35 replies to this topic

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

A lot of the cones and leaves on my hop bines are turning brown and/or dying and falling off. I'm watering it every morning but it just keeps getting worse. FYI this has been an extremely hot and dry summer up here. The hops are cascades. 2nd year. Is it possible the plant can't sustain itself? For some reason a lot of new growth is starting about 3' up the bines.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

another note - I smashed one of the semi-brown ones up in my hand it didn't smell particularly hoppy so I don't think this is due to being over-ripe.

[BrewerGeorge]

It's probably the heat.Also, the might be ready to pick. All the individual cones on mine don't mature at the same time, with the top of the bine tending to mature faster. If you have easy access to your bines, you can pick top to bottom in stages as they become ready, but I can't harvest without cutting down the bines. Determining when to harvest for me is a min-max of me trying to guess when the bulk are ready without letting too many at the top turn brown or having too many at the bottom be wet without much resin.

[BrewerGeorge]

another note - I smashed one of the semi-brown ones up in my hand it didn't smell particularly hoppy so I don't think this is due to being over-ripe.

IME, the over-ripe ones don't smell hoppy, nor do they when they're too young. There's a sweet spot in the middle with the papery, green cones that have the most hoppy presence.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

IME, the over-ripe ones don't smell hoppy, nor do they when they're too young. There's a sweet spot in the middle with the papery, green cones that have the most hoppy presence.

Maybe I'll try to harvest everything that looks ready tomorrow morning when it's cooler. I can more or less get to the whole plant without cutting it down since it's on my deck. In general it's good to leave the plant up as far into the fall as I can correct?

[BarelyBrews]

My NB plant went brown leaves early,very few cones.My Cascade is great,i trimmed some leaves off the bottom three foot of the plant last week. I believe that will help mine mature more.Some of my Cascade could be ready in a week or so.I leave my plant up until around the first frost for me.

[Stout_fan]

Harvested my Cascade 2 weeks ago.

[MolBasser]

We are harvesting our cascades next week.Yours are prolly ready or past ready to harvest.Lots of dry heat is bad for cones, so that is most likely your problem.If you have enough cones, pick like ten and weigh them. Then completely dry them and weigh again. 25% dry matter is where you want to harvest.Dry matter = dry weight/wet weightMolBasser

[ncbeerbrewer]

My hops are toast this year. They started off really strong in early april and I was psyched. Second year Cascade, Nugget and Hallertau. I got around 6 cones from the Cascade and then everything turned brown and growth was really stagnant. I am sure I made a mistake in no trimming back when growth started but oh well, live and learn. Its been hot as fire here as well so it seems that did not help. Will have to see what next year brings as well.

[BarelyBrews]

I was making my second brew for the weekend today ,and decided when i was mashing to pick some Cascades.I ended up with just shy of 11oz wet cones from the Cascade. I left a lot of the smaller ones hoping they shall grow more or develop more lupilin.I hope i can get a second harvest yet(i was leaning towards a week or two from now).

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

So the Mrs. and I picked a bunch of hops yesterday. Some of them were a little brownish but the glands inside still looked good and the inside wasn't brown at all. I've got them spread out on a screen in my basement. How long does it usually take to dry? My basement is the only dark place I had to leave them out so it's not ideal but it's not super humid or anything down there either.

[BrewerGeorge]

So the Mrs. and I picked a bunch of hops yesterday. Some of them were a little brownish but the glands inside still looked good and the inside wasn't brown at all. I've got them spread out on a screen in my basement. How long does it usually take to dry? My basement is the only dark place I had to leave them out so it's not ideal but it's not super humid or anything down there either.

Dark is over-rated. I mean, they just came out of the sun, right? Put them someplace dry.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Dark is over-rated. I mean, they just came out of the sun, right? Put them someplace dry.

Now that I think about it there isn't really an ideal location for them. I won't be putting them in the living space of the house and the garage (essentially outside) is much to humid I think.

[Mya]

Now that I think about it there isn't really an ideal location for them. I won't be putting them in the living space of the house and the garage (essentially outside) is much to humid I think.

have you an attic?

[MolBasser]

They need airflow and heat. Dark doesn't matter. I dried mine in the sun when I grew them in Santa Cruz.Basement is a bad place, IMHO.MolBasser

[Mya]

They need airflow and heat. Dark doesn't matter. I dried mine in the sun when I grew them in Santa Cruz.Basement is a bad place, IMHO.MolBasser

living in a low humid area I always have dried them on a window screen out in the garage, if you keep them to a single layer they get all the airflow they need wherever they are

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

They need airflow and heat. Dark doesn't matter. I dried mine in the sun when I grew them in Santa Cruz.Basement is a bad place, IMHO.MolBasser

I could switch to the garage I guess - not sure if it's more or less humid there but it's def warmer.

[Kremer]

It's probably the heat.Also, the might be ready to pick. All the individual cones on mine don't mature at the same time, with the top of the bine tending to mature faster. If you have easy access to your bines, you can pick top to bottom in stages as they become ready, but I can't harvest without cutting down the bines. Determining when to harvest for me is a min-max of me trying to guess when the bulk are ready without letting too many at the top turn brown or having too many at the bottom be wet without much resin.

I'm in the same boat with George, I have a few at the top that are browning, some further down looking about ready, and even some new cones and spiky balls thrown in there too. I'll harvest then I can get the most usable yield, which may be sometime this week.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

They need airflow and heat. Dark doesn't matter. I dried mine in the sun when I grew them in Santa Cruz.Basement is a bad place, IMHO.MolBasser

so now that the hops are in the garage about how long do they need to hang out there? they seemed pretty dry this morning so I'm thinking I can probably bag them up tonight. Hopefully 48 hours since picking isn't too long.

[Kremer]

so now that the hops are in the garage about how long do they need to hang out there? they seemed pretty dry this morning so I'm thinking I can probably bag them up tonight. Hopefully 48 hours since picking isn't too long.

Pick one up and bend it in half at the center, if the stem snaps instead of bends it is good to go. sometime it is easier to tell if you strip the leaves off first then bend the stem.