Hop leaves all have holes in them already?

[Pelican521]

Hi all, I have my third year cascade and centennial coming up nicely, they are a little over 6 feet now but the leaves are full of holes. I went out early in the morning and didn't see any critters on or under them so I don't know what's doing the damage

I picked up some insecticidal soap this morning, do you think that will help or any other suggestions?

Thx in advance!

 

[SnakeRidge]

I have problems with flea beetles. They leave little holes like you say and they are real hard to see. The soap should help but I find diatomaceous earth works well for me. Try the soap for a week and see if the new growth stays hole free but keep the DE in mind

 

[Pelican521]

Here's a pic if what some of the leaves look like. I still don't see any bugs of the fronts or backs. I did an application of the insecticidal soap.

Any idea on what it could be? Is it definitely bug related or could it be nutrition based?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1432564627.002474.jpg

 

[PapaBearJay]

@Pelican521 Check at different times of the day and different places on the plant. If you cannot detect the presence of any insects, my next question is this...Is this in a high-wind exposed area, as this is also a potential factor. The truth is, that whether the damage is biotic or abiotic, it's not likely reducing the plant's overall fitness and ability to produce carbohydrates. If you're truly concerned, you can always give the plant a weekly boost of fertilizer to offset any damage done.

 

[Yoseff]

Is this on all of your leaves or just in a certain section? The way the borders of the holes are discolored almost makes me think it's a bacterial infection.

 

[Pelican521]

Ok, I guess I'm just paranoid after having an aphid infestation when I harvested this past season. I'll check again later today for bugs. Yesterday I built up some mounds of manure around them and will get on track with some sort of fertilizer.

 

[day_trippr]

That's definitely bug damage, and the brown edges suggest it happened a few days before the pictures were taken. I'd be looking for tiny blackish caterpillars on the undersides of the leaves, and hit the plants with something appropriate like BT or Sevin...

Cheers!

 

[Pelican521]

Aha! I did see one very small black caterpillar yesterday. My thought was how could a tiny caterpillar do so much damage! I ended up spraying with incecticidal soap, would that do the trick DT?

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, it's amazing something not a lot bigger than an 18 point comma can mess up a leaf like that. But, they generally work in squads

I honestly don't know for certain if an insecticidal soap will kill those things but it can't hurt. I do use soap on thrips, mites and aphids, never tried it on those tiny caterpillars.

I'd take a good look around at the adjacent, undamaged leaves now, then keep an eye on those for the next week. If you're not seeing additional damage you probably killed that batch, but if you continue to see holes being carved in leaves I'd go for BT or Sevin - both of which I've used with success in the past...

Cheers!

 

[Pelican521]

Great, thanks for the tips!

Oh, what is BT?