Hops

[prieff]

Does anyone else have their hops plants chest level tall already?

I have 2nd year cascades and magnum. They are going like crazy. I checked and they were only 6 inches tall on May 15th last year. Now they are chest high first week of April!

I did 2 runners per line and 2 lines per plant last year. I am wondering how many you guys do? I have read books on hops and lots of posts and the common recommendation is 2-3 runners per line but they never really say how may lines per plant. I am planning on 3 runners with 3 lines for the cascades.

Any thoughts? And ya... I covered them all up last night. Protect my precious....

Paul

[bf514921]

i have a well established nugget hop that is going crazy, i ran 4 runners last yeah and had more than i nac handle, i kept the rest of the runners trimmed weel, i keep my hops in a 20 gallon tub, full of manure. chest high yeah, they like this early warm weather.

[davidw]

My Cascade are approximately 6 feet right now and Mt. Hood around 5'.

[prieff]

I am worried about the freeze next few days. I will be out of town tues night most likely. Have you guys covered yours this year yet?

[davidw]

I doubt that the temps will stay at or below freezing long enough to hurt hops. At least that has been my experience in past years.

[bf514921]

i would be suprised, hops are really hearty

[prieff]

The freeze right after Easter and then the very strong winds we had did a number on my hops. They have sprung back pretty well but something is clearly eating the leaves. I am also seeing some shoots with the tops just withered off.

I cannot see any bugs but something is clearly eating holes and then whole leaves.

Does anyone have any advice? If I could see spider mites or aphids or some kind of insect anywhere I would have a starting place. I suppose it is early enough I could just douse the whole works with insecticide... may have to anyway.

How are your guys hops doing?

BTW....the brand new rhizomes I have in pots in the same area of the other hops do not seem to be affected. Maybe I have some kind of nutrient deficiency??

Paul

[davidw]

My Cascade have went over the top of the 12' trellis and are heading back down to the ground. The Mt. Hood arent' far behind.

[tony b]

While I haven't seen any flying around yet this spring, Japanese Beetles are notorious for munching on hop plants. This is from a post by John Buck from last year:

I just read a flyer from Iowa State Extension about Jap Beetles. They have found that the traps definately catch about one third of the beetles they attract. Multiple traps are more effective but must be placed at least 50 ft from plants or landscape you wish to protect. Lawn treatment for the grubs (milky spore) does kill the grubs "In YOUR Lawn" but the beetles are strong fliers.
Evidently these two methods would be effective if Everybody were using them. Sevin dust works well but must be reapplied every third day and makes the plant look bad. (White dust) A hose end sprayer with a persistant insecticide is most effective but also is hard on bees and some birds that eat the other dead insects.
Tough choices.
_________________
Brother John Brewing
The Monk at the Marion Monastary

[Matt F]

If you live outside of the city limits you can get some guineas. They eat the crap out of those beetles. They also love tics and most other insects. They are loud and sound odd though.

[Steven P]

Neem oil is another choice to control insects. You can get it at Frontier on Blairs Ferry last I checked. It's non-toxic I believe.

[bf514921]

guineas are great, and make a good burgaler alarm