[chinaski]

The reason why I asked is because I have been experiencing slow growth and the same kind yellowing.  The day and nighttime temperatures here have been swinging wildly enough the I am positive that my hop hills cannot decide if it is spring, summer, fall, or winter.

I doubt that the plants are in any way confused about the season.  Temperate zones have very predictable day lengthening in Spring no matter what the temperatures do.  My plants in Vermont see huge swings in temps (frost to high 80's) and don't exhibit these symptoms.  I don't know what the cause is, however.  Because I'm not a commercial grower, I tend not to stress too much about pests and diseases on my plants.

[S. cerevisiae]

your soil must be worse than mine!

Actually, my soil is considered to be prime farmland by the USGS.   It was an active dairy farm up to early seventies. Dairy farming is a tough business.

I only added tiny amounts of micro-nutrients as a mix, and I switched to an organic source of NPK.   I had a heck of time with Japanese beetles last year, and I read somewhere that Japanese beetles attack the weakest plants first.  I do not know if this claim is true, but I figured that adding small amounts of everything wouldn't hurt.  From what I experienced, it appears that Japanese beetles attack the least bitter cultivars first.

[S. cerevisiae]

We've had spells of about a week here and there where the daytime temps would reach 70-75F and nights down as low as 30F.  This brought growth to a standstill and did cause some of the new growth near the tips to discolor somewhat but the recent increase in temps have things back on track.  Every year brings new issues!

That's exactly what I experienced.  First, the plants appeared to shut down, and then the newest growth turned yellow.  The established cultivar that took the hardest hit was Cascade, which is strange because I consider Cascade to be cockroach of the hop world.  One of my Cascade hills looked like it had bitten the dust, but it has been sending up new healthy shoots now that the unseasonably low night-time cold fronts have passed.  The hop with no name and Spalt Select slowed to a crawl.  I replaced Santium, Horizon, and Fuggle with Early Cluster, Southern Cross, and Wye Yeoman field-grade plants last fall.  The new cultivars were really struggling with the weather. 

Another complicating factor has been the lack of rain.  I was late installing my revised drip system.  I usually do not have to supplement rainfall until mid-June.  We were in drought by April this year.

The problem not only affected my hops.  All of the crops that are grown in my area appear to be much smaller than they should be by this point in time.

Edit: fixed quote tag

[tonyccopeland]

I believe my yellow leaves were due to much water.  I stopped watering this week and let the soil dry out and the cenntinel is much happier.  So of course these guys decided to join the party.



Not as bad as last year, i think the milky spore helped... just watered in .5 the yard with another milky spore treatment.

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[Phil_M]

I'm starting to get yellow leaves on my hops now as well. Too much water could be the cause, we had over 3.5 inches of rain last week.

Could also be lack of nutrients, haven't added any fertilizer this year.

[b-hoppy]

It the upper portion of the plants look o.k. and the yellowing is confined to the lowest leaves, that's a common occurrence.  I remember seeing a somewhat technical explanation suggesting the plants may begin to draw nutrients from the older leaves.  I don't know if this is accurate but it happens every year on mine, some varieties more pronounced than others.

[wmwadeii]

I'm starting to get yellow leaves on my hops now as well. Too much water could be the cause, we had over 3.5 inches of rain last week.

Could also be lack of nutrients, haven't added any fertilizer this year.

Phil I assume by the Oriole your in or near MD. I'm over the boarder in WV and got that rain. I was afraid of over watering too because I'm using planters. However mine are doing great. It is the first year so the garden soil is fresh, so plenty of fertilizer.

[Phil_M]

Yep, I'm in MD, and I'm also using planters. This is the second year with this soil, so I expect I'll have to add some nutrients this year.

[micsager]

It the upper portion of the plants look o.k. and the yellowing is confined to the lowest leaves, that's a common occurrence.  I remember seeing a somewhat technical explanation suggesting the plants may begin to draw nutrients from the older leaves.  I don't know if this is accurate but it happens every year on mine, some varieties more pronounced than others.

+1  Also, once the vines are about 5 feet tall, I trim of much of the green (and sometimes yellow) leaves from the bottom foot or so.  Reduces bugs, and gives better airflow so mildowing is reduced.  Can't remember where I read this.