When to pick (in Georgia)??

[Methose]

I know there are a a number of posts on this forum about the subject, and know there are a slew of ways to tell when they're ready, but I am struggling with the process.
I have 8 mounds (4 Cascade, 2 Centennial, and 2 Chinook)
This is my third year on these mounds, and they have taken off and are thick and covered with cones -which is fantastic.

Here is the problem:
I'm pretty positive that some are ready to pick, but there are also new flowers and some under-ready cones as well. They are on a 12 ft trellis hanging from strings, so it's not really an option to just pick some of them.
Most of what I read said that it's early Aug when Harvest season begins, but there are definitely some brown cones on the bines with dark yellow lupulin glands.

Any suggestions?
Certainly interested in anyone here in GA and when their harvest begins. We have had a great deal of rain and some decent heat here, so wondering if that plays a part in the possibly early harvest time.

Thanks in advance!

:rockin:

 

[Methose]

Pics, if that somehow helps

 

[beernutz]

I am a first year grower so I have no answer to your question but I am wondering how you tell which hop is which in that mass of vegetation?

 

[Methose]

I am a first year grower so I have no answer to your question but I am wondering how you tell which hop is which in that mass of vegetation?

Ha! I gave up on that in year 2.
You can track them back to the mounds, but somewhere in the middle it is a bit of a crap shoot.
But it's ok, because the beers I brew with fresh hops are all hop blasted putting them in in the last 15 mins.

 

[beerloaf]

I've been growing hops for almost 5 years. I usually pick mine just before they start turning brown. You want to make sure that they are dry. You can smell them and also give them a squeeze. They should smell very aromatic. If they sound "papery" they are good to go. You can also take one or two and break them in half, length vise and you will see the yellow lupulin, the more the better. Then you want to dry them if you won't use them initially. I generally dry them to about 20-25% of their picked weight then store them in freezer bags. For me the months, had nothing to do with it. I have had plants that I harvested multiple times in one season due to a warm or early spring.

beerloaf

 

[Methose]

I've been growing hops for almost 5 years. I usually pick mine just before they start turning brown. You want to make sure that they are dry. You can smell them and also give them a squeeze. They should smell very aromatic. If they sound "papery" they are good to go. You can also take one or two and break them in half, length vise and you will see the yellow lupulin, the more the better. Then you want to dry them if you won't use them initially. I generally dry them to about 20-25% of their picked weight then store them in freezer bags. For me the months, had nothing to do with it. I have had plants that I harvested multiple times in one season due to a warm or early spring.

beerloaf

yeah I guess I'm going to try to lay the trellis down, then pick, and possibly put it back up -hopefully without ripping the roots out. That's the only thing I can think of to try, because some are definitely ready, and some are not.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Methose]

The whole trellis fell down trying to take it down. it was insane trying to pick all those hops, had a total of 71.4 oz hops.

I would advise taking them down one at a time (somehow); it was a nightmare trying to pick through all of them laying on the ground. I am positive we missed a good 40% of them, but it was a good old 95 deg day in GA humidity, so we were done picking.

Do farms do this by hand, if so how do they pay people enough?

 

[Methose]

Pics

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