Hop Growing 2009

[nanobrewer]

Amazing how quick they grow. The fuggles is about 5ft now for the tallest bine. The Cobbs is catching up quickly shade under 5 ft. Look quite nice too with the 4 bines on each branching up and outwards.

[Walrus81]

Hello,

Hopefully someone can help.

My Fuggles plant has 3 bines, shooting up at an incredible speed

However on one of the bines the leafs have a sort of rust, looks like the leaves are starting to die, a bit difficult to describe, I will dig out the camera and take a pic.

Anyone else had this, the plant is still growing, so I might just remove the suspect leaves tomorrow morning.

Many thanks.

[WishboneBrewery]

Check for greenfly or Spider mites under the leaves first, if there are no beasties (Mites can be (Bloody Small) almost invisible!) Next is some sort of fungus / mildew... which you can get spray stuff from garden centres to sort out.

[SiHoltye]

I did a stupid thing earlier in the season by watering my Fist Gold using the watering can after it had Pathclear weedkiller in it without washing it out thoroughly. At the time the 3 pairs of leaves on each of the 3 bines it had on it browned at their edges and over 10 days shrivelled up completely. Fortunately the plant had enough strength to continue growing the tips of the bines and new leaves came, and now it's over the whole incident.

[fivetide]

We're really pleased with progress on our WGV, Fuggles and Bramling thus far.

I've posted an update with a few pics

[WishboneBrewery]

Looking really good... my WGV has decided to die, after trying to live, after killing its self... Poorly plant, never had a good start.
Whereas my Fuggle and Challenger are doing well

[fivetide]

That's a shame pdtnc -- the WGV seems quite a rampant triffid of a hop.

[Chiltern Brewer]

I took these pictures about two weeks ago but never got around to posting them until now.

Since then I have stripped the lower 2-3 feet of leaves and pinched out the lateral shoots (between leaf joints and stem) on growth below 4-5 feet. The idea is to concentrate the hops on the top half of the bines where they will get the sun. I'm after quality rather than quantity and also ease of picking.

Clearing the lower leaves is suppose to minimise the risk of mildew, but I'm finding it makes it easier to keep the ground around the bines tidier and to pull up unwanted shoots. My new hop plants have been left alone as far has leaf stripping goes.

I've given the old bines a top dressing of blood, fish and bone this week. Growth is very vigorous, helped I think by restricting the bines to 5-6 stems. They are now all growing along the top support line (washing line suspended between hanging basket brackets) where I find I have to tie them in as it held away from the fence panels. However I can move the string after a few days of growth.

Challenger:



Transplanted Cobb Golding:



Original Cobb Golding and Fuggle (foreground):



Prima Donna (First Gold):

[Walrus81]

Ok, update on my hops, turns out that I have a blackfly infestation

However over the past few days I've been spraying with a weak solution of fairy liquid and squashing all the others off that I can see.

Finally I'm getting on top of it

Also there is the "Bob Flowerdew" method of putting a blob of jam on the ground near said infested plant. The rationale being ants eat the honey dew produced by the aphids. The ants then discover the jam and think that the aphids will steal their sugar, so attack the aphids

Not too sure about the jam method, but can't hurt.

Hopefully if someone else gets blackfly then this will help them!

Also just found this:

milk has the same effect,...
rhubarb leaves left in a bucket of water for a week, poured into a watering can at a ratio of 20:1 poured over the black fly also works. On top of that if there are ants farming the aphids you can put down a blob of jam, the ants will stop farming the aphids for there sweet secretions and eat the jam instead, on top of that they will also start killing the aphid to stop them eating the jam. Thanks to Bob Flowerdew for that one.

Ladybirds and lacewings can be bought and introduced, they both have a huge appetite for aphids. Try planting tansy or yarrow as both will attract ladybirds.

Yellow flowers like marigolds will attract predatory pollinating insects like hover flies which will eat the aphids.

[WishboneBrewery]

I'd reach for the chemical weapons personally... Kill maim destroy!
You could always try Neem oil, its good for Aphids and Mites, maybe blackfly too... Neem Oil disrupts their breeding, its organic but not an instant fix, smells like old onions! mmmm

[CIT]

my poor WGV that came from APLUS seems to be slowly killing its self though my Fuggle and Challenger are starting off well.

pdtnc, note you've had problems with a plant from APlus. My WGV is just about surviving, the Challenger and Progress I think are dead, all from APLUS. By contrast I also bought some plants from Deacon Nursery this year which are now 10ft high!

[Phill]

My Fuggles and Challenger have been suffering from Black fly and Green fly. The Black fly seems to like sitting at the ends of the vines and ive sprayed them with fairy liquid a couple of times when they get really bad. The green fly seems to like the underside of the older leaves. But I've been cutting most of them off to promote new growth and let some air in. I want to keep away from insecticides as they will kill everything good or bad. My hops seem to be a constant battle ground of aphids versus everything else, not many hover fly’s around this year but recently these turned up.



I dont think aphids could do too much damage to a health hop planet in the end, its mildew im worried about.

[WishboneBrewery]

Looks like one of the Good guys there, isn't that a Ladybird lava?

[Phill]

Yes I should have put that, the ladybirds and there lava have moved in. I dont know how many aphids these things eat but I bet its a lot.

[haz66]

I bought my hop rizomes from APlus and 3 are doing really well Progress, Fuggle and Northdown but
my Challenger is just about dead, it took off ok in the pot but decided it didn`t like being transplanted
into the garden, and it was the Challenger that i wanted to grow more than the rest, for my Coniston
Bluebird clone, but i`m just glad that the other 3 are doing ok.