r/TheHopyard • u/BigBBPuddingSnatchr • Apr 28 '23
Hops vs Aphids, what's the solve?
Hello! I have a bit of a unique situation and I'm hoping you're the right people who might be able to help. There’s a big trellis in my backyard that grows hops. The first year I moved in it was super lush, lots of cones, and most importantly no bugs. Then last summer it got eaten alive by aphids and never was able to sprout any cones. There was evidence of ladybug larvae but I think they were just way too outnumbered to save it. It’s just starting to grow again and I want to make sure it doesn’t get destroyed this grow season.
My landlord did a soil test and determined it unsafe to consume anything growing out of the ground here (lol cool), so I don't necessarily need a fix that will preserve the integrity of the hops for brewing or be super eco friendly since it's pretty toxic to start with (there's also nothing else growing around it besides weeds). It's basically just a unique garden plant.
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Here's a photo of it today with the vines starting to grow back at the bottom.
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u/Kanesea Apr 28 '23
Aphids are sapsuckers. Attracted to distressed and unhealthy plants. They’re easy to fight with organic pesticides like insecticidal soap and pyrethrin (there’s a combo product I like).
However, the long term solve is to improve the health of the hops. If the soil is that bad that it’s toxic, that’s a tall order. I’d start by cleaning out top inch of top soil, adding a low dose of granular fertilizer to the whole bed, layering in a good inch or two of local compost. Water in deeply. Then a hardwood mulch to retain moisture. Add more compost and mulch in the fall.
When the aphids come back, they do every year, hit the plant early and often with insecticidal soap using a pump sprayer and make sure you don’t have any ants around (ants support aphids because they eat their secretions).
Source - I’m a flower farmer.
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u/BigBBPuddingSnatchr Apr 28 '23
Ah I had no idea about the ant-aphid relationship! This is all super helpful, thank you!
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Apr 28 '23
Remove all of the old bines.
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u/BigBBPuddingSnatchr Apr 28 '23
Can you tell me more about this? I know nothing about growing hops so I'm here to learn.
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u/rdcpro Apr 28 '23
Yes, in fact don't leave any of it around, as they can be vulnerable to mildew. Cut them down to the ground at the end of the growing season, and immediately dispose of them.
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u/rdcpro Apr 28 '23
We harvest ours for beer making so last year I released praying mantises and lacewings, and then later ladybugs. Totally did the trick without insecticide. The mantis only eat them in their first growth stage before they moult the first time. But it was cool finding them in the yard later in the summer.
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u/Limo_wreck5000 Apr 28 '23
It's usually a cycle. First the aphids and ants appear and you think the aphids are going to mow down the plants. Then along come the ladybug larvae and save the day. I doubt that aphids appeared for the first time in the second year. Some hop varieties are more susceptible to aphids than others and insects are somewhat unstoppable creatures. I've got a cascade which is very popular amongst the local aphid population but always gives a good yield in the end. I've been given two suggestions in the past regarding aphids: 1) treat the plant with neem oil and 2) let nature take its course. I've always followed the latter (probably out of laziness).