still havesting in chicago...

my first year centennials are still producing cones and burrs. i'm hoping to pick as many mature cones as i can before we get temps below freezing. anyone know if a night with temps below freezing will kill hop plants? if so, should i just pick what i have now,mature or not, and dry em?

I'd say if the temps are doing to reach that low i'd pick. But if you have decent weather still coming your way let them keep going. Again though it's all going to depend on what the weather is going to be like. Thats awesome though that you're still going! I was done long ago.

it was supposed to get down to freezing but now it says slightly warmer. i'll wait and see. i don't understand what took so long for the hops to get going, everyone else seems to have been done picking by august. i planted them in early april too.

As long as they are looking good and still smelling good I'd say keep harvesting! That's awesome

I harvested the final crop of our first-year cascades in September - I wouldn't worry about the 'late' harvest, especially with the great weather we've had the last few weeks. But that's over, with the weather we're having now, they are done, I'd go ahead and pick whatever you've got.

yeah, with the wind and rain we've had i'm surprised the hops are still hanging on to the bines.

I've got a bunch of nice looking hops down here in Cincinnati that haven't been harvested yet. They are still producing cones like crazy right now. We have had some similar nice weather, although its been cold the last few days. Its supposed to be warm and sunny this weekend, so I'm going to let them keep going.

Our test plot got frosted last week- within 2 days the cones started turning brown. I would pick what you have - if it is that cool they aren't developing much and in fact may be losing losing their kick. The plants start pulling all the nutrients out of the leaves, bines, and cones and sending it all down to the crown as storage sugars. If those leaves are even starting to tinge yellow- PICK!

went out to harvest again today and got about 3 gallons of cones. once again i noticed even more burrs forming as well as new cones. this is awesome!

on a side note - this is my first year growing hops and one big lesson i've learned is to wait and not pick the immature cones. the ones i picked first i thought were mature, but i was let down by the lack of aroma, even when dried. now that i'm learning how to tell if cones are really mature, through trial and error, i am smelling the most amazing aromas while i pick.

can't wait til year 2!

quote: went out to harvest again today and got about 3 gallons of cones. once again i noticed even more burrs forming as well as new cones. this is awesome!

Curiousity question - Are your hops planted in a spot where they are exposed to a light all night - say a street or security light? (the reason I ask is that even a normal lightbulb will keep the plants in cone production mode, instead of going into dormancy with the shorter days of fall.) Good side- more cones now. Bad side- less sugars stored in the roots for next season. brew on . . .

I had a similar situation. I just did a massive harvest a week ago, and I found burs on some of the bines. There is a very strong light in the alley right by my best growing plant.

Greatlakeshops said:

quote: went out to harvest again today and got about 3 gallons of cones. once again i noticed even more burrs forming as well as new cones. this is awesome!

Curiousity question - Are your hops planted in a spot where they are exposed to a light all night - say a street or security light?

Click to expand...

actually there is a street light in the alley, although it's not directly above my hops, it does light up the area a little... very interesting.