[reverseapachemaster]

Aphids or spider mites on the underside of the leaves? When I've seen leaves like that on my plants it's spider mites. They seem to show up when it first gets wet and if untreated they can wear down five foot bines to dead leaves and stall further growth on those bines.

[chinaski]

How big are the crowns?  Could it be that the plants are stressed because of the mass of crown in a small space?  I am more familiar with starting with small 4-6" rhizome cuttings.

[ultravista]

The crowns were about 5-6 inches, not too small or big.

Standard potting soil with a little steer manure and rice hulls. The plants get water twice a day along with the other plants in the garden. I have tomatoes on the vine already. Everything in the garden is growing well, vigorous in fact, with the exception of these three hop plants.

There are plants in between and behind these buckets - they too are growing well. No issues.

I hit all of the plants occasionally with Miracle Grow plant food - not too much.

Its not too hot yet so I doubt the soil is too warm right now. Nonetheless, I will repot in larger containers this weekend. I have something like a 20 gallon nursery pot, big and black, with plenty of drainage.

I am surprised at how these look two months after being potted. The crowns were small but did have buds or bines when I planted them.

So what's wrong with buckets & hops? Is it just the smaller volume or something else?

I grow tomatoes and peppers in buckets and they grow like I owe them money

[hopfenundmalz]

A fully developed drawn will fill a wheelbarrow when dug out.

[ultravista]

A fully developed drawn will fill a wheelbarrow when dug out.

Drawn?

[hopfenundmalz]

A fully developed drawn will fill a wheelbarrow when dug out.

Drawn?

Dug out for transfer or disposal. It can get to be unwieldy when loading into the wheelbarrow. Smaller tendrils will go out for many more feet in the ground.

[ultravista]

Enough to fill a wheel barrow, after one years growth?

[hopfenundmalz]

Enough to fill a wheel barrow, after one years growth?

Maybe in Yakima. Not in other places.

The buckets will be restrictive after a while. You did get crowns, so they may be feeling pinched.

Have you checked soil pH? Hops like neutral-ish to slightly acidic.

[b-hoppy]

Enough to fill a wheel barrow, after one years growth?

The picture of the excavated hop crown in the article shows it's size in relation to the blue 5gal bucket.  http://allaboutbeer.com/canadian-red-vine/   Sure it's established, but those rhizomes that are exposed get lopped off every spring so what you're seeing is what that plant produced in the way of rhizomes over one growing season, yes they can get big.  Also, at this time of the year in traditional growing areas, soils are still just gradually warming up and there's a ton of feeder roots being formed.  The fact that your soil is above ground and sitting on a surface that absorbs heat (then is radiated back into the surrounding areas at night) mostly has a huge impact on the hops.  Tomatoes and peppers love the heat on their roots, hops - not so much, especially early in the season.  Just by moving them out into the lawn will help cool things down a little for you.

[ultravista]

These crowns arrived small, maybe the size of an average mans fist. Nothing substantial for sure. I'll see where I can move them after transplanting into a larger container. I will also know if the root system is large or small. At this point, I am betting on small.

I found a photo online - mine arrive more like the 'hop start' on the left but it had no leaves.

[ultravista]

I spoke with Carrie @ Great Lake Hops today. She suggested that the hops may have gone dormant - they arrived in early February from Michigan where they were dug out of the hard ground while dormant. When I received them, they were planted within a few days.

Carrie thinks that perhaps because they were in a cycle of dormancy, forced out of dormancy (by planting), then went dormant again.

This theory does explain why there was a small growth spurt then nothing since ...

Does this sound plausible? If yes, and these are indeed dormant, what can I do, if anything, to break the dormancy and start them growing again?

[ultravista]

Anyone?