Yellowing Leaves at bottom of plants

[MarkyP]

Hey guys. First year hop grower. Got some tettnang growing in the garden. Got these plants sent from Germany when they were really small and transplanted into the ground. Some of the leaves at the bottom of the plants have gone a bit yellow and dead looking just down at the bottom of the plant, Not sure what is causing this. The leaves on the rest of the plant seem fine, although the plant doesn’t seem to be as dark a shade of green it was when it was smaller. Should I remove the yellow and dead looking leaves near the bottom or leave them on. Any ideas for what it could be?

overall the plants are growing super fast, couple of inches a day it seems.

Weather was quite warm and dry but now quite warm and wet

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I got the same thing on my hops and after searching with my reading glasses I found them.
Potato hoppers.
tiny as hell.
I have a sprayer and neem oil coming and currently have insecticidal soap.
I intend to use both to try and get rid of them.

 

[Kaz15]

Someone else posted a similar thread recently. The consensus seems to be that it’s pretty normal for the bottom leaves to yellow and drop off. The plant is pushing all of it’s energy towards the top of the plant sacrificing the lower leaves. Which isn’t a huge deal since the bottom leaves are normally stripped anyway.

All of my plants have done this to varying degrees over the years. If ALL of the leaves start turning yellow, then you have a problem.

One final thought, it’s possible that the yellowing could be related to a nutrient deficiency or poor watering schedule (too much or too little). My cascade has always had it’s older/lower leaves drop off, yet always produces incredible harvests. This year however, it seems to be losing fewer leaves. I’ve been more diligent about watering and fertilizing. But it also could be that mature plants are simply better able to support more foliage. Perhaps older, established plants have a more effective uptake of water and nutrients.