Can same bine have vastly different "harvest" dates?

[italynstallyn44]

Hey all. This is my first go round at growing hops. I have a Magnum and Centennial plant. My Centennial didn't grow any cones, but my Magnum has a few. My Magnum plant seems to have cones at very different stages. Is this normal?

Also, I've read about when to harvest (crunchy/papery, golden Lupulin, etc.) but I'm still unsure if some of my cones are ready to harvest or not. It looks like some bugs may have gotten to them as well. Could you guys please help, as best you can with the pictures below, if these cones are ready to harvest.

Here are two pictures of cones I think "may" be ready and 1 pic of a very immature cone.

 

[beernutz]

It is a coinky dink that I am also growing first year magnums and centennials. My magnums are also much farther along than the centennials although all of them are producing cones. I am no expert in hop growing but none of those pictues look like mature cones to me. I am waiting until i see brown tips on a majority of cones and they also have a very papery feel before harvesting. Yours all look very green and ripe still, although ripe is probably the wrong word to use.

 

[LukeB]

I just harvested my Cascade yesterday and I'd say 60-70% of the cones were mature enough and most of the rest were too young, so I tossed them. A handful were too old, but I think waiting until next weekend would have meant that a significant portion would have been too old. If I had more patience, I would just harvest the cones that were ready and save the rest for later, but I already get way more hops than I can use and give away, so I don't care about tossing the rest.

 

[italynstallyn44]

So i checked my hops again today, and they seem to be at very different stages, and i'm not sure if they are "sick" or just a typical first year hop? The leaves on the cone seem to be spread apart and the lupulin is visible on the outside. Is this normal? Please check out the pictures below and let me know what you think.

 

[LukeB]

So i checked my hops again today, and they seem to be at very different stages, and i'm not sure if they are "sick" or just a typical first year hop? The leaves on the cone seem to be spread apart and the lupulin is visible on the outside. Is this normal? Please check out the pictures below and let me know what you think.

Leaf spread and visible lupulin are normal on all my plants. Those look fine to me. They may even be able to go longer. How do they feel? Do they spring back when you squish them? Some of mine get a little brown on the tips of the leaves, and I consider them okay to use. There are some videos on youtube on determining whether the cones are ready. You'll know when they're too far gone...they turn brown and crunchy.

 

[kilohertz]

To answer your original question, yes you can have different harvest dates on the same bine, top matures earlier for me...I have 65 new plants this year and most of them have nice big cones near the top...but little hard cones hear the bottom.....hopefully next year they will settle out and be more consistent top to bottom...

cheers