MA Willamette

I'm down in SE MA and my Willamette's look nearly ready to pick. The other hops are no where near ready. I assume that this is fairly early. A lot of my leaves have been eaten, but I haven't done anything about it. I don't know if this effects the maturity of the hop.

Anyone else in the area (or similar zone) have Willamettes and how do they look?

i hear its not uncommon for some people to get two harvests in one season if the plants are really thriving.

theyll be ready when there ready, and if they look ready, harvest.

my .002

Cheers mate.

I'm up in Lawrence, so the NE part of Mass, and I don't have any Williamettes, but I have Cascade and Mt. Hood. Both of my plants don't seem to be ready for harvest, with the Mt. Hoods the closest by producing the side arms.

I've read though that hop coens can grow pretty much whenever they want after June, and as CaliBrewin said, you can get two harvests sometimes. Are these first year plants or are they more mature? I woudl think if they're in their 2nd year and beyond, it's very possible that you have hop cones ready to pick.

I think the best way to tell is tolook at their color, and as they start turning slightly yellow at the tip, and are still soft to the touch, they are ready.

Hey thanks for the advice and encouragement. I'm not sure how long I've had these hops. I'm guessing this is my 3rd year. I'll have to keep looking at these babies. I have 4 different hops growing up to a cable 21-1/2 feet high. [My cascades are growing at different locations.] So when I take these down I have to get a ladder, climb up a tree and lower the cable. It seems like these are ready earlier and earlier each year. Obviously its easier to harvest these all at once, but I guess it is worth it if you want different varieties.

I just checked the Freshops website and Willamette is medium maturity which has me second guessing whether this is my Willamette or Sterling. I'll have to check my notes.

They are Sterling according to my notes. That makes more sense as far as when they are supposed to mature.