Harvested - now what?

I collected a very meager harvest (only about 20 cones) from my first year centennial and am wondering what I should do now. Am I supposed to cut the vines down? If so, do I cut all the way to the soil? The vines got really long, just never sprouted a lot of cones. The cones appeared in late July, but I never got any others. I saw a few small growths that looked like they could be cones, but they never developed.

I may have to convince the wife to let me move these to the front yard since I think I was just not getting enough sunlight.

Also have a small cascade (4 feet) that started late and never grew any cones. not sure if it will come back.

Dry and freeze, or use fresh promptly - that is, assuming that they are light green and papery, not brown which is bad.

Wait for the bines to die, then cut to ground. Some folks cut the bine to harvest, but I prefer not to, figuring that as long as the leaves are green, it's putting food into the roots. Mulch a bit, and provide some compost/manure over the winter, going up to 6 feet out from the crown. They normally come up in early spring, so your first year harvest is nothing to judge future production by.

: D Almost my same experience - I am very proud of my tenth of an ounce harvest!

I got about fifty cones - Cascade only. I also have Centennial growing well but not flowering. I will use them to dry-hop my next batch.

One tip I picked up is that hops tend to flower more quickly when they are growing sideways rather than vertically. If you haven't set yours up to do that, it could be worth a shot next year. I freely admit, though, that I am an equal noob at growing hops, this being my first year. And my Centennials were also growing horizontally and didn't flower.

SteveM said:

: D Almost my same experience - I am very proud of my tenth of an ounce harvest!

I got about fifty cones - Cascade only. I also have Centennial growing well but not flowering. I will use them to dry-hop my next batch.

One tip I picked up is that hops tend to flower more quickly when they are growing sideways rather than vertically. If you haven't set yours up to do that, it could be worth a shot next year. I freely admit, though, that I am an equal noob at growing hops, this being my first year. And my Centennials were also growing horizontally and didn't flower.

Click to expand...

First year do not produce much(just add them to a glass of your IPA later or just add them extra for dry hopping...Growing vertical is the prefered way..allows more air flow and is easier to set up..I do not agree that horizontally produces more...have not heard that before..and all the hop farms go vertical 12 to 15 feet, so they must have a reason to do so...I have seen peope grow along a fence and man what a pain to pick out and harvest..IMO

Jay