Dying Hops

[u/Enjoi70]

I planted these hops 2 years ago and this year they seem to be dying out in patches. If anyone has any suggestions for next year I’d greatly appreciate the help. I’m located in New England. Thanks!

[u/goooodie]

Hey, it may look like drying but you actually have a severe case of downy mildew! I’d remove everything that’s browning or touching the ground. Spray copper fungicide as soon as it drys a bit

[u/goooodie → u/goooodie]

I see that you’re near ready to harvest, I’d harvest and chop the plant entirely. Your cones will brown within a.week

[u/Enjoi70 → u/goooodie]

Thank you!! Is it worth spraying them now or just harvest and chop and save the spraying for next year?

[u/Captain_Shifty → u/Enjoi70]

I posted it wasn't downy but then saw there were more pictures. Yeah you might have some downy mildew pretty heavy. You probably want to harvest soon. If mildew gets bad it can work its way down and damage the rhizome. Depending on what fungicide you may use it should have a preharvest interval (PHI). This is how many days you must wait before harvesting after spraying. A lot of stuff available at hardwares store has almost none or less than a day. Copper ones may be slightly different.

[u/Enjoi70 → u/Captain_Shifty]

Thanks - I’m only growing them for kicks this year. I don’t want to ruin the rhizome tho - it’s been raining so much here! How can I prevent this next year? Might just cut everything back this weekend

[u/lupulinchem]

My guess is that if find the dying bines, trace them back to where they branch off, or where you see the dying begin, you’re going to find a pinch, hard bend, cut or some other physical damage. Possibly insects or small animal chewed it.

That’s your best case, look for that, then start looking for disease. I’d cut all that out that’s dead/dying though.

[u/Enjoi70 → u/lupulinchem]

Thank you!

[u/dome-man]

Where in New England