Hops cleaning

I'm noticing my first season hops (Cascade and Columbus) are probably ready for harvest, they are starting to get brown tinges here and there. Two questions

1. I see spider webs and other insect matter on the cones. Any advice on how to proceed with cleaning? I suppose spraying them off with a hose is a bad idea.

2. Once cut loose from the bine how long can you hold off the drying process before they start to go bad?
Dusk

IMO:

I hose-down the hops to lessen the spiders/webs 3-4 days prior to harvesting. Then, I cut the bines, pick the cones, and lay the cones in the sun on window screens for 6 hours: done! (however, Boise is currently 12% humidity)

Again, my high-desert climate differs from most. Other should chime in.

r2eng said:

IMO:

I hose-down the hops to lessen the spiders/webs 3-4 days prior to harvesting. Then, I cut the bines, pick the cones, and lay the cones in the sun on window screens for 6 hours: done! (however, Boise is currently 12% humidity)

Again, my high-desert climate differs from most. Other should chime in.

Click to expand...

Don't know Boise, I'm in L.A. I have to check humidity, it's been dry this week but by the coast (1 Mile from Pacific) we're pretty humid. Whatdaya think?
Dusk

I would hose the spiders down, wait a day, pick the hops and put them on stacked screens with a fan blowing across them on the lowest setting.

Have you used leaf hops before? If so, dry until they "feel" like the leaf hops you buy. I am no hops-harvest-pro here, but it should work fine.

If the spiders bother you, hose them down and wait a few hours. If they dont, pick and lay out on a screen in the garage. All the spiders, stinkbugs and other critters will crawl out.

For both of you, laying in the sun can cause them to skunk or at least lose alpha acids.

r2eng said:

I would hose the spiders down, wait a day, pick the hops and put them on stacked screens with a fan blowing across them on the lowest setting.

Have you used leaf hops before? If so, dry until they "feel" like the leaf hops you buy. I am no hops-harvest-pro here, but it should work fine.

Click to expand...

This is my first time growing/harvesting but I've bought commercial whole hops before. I get the idea, sort of.

Now the next question. With two different sets of hops and only one way to dry how can you do two sets at once and not mix them up on the same screen?
Dusk