How are your hops doing?

[StoneCampHops]

Finishing up harvesting of 3rd year Cascade and Fuggle grown in Chester, VT and I'm curious how others are doing with their Vermont grown hops.  Aside from some composted cow manure from a neighboring farm, I have not introduced any fertilizers or pesticides into my hopyard - with mixed results.  The seven Sterling and seven Willamettes I've grown have been decimated each year by potato leaf hoppers before a viable crop is produced.  The Cascade and Fuggle seem somewhat more resilient to their (and the eastern comma's) attacks, though it is obviously stressing them and their yields are lower than one would hope.

 

Any organic farms have pest managment techniques or products that they care to share?  How is everyones crop looking?  Does anyone have a success story in regards to finding a market for their hops that they would care to share?

 

Thanks,

-Mike

[Rosalie Madden]

Hi Mike,

It's interesting to hear about the trends that you've noticed in your hopyard.  We at UVM Extension brought entomologist Scott Lewins on board this summer to look at how pest pressure differs across Vermont and under different hopyard management schemes.  He collected a lot of data, but we're still crunching the numbers.  The results will eventually go up on our website: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/hops

Last year, we definitely noticed some pest preferences among the varieties.  You can check out the results here: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/2011_Hops_Scouting_Report.pdf  Last year Willamette proved to be most resistant to leafhoppers and Cascade was about middle of the road, while Fuggle seemed a bit more resistant, or perhaps presented a less favorable habitat?  The jury is still out on the distinction.  However, we can't really get our Fuggle to produce much in the way of anything.  We struggle most with two-spotted spidermites in our organic hopyard, and Cascade certainly seems to be less affected than most of the other varieties.  We've been using different chemical controls to try to manage pests, with varying degrees of success.  We currently have a grad student by the name of Lily Calderwood who is exploring using different cover crops to try to maximize biodiversity in hopyards, capitalizing on pest control provided by native beneficial insects.  We're really looking forward to seeing her results.

Best,


Rosalie Madden
Crops and Soils Technician
UVM Extension
278 S. Main St., Suite 2
St. Albans, VT 05478
(802) 524-6501 Ext. 445
www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil

[Paul Hendler]

Nice hat!

The boys won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Fest last week in Denver.

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[Joseph Kezar]

Anyone know of a condition that affects the stem of the bine?  About 9" up from the ground a small bubble formed on two of my hop plants.  And everything above the tiny bulge in the stem yellowed and everything below stayed a nice rich green.

On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 3:36 PM, Rosalie Madden <rosalie...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Rosalie Madden]

I talked to Scott Lewins, our entomologist, and he says it sounds like it could be a gall, but we haven't come across any insects that might do that to a hop plant.  Do you have any pictures?

[Joseph Kezar]

Hi Rosalie,

  Here is a picture of what two bines experienced this summer.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/vermont-hops/-/eJ7RSY4kelQJ.

[Rosalie Madden]

I'm stumped.  It could be a borer, maybe hop vine borer, but we've even seen European corn borers in our hops too.  However, I don't see an entry hole, or any frass (a.k.a. bug poo).  If it happens again next season, split the bine open around the "bubble", and see if there is somebody in there.  The bine could have also been kinked by wind, cutting off the flow of nutrients to the top of the plant.  But I'm hypothesizing...it's hard to tell without being there to see it in the flesh.

[Joseph Kezar]

Thank you Rosalie for you assistance in trying to determine what happened to my bines.  I will certainly crack-open and inspect the bine at the bulge next season if it does indeed occur again.  

Thanks again!

Joe K

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/vermont-hops/-/VmPLj8u4T8EJ.