Humulus lupulus ( hops )

[watertrade]

Hi Guys,

I don't know why I didn't ask earlier but for the last few months I have been nursing a few variety of hops - they don't look particularly healthy -

I dug them up when they were not doing well in the ground - I put them in large pots with a standard potting mix. They thrived for a little while then started developing brown leaves as below. I thought it could be an iron deficiency but didn't respond to iron. I have tried liquid seaweed fertilisers but it doesn't seem to do much. They might have improved for a day or so.

The browning starts between the veins on the leaves

I want to get them healthy before winter dormancy.

Any ideas? Not nutes but something else?

[Auxin]

Interveinal yellowing isnt always iron. If there is a sharp distinction between green and yellow (like green stripe-yellow stripe) its probably iron (which you seemingly ruled out), if there is no clear distinction its probably magnesium deficiency. Magnesium deficiency can also cause white, gray, or brown spots or streaks on many plants. Epsom salts is hydrated magnesium sulfate.

Also be sure to use a magnifying glass on the under sides of the leaves.. the roots too if you happen to transplant another one.

[worowa]

Over watering or under watering? They do grow into big vines, I reckon they'ld do better in the ground.

[chilli]

I reckon they'ld do better in the ground.

I dug them up when they were not doing well in the ground

:D

Sry, just mucking around... I would've thought that they'd be better out of pots as well though, actually.

Edited March 10, 2008 by IllegalBrain

[PD.]

Auxin beat me to it

Just dissolve a teaspoon or three of epsom salts in litre of water and use that. You should see results from this remedy very fast if it is a magnesium deficiency.

Edited March 11, 2008 by Passive Daemon

[Vertmorpheus]

woops... snip. I'll put this here instead... can't find a StimAntag chart online, dodgy or what...

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

VM

Edited March 11, 2008 by Vertmorpheus

[Vertmorpheus]

Once you get some soluble Mg running around, there's a good chance it will let the plant take up a lil more iron anyways...so called Gardenia Complex... a lot of people treat calcium, magnesium, iron as a kind of holy trinity... once you get a hassle with one, you can usually find signs of another and the third isn't far away. Epsom will work wonders int he short term, and for short lived plants, annuals etc a couple of drinks usually is enough, but if you want to keep em healthy you really need a longer term source... a dolomite/blood n bone combo and something to up your microorgs to break it down, etc. Nitrogen gets caught up in it all too, the BnB is a great source of that or you can look into prilled Calcium Nitrate, lovely stuff for those heavy feeders. Throwing an inch of good compost in the top of the pot every few weeks when theyre cranking helps, esp when it has a lot of eggshells or oyster shells added.

Sometimes with vines, by the time you notice a problem and then try to help em out its easier for the plant (once u take steps to correct the def.) to just drop the leaves that were a lot of effort to rebuild internally and just concentrate on new leaves.

Vine plants need a LOT of feeding as a rough rule, and a lot of the minerals get used up just trying to transport things all the way from the roots to the tips esp during flowering and the early part of the growing season when theyre really working hard.

To really get a feel for what a plant is going thru, it helps to get hold of something called the Stimulation-Antagonism Chart... not as kinky as it sounds though it is useful... basically this enneagram looking thing that shows how a shortage of this tends to cause a shortage in that, application of element x causes better uptake of y and z... I'll hunt up mine and post it sometime, it's one of the handiest thing's I've ever found.

Commercial potting mixes are lovely but they're really not designed for serious long term container cultivation of anything demanding, thats why the same mob that sells the bagged bark also sells the Super Deluxe Magic Fertiliser ;) They know about midseason things start to look poo and before you know it you're basically growing hydroponically and in the least efficient way possible.

Mmmmm...hops....don't think about beer, don't think about beer....doh!

VM

[Lachy]

My hops seem to be suffering in a similar fashion. I'm currently growing mine in tubs, and I'm now trialling the liquid seaweed fertilliser (in my experience, it seems to be good all-purpose tonic for plants that seem to be suffering), so I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread.

I have heard that the warm weather is inducing an "early autumn" leafdrop among decidious species, so I am wondering if that may partially be a cause here.

[Boomshankar!]

Growing them in the ground seems to be the way to go. A friend of mine has a few vines growing which he plans to use for starting a micro brew.



Has anyone tried growing hops in NNSW area? I know they need long daylight hours but not sure if we get enough sun here.