Golden Blonde and Green Hops !

This shot was taken Sep. 13 2006. Again I was trying to show the range of colouration that was appearing in the huge hops plant that has grown this year using the Advanced Nutrients products I tried. I used foliar feeding allowing lots torun-off into the soil.

I posted a shot earlier from Aug. 30, just 2 weeks before this, and the plant has continued to go-green ! The cone crop is also heavy enough to 'dangle' with dense, weight.

I have grown this same plant for over 8 years and it has never looked like this; I might have "overdone" the fertilizer inputs, or used so many growth enhancing products that these things just happen; cell growth is turned on almost uninhibitedly.

Look at the velvety, deep green on the leaf I'm holding, and the paler yellow ones that have a bleach-blonde colour. All the leaves have healthy tissue, but usually they are mostly yellow, never "all green". The cones look a little greener than normal too, but are incredibly fragrant.

I think I have overcome the (genetic?) mechanism that keeps Golden Hops the predominantly "gold" and yellow colour that is has..! We had a warm, perfect summer and this plant had experienced just one season in it's current location. I understand that this Golden Hops strain makes lots of yellow pigments that mask the green chlorophyll present. How has my rich nutrient program undone, overcome or modifiedthis genetic trait of Golden Hops..?

I used lots of seaweed extract, vitamins and the full suite of beneficial microbes made by Advanced Nutrients, on top of the 3-part Grow-Micro-Bloom base nutrient program they make.
It seemed like another wave of greening swept up the plant in mid August after I did one last feeding with Piranha, Tarantula and Voodoo Juice. I imagine this happened since a background of soil-bound nutrients was suddenly being force-fed to the plant, but who knows.

I continued to foliarly feed with Colossal Bud Blast and B52 until early September.