Whats wrong with this hop plant???

[Paul Fraser]

When i first saw this i thought it must be due to a mineral defficiency(which it still might be). I've since been adding generous amounts of premium fertiliser and it's not looking much better. There are a couple of leaves that are curling around edges. I've been inspecting it regularly and there don't seem to be any beasties on it. Any ideas on whats causing the browning?? Will fertilising help? Anything else i can do??

[Ralph]

Mine is looking a bit tatty at the moment too, but I think mine is all wind damage. My goodness it does blow its arse off in Chch!! Mine is more ripped leaves than the pattern that is on yours and I have no idea what would fix your one.

 

What sort of medium are you growing it in and what sort of prep did you do before you put the plant in??

[Dougal]

Hard to see from the photos, but my first guess is lack of water, coupled with wind or sun damage. Hops put a lot of growth on very fast, and it takes a while for that growth to become tough enough to cope with hot windy days. Make sure you water deeply and less often (not so easy with the sprinkler ban), which will encourage the roots to go down looking for moisture, and keep a heavy mulch on. Alternatively, red spider mites tend to target stressed plants, so keep the water up.

If you have a nice manure/compost rich soil you shouldn't need to worry about nutrient deficiencies, and it will help retain moisture. 

[Barbara Joppa]

My first thought was slugs or snail damage. But I can not be sure from the photo. They are nocturnal so check at night with a torch. I would go easy on the fertilizer but make sure it gets plenty of water. You can burn your plants with too much nitrogen. And I agree about mulching. 

Good luck 

[Hugh Grierson]

Its not mineral deficiency, that's a whole plant problem usually and pretty unlikely . Something is burning the leaves, could be sunshine (water droplets on center of leaf magnification action) fert burn, wind burn or a combination of. Insects usually leave holes or bite marks, 3 spotted mites suck out individual cells and make tiny little clear dead spots. Root problems are visable around the stems and the base of leaves, that's a bigger issue. I reckon stop adding fert (did you get any on the leaves?= Fert Burn ) and keep the soil moist, cut any really rough leaves off..

&

Have a beer

[jt]

Yep, I'm not a hop grower, but the leaves look healthy apart from the patches. Like Hugh says, if it was a plant probelm, the whole leaf or plant would be looking unhealthy. I'd reckon the wind/ water/sun problem. Possible insects though I don't know what they might suffer and the effects ... any hop growers ot there wth advice

[Ray]

Looks to me like nute burn probably from over fertilizing

[Paul Fraser]

It can't be from over fertilising cos i hadn't ever used any on it until after i saw the brown marks. It was only after seeing the marks that i thought i'd better go and get some. Hugh - i reckon you might be right about it being burnt from water/sun. About a week before i noticed the marks, i had just a couple of aphids on it so sprayed the leaves with a water, detergent and garlic spray mixture so i'm thinking that solution coupled with sun was to blame. I did spray them in the evening which is why it didn't occur to me but from what everyone else is saying i think it may be the cause. No need to worry then, less fertiliser, keep watering, add some kind of mulch such as compost and ..have a beer. Cheers folks

[Ralph]

I think you are right that the detergent/garlic mix is what did it. Not hard to burn them with something like that...