Hops vines after harvest

[Uberhack]

Hi Gang,
I had a pretty good harvest off my third year Cascade despite some overwatering and aphids.
My question is do you guys cut down the vines right after harvesting or do you leave them up for a while to enjoy the fall?

 

[day_trippr]

I try to leave as much vegetation as feasible considering the mayhem of stripping all the cones. The thought is to give the crown the best shot at building up winter stores. When the bines get killed by the fall frosts I'll cut them off a couple of inches above grade then mulch the heck out of the beds (like 5-6 inches of mowed leaves)...

Cheers!

 

[Retrofit]

Since I have so much going on in my life, I cut them at the base. After picking all the hops off I put them all in a pile and I let them dry. Bines can have an abundance of water in them, so I turn them several times to dry them out. Since they are so dense, they are difficult to compost. Therefore, once they are dry (and not before they DRY), I burn them. They smell sort of like their cousin as they burn. After they are burned I dump the ash in the compost bin as an amendment. Circle of life.

My plants are 4/5 years old know and they seem to be impervious to everything. So I respect the guys that are trying to nurture next year along, I use to do that, but now I just assume they'll keep coming back and back and back.

 

[Scroto]

They make for a nice wreath base and I'm sure someone with the know how could weave them into a basket.

I planned on making a Pan-esque brewing crown with them to wear for brew-days and other bacchanalia but well.... I'm lazy

 

[Randar]

Since I have so much going on in my life, I cut them at the base. After picking all the hops off I put them all in a pile and I let them dry. Bines can have an abundance of water in them, so I turn them several times to dry them out. Since they are so dense, they are difficult to compost. Therefore, once they are dry (and not before they DRY), I burn them. They smell sort of like their cousin as they burn. After they are burned I dump the ash in the compost bin as an amendment. Circle of life.

My plants are 4/5 years old know and they seem to be impervious to everything. So I respect the guys that are trying to nurture next year along, I use to do that, but now I just assume they'll keep coming back and back and back.

Well said, Retro. I chop 'em down at harvest time. Standing on a ladder to harvest or trying to resurrect the bines after harvest is for suckers.

 

[Scroto]

I planned on making a Pan-esque brewing crown with them to wear for brew-days and other bacchanalia but well.... I'm lazy

Well, after typing that it made me get of my a$$ and get in touch with my crafty side.

I give you my tribute to Dionysus/Bacchus, to be worn on brewdays and all other things depraved and revelous!
The base is made from hop vines with hop cones on the front, grape leaves forming the frill around the sides, and P.somniferum pods, lavander, and mint forming "tail-feathers." I just used some bailing wire to attach them all to the vine base.

 

[starman]

Not the first person to do this but I did my entire harvest of 20' tall cascades comfortably around chest height.

The climbing lines hang down from a primary steel cable. Each end of that cable has a turnbuckle and hook that connects up to a twist-in stake. At harvest time I slacked the turnbuckles and released the primary line all the way so the bines came down. Pull cones, drink, raise the vines up a couple feet by pulling the cable back down partially, drink more, raise, pick, drink etc etc.

If I made a hop crown for brew days, 10:1 it would end up in the kettle.