when will they be ready?!

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HughBrooks

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I was wondering if anyone had any input on when to harvest the cones. What should I be looking for to know they are mature and ready to be picked? I am sure that they have some more time left on them but I am curious. Thanks for all the info.
 
Wow, wish I had cones already. They need to be picked when the tips start to turn brown. Another way to tell is by squeezing them. If they feel dry and papery, they're ready.
 
I am wondering about leaving the hops on too long. I feel like I need to watch them day by day but is a day or two past when "they are ready" really that bad? They'll just start drying on the bine right? I guess they could fall off if you leave them on too long.
 
They will fall off eventually if you leave them too long. I wouldn't worry about it too much. When they get nice and dry on the outside, pull them off.
 
It's all new to me. This is my first year and I've several bines with cones that are very close. They are all ripening at different rates so I will not cut down the bine to harvest on the ground. It looks like I will be harvesting for at least a month.

The higher ones on my cascade stopped getting bigger about 2 weeks ago and I've been climbing the ladder every couple days to check on them. At first they definitley felt moist, un-ripe and had no hops aroma. A week later a few cones started to have the tip of a leaf turn brown, they have a little aroma but still feel too soft and moist. Now 4 days later the bigger ones are finally starting to get close. They are starting to turn more papery. When I pull back the leaves of the cone, at their base I can see the yellow. I think I'll let them go until later this week or this weekend. I'd like for them to dry a bit more and see if the lupulin turns more amber. The one cone I picked yesterday had aroma when moist but has lost it as it dries, so I'm thinking it's still a bit too early.
 
Another thing to watch for, they will start to take on a lighter shade of green, almost yellow-golden color, at this stage is when my cones have the most aroma and sticky lupilins, and they will feel papery as was already mentioned, good luck.:mug:
 
I have decided to let them hang until the weekend. I checked on the ones I am trying to dry and they smell like absolutely nothing. May just get rid of them. I am hoping the sun and heat over the next few days will get them going.
 
My Chinook cones have turned a bit golden but have very little hops aroma so far and are maybe a little papery but still spring back if I give them a little squeeze. There's no brown on them at all. So I guess I'll leave them a little while longer.

The cascades are still as green as they always were, also don't have much aroma, aren't at all papery, but have a little brown around some of the margins near the stem. I guess I'll leave them a while too, but I'm watching carefully how brown they turn.
 
My cascades are a little papery but are also just as green as ever. My nugget are just starting to bud so they will be a while. The cascades have several new cones as well. I will probally harvest them a little at a time as they mature. Some of them should be ready shortly. I will be keeping a close eye on them over the next few days.:)
 
i have a few cones developing, but nothing major at this point. I think that I am still probably a month and a half or so from having anything ready for harvesting...
meh.
 
This thread is getting on my nerves. I want cones. I'm getting sick of looking at the flowers.

When my flowers starter forming I noticed it took a while for them to do anything. I let them go for a couple weeks then added my next addition of fertilizer and it seemed they started forming cones soon after. Not sure if it was the extra time or the addition of fert.
 
My LHBS guy says everyone is reporting the same thing in this area - hundreds of huge cones. The three or four months of rain followed by the dry July is really paying off.
 
thread hijack!!
3760580968_956e54bafe.jpg

How long do these cascades have?
These are first year cascades i didnt expect this much!
3759784467_dbc601d1c5.jpg

maybe these pics will help to determine how close they are to maturity so if other people have similar hops they can have a general timeline. any suggestions on approximate doneness?
 
They still look pretty green to me, and not papery at all.

I've yet to harvest any of mine, but I think they're getting very, very close. They're all starting to turn light green/gold.

Chinook: (I think I'm going to use these in a Stone Levitation clone)
11119977.jpg


Cascade:
e8ed8b92.jpg
ff0e9e62.jpg
 
Some of my cones have been up (read: looks like they could be picked but aren't ready) now for at least two weeks and I may pick them in a few days.
 
my Chinook are getting close i think. i honestly didnt expect much the first year, but i seem to have alot of cones. this thread was great, i have been wondering what to look for when they would be ready.
 
This week my cascades are developing a nice aroma and their color is starting to lighten. Some cones have leaf tips turning brown so I might do a small harvest of the really prime ones this weekend. My gut says to let them go longer but I don't like that the tips are turning brown on some.
 
Somebody asked earlier in the thread but there was no real response. Is there any negative impact to leaving them on the bines a little longer? Seems like erring in that direction is better than picking early.
 
I don't know if it's this thread or another but I was told that they will just start to dry(become too brown) and maybe fall off if left on too long.
 
Yes....they will dry and fall off. But here's the thing. If they get too much sun, they will get burned before they fall off. When they become dry, they'll start to brown pretty quickly. At this point, you don't want to bother using them in your beer.

The best time to pick them is when they're papery feeling and you see a lot of lupilin on them. If you squeeze them with your fingers and get the sticky yellow dust on your hands...they're probably ready. I wouldn't let them sit too long on the vines.
 
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