Damn Irene!

[aNYbrewery]

I'm a rooftop hop grower in NYC. For those not watching the news were about to get ***** slapped by Hurricane Irene. I have 2 options now.

1. Pull my plants inside and take the damage and losses after pulling them off the trellis They're all first years anyway and only one has a decent crop on it.

Or

2. Tie them down and hope for the best? If it's going to be like they're predicting it will shred anything back to the bine.

What should I do?

 

[IrregularPulse]

Harvest anything that's there and let them go.

 

[jerkstore]

I harvested my cascade last weekend, so happy I did. I was hoping for a secondary harvest but that isn't looking good with Irene coming.
Mine are on strings which I can lower to the ground. I think I'm going to go that route, and see if they can recover after. I have a first year Nugget that jsut starting to show some burrs...

I was actually planning an AG IPA with my homegrown hops this weekend, that isn't happening. Contemplating doing a PM stout inside instead, with the weekend looking like a washout.

 

[damdaman]

I agree with above poster, harvest what you can and wait for next year. The growing season is mostly over anyway. By the time they recovered there wouldn't be enough intense sunlight left to support any significant growth, as the days are already getting shorter.

If I were you I would harvest, cut the vines down, and move the containers somewhere safe to avoid the hurricane, and let them over-winter. The crown will have likely stored up plenty of energy by now for good growth next year.

 

[day_trippr]

Aw, crap! Looks like I'll be spending tomorrow harvesting what I can, even though I think my Centennial, Chinook and Cascades aren't quite at their peak yet.

Between the rainy days mixed with heavy dew on the clear days it's been kinda hard to get that "papery" feeling from the ripest cones, but I reckon I'll just have to bite the bullet and get what I can before they get scattered all over the neighborhood...

Cheers!