is a link look at calcium deficency.

http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/min-def/hops.htm

hope this helps

 

[drsmurto]

I've found caterpillars tend to be resistant to most organic sprays. Chilli/garlic/pyrethrum sprays are nothing more than mouthwash to them in my experience.

You normally wouldn't see caterpillars in large numbers so manually picking them off and squishing them is the most effective method i have found.

But like others have said, hops grow like weeds at up to 30 cm a day. I haven't found a bug yet that can keep up with that growth, not even my arch nemesis, the harlequin bug.

The pics of funny coloured leaves don't look like insect damage, more like an issue with either lack of or excess of something in your soil or issues with humidity and fungal growth.

For those in SA there has been an outbreak of downy mildew in the riverland so the wet spring we are having is creating the perfect conditions for it. I've never looked up how you would treat that.

My biggest issue now is due to my very poor foresight. After finally building a trellis the hops have reached the top already (3m) and are waving around in the breeze above. It looks like i will need to get the ladder out after all as they seem to want to grow towards each other so I am going to have to train them afterall. And here i was thinking i had built a low (zero) maintenance trellis.

 

[Nick JD]

My Saaz was growing so much I had to put up some more wires.

But seriously - two things I've noticed is my little chinook doesn't like too much water, or wind. It spent a long while "bulking up" when it got windy and almost went dormant.

It's also responded well to light feeding - and I'll be bumping up the K and P when it starts to flower, which I think we all should.

 

[pk.sax]

My Saaz was growing so much I had to put up some more wires.

Where can I send a pre-paid envelope and $10/kilo?? Bb possible?!

; - )

 

[raven19]

My biggest issue now is due to my very poor foresight. After finally building a trellis the hops have reached the top already (3m) and are waving around in the breeze above. It looks like i will need to get the ladder out after all as they seem to want to grow towards each other so I am going to have to train them afterall. And here i was thinking i had built a low (zero) maintenance trellis.

Chop them off about a foot above the top of the trellis, then wait for the side shoots and subsequent flowers to grow.

 

[AussieJosh]

Update on my hops...

First is Chinhook, then Hersbrucker and the last two are Cascade.


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[beersatan]

what sparys do you guys use to kill caterpillers and other little bugs that like to chew on your leafs? They seem to like my cascade....

I had a lot of those green caterpillars on my cascade last year so I used dipel while the plant was small but once it was up to roof height I didn't bother anymore. I used Dipel because I already had it and it only targets caterpillars and doesn't affect other bugs and it's non-toxic to humans and pets. On the downside, it only lasts a week or two and gets washed off by rain so needs to be sprayed on fairly often. But two satchets made up 10 litres and covered two happy hop plants, a few large kale plants and some silver beet for the whole season.
I wouldn't spray flowers at all.