Hops are picked.... now what?

So i picked my hops a few weeks ago and the vines are still there. What should I do to them to prepare them for the winter months? This is my first year growing anything really and I have cascades and nugget hops (got about 3 ounces from each plant.)

Leave them alone until they die back. When they're fully dead, it's okay to cut them at the ground and get rid of them. I put my dead bines in a compost heap and use them for fertilizer the following year.

I cut mine off just above the ground after I harvested. I've still been watering and they are all bushes now. I figured if I continued to water, the roots system would keep growing and help with next years crop. When the die back on their own I'll cut them back to the ground for winter.

uechikid said:

I cut mine off just above the ground after I harvested. I've still been watering and they are all bushes now. I figured if I continued to water, the roots system would keep growing and help with next years crop. When the die back on their own I'll cut them back to the ground for winter.

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Wouldn't this waste a lot of the plants energy trying to create more bines? I'm no plant expert, but I've always been told to cut the bines off at the ground when they've already died so they have a chance to store that energy.

The absolute best is to pick then hang the bine back up to let it grow until the bine dies naturally. Then cut it off and compost it to put back on the plant.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

Wouldn't this waste a lot of the plants energy trying to create more bines? I'm no plant expert, but I've always been told to cut the bines off at the ground when they've already died so they have a chance to store that energy.

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They haven't died yet. They are still growing. When the do die I will cut them back again.

uechikid said:

They haven't died yet. They are still growing. When the do die I will cut them back again.

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I understand that, but if you cut them to the ground after harvest, you're damaging the hops and it'll fight to grow again until it naturally dies. As said above, letting them grow until they naturally die, and THEN cutting them off at the ground is a much better way to ensure more growth the following year.

You may be right, I'm not an expert. All I know is all season long there was new growth from from the roots that needed to be cut back regularly. After cutting the main bines (so I could harvest) I just let them grow. There's a ton of new growth.