Hops Stopped Growing

[Wolfman86]

Hey guys, ive planted some cascade hop rhizomes (in a large pot) late August before i went on holidays for 5 weeks, i set up a watering timer to water for 2minutes every three days. I returned to find 3 had sprouted, the largest about 20 cm the other 2 bout 2cm. They have since stopped growing and leaves feel very dry, also the bottom leaves are turning yellow with brown patches on them and to be honest the plant itself is not exactly growing like a vine (its quite rigid) and ive tried to find photos on the web matching mine and cant find a single one. i added some seasol liquid fertiliser today but id just thouhgt i throw it out there for some thoughts. Cheers!

When I first got home

 

[wereprawn]

Get the water into them. Same thing happened to mine last year. When they say they need a lot of water, they need a LOT of water. The lead up to the Wet is worst. Been giving mine a good watering twice a day.

 

[HardEight]

1st year growth can be minimal..
I had the same sorta thing last year with a 1st year cascade.. It barely grew at all..
This year it's looking much better, already a couple of metres.
Don't stress, next year will be better.

 

[Mardoo]

Yep, more water for sure. Once leaves were up I give mine a solid soaking every five days until they start to stretch. I've gotten some of the weeping hose and leave it on as low as possible for 12 hours a day in the high growth season, then cut back the water to every other day once the flowers are reaching completion. They're river-bottom plants, so they LOOOOOOOVE water!

However it's not uncommon for them to put up a couple bines at the start and then to stall for up to a few weeks, at least down here in VIC.

 

[Wolfman86]

i was reluctant to water it too much because "dont water them too much" is the thing i read the most, but ill start watering more.
HardEight did you get any cones on your first year cascade.

 

[wereprawn]

That may be just when they are in there dormant stage. We get an average of around a meter of rain from jan-mar here and my hops went much better then.

 

[Mardoo]

As long as the roots aren't sitting in water a reasonably huge amount of water is fine. Good drainage is key.

 

[DU99]

Mulch helps.

 

[HardEight]

i was reluctant to water it too much because "dont water them too much" is the thing i read the most, but ill start watering more.
HardEight did you get any cones on your first year cascade.

no.. it barely grew a foot or 2

 

[hoppy2B]

I have a first year Columbus in the ground that has stalled at a similar height to yours Wolfman, but mine is a bit greener than yours.

Virtually all first year plants come up and then stall. The only one that didn't have much of a stall for me was Saaz.

2 minutes twice a week on a drip system like the one you have installed wouldn't put on much water at all. Hops need a good penetrating soak. Give them a full watering can twice a week at this stage of the year, especially if the weather is warm. You could get away with half a can if its really cool down South, but considering you are in Brisbane you would definitely need more.

 

[Wolfman86]

When you say stall do you mean stop then start back up again or stop completely

 

[Mardoo]

All my first years stalled and then re-started. Most didn't do much more than produce some frilly greenery and a couple flowers. My Victoria and Cascade each produced about 75 grams dried in their first year. I just focus on strengthening the rhizome in the first year. It seems to work because my second year hops go apeshit.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

A lot of plants that depend on a good root system will not do any good in the first year, 7 year beans doesn't produce much in the first year, rhubarb and horseradish after 2 years.

 

[hoppy2B]

When you say stall do you mean stop then start back up again or stop completely

Yeah, as Mardoo said, they stall and start back up again. They should start growing again soon.

I've done quite well on first year plants most of the time. As long as the rhizome you planted is of a reasonable size and you feed and water it well you should do ok. You will need to train up a good number of bines if you want any chance of a good yield.

I took around 300-400 grams dried weight off a Victoria that I started as a shoot in spring. So that wasn't even a rhizome!

 

[Wolfman86]

Cheers guys thanks for the info, ill up the amount of water and see how they go.