another newbie hop harvesting question--pluck or snip

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Chuck_in_WI

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what method do you seasoned "hop harvesters" use for removing the hops from the bines? I basically cut down the entire plant and have been plucking them, one by one, from the vines. The problem is that a lot of times I also get some small leaves with the cones.

Could a person take a scissors and snip the cones off the vines? Is that the preferred method?

TIA,
Chuck
 
Most people pluck or strip them and pick the leaves out after drying. I wear a cotton glove while stripping the cones.

No reason to not snip, if the crop is small. Snipping a few thousand cones would be a pain.
 
Anyway you do it, it is tedious. I cut the vines, sat in a chair in the shade and picked and picked and picked. I do have a lot of hops now, though. Charlie
 
once cut, make sure you remove them from the vines relatively soon. Due to family commitments, I had to let some of mine hang on the vine for 2 days. Weather in WI was hot and windy. I think I lost a lot of the lupulin (spelling??)
 
once cut, make sure you remove them from the vines relatively soon. Due to family commitments, I had to let some of mine hang on the vine for 2 days. Weather in WI was hot and windy. I think I lost a lot of the lupulin (spelling??)

Same here. I picked 75% of the buds, left the rest in the garage overnight and finished picking the rest the next day but did not take many. They didn't smell as good nor look as good. I had no choice but to cut the whole plant because it grew on an arbor which did not allow for easy picking. The other plants i grew went up a string and they were much easier to harvest. I pulled down the vine and picked them. The vine remained intact.
 
I pluck them. Lay them out on my screening and then sort out the leaves prior to drying.

I also chop up the remainders of the plant and let it dry in the sun before I add it to my compost heap. I'd hate to have a bine take root somehow and me not know for sure which plant it is from.
 
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