Name my problem: First Year Hops, stunted growth

[GoldenHomebrew]

Hey guys,

This is my first year growing hops and so far everything has been ok. I have 3 plants going strong (2 Cascade, 1 Mt. Hood), lost 2 and then 1 that is hanging on but not looking good.

It is a Centennial rhizome from Nikobrew and I'm located in Golden, Colorado.





It started off great with 2 shoots coming up but then the plant growth slowed and it started to look like it was dying.

I made sure to take extra care of it by making sure it was sufficiently watered 1-2 times/day, morning and night. And then last weekend I picked up some BioBloom off a suggestion add some during my regular watering.

It hasn't got any better but it hasn't got any worse in the past 2 weeks.

Is the plant dead? Any ideas on what happened? Will it come back next year?


Thanks for your time!

Jason

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

1-2 time/day is WAY too much. Hops are notorious for root rot. Cut it back to once every 2-days in hot weather.

My homebrewing friend grows Cascade successfully in SC and he uses 1 gallon per day per plant in very hot+sunny 100F+ weather. At 1-2 "time/day", you're probably using much more than that.

I'd probably back it down to 1/2 gallon every other day in CO, especially with soil that stays damp.

MC

 

[GoldenHomebrew]

Thanks MC!

My first reaction was to water more since the leaves looked like they were drying out. It just rained twice in the last couple days so I'll hold off on watering until Friday night or Saturday morning and see how it goes.

 

[tgmartin000]

Waay too much water. I water once a week. Mulch them well, and since they are new, water every other day.

Edit- once the real summer gets here, I'll probably water more, but generally not too much. I'd lay off the fertilizer too.

 

[ninety3oc]

Overwatering

 

[Chadwick]

I haven't grown hops before, however, I imagine their needs are similar too other plants closely related. When I was a whipper snapper, I could grow those pretty good. Google is your friend.

 

[smonteton]

I have always found it best to let them dry out between waterings 2-5 days. This will also makes the roots "stretch". Then water them really good and slow , you want the soil to be completely soaked...... but make sure it drys out !
Think about breathing you have to take a full breath (watered fully) than exhale (dry out completely) and continue the cycle . IDK maybe that helps.

 

[GoldenHomebrew]

Hey guys. I just wanted to reach out to everyone who responded and say thank you! I switched my watering to every other day, mornings only and my Centennial is coming back and my other plants are flourishing!

I really appreciate the help.