Harvesting hops drenched in rain?

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Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on

Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 21:26

My hops were just about ready to harvest when the monsoon hit. I would like advice on harvesting. Should I go ahead and harvest while they are wet and dry them indoors or wait till sunny weather reappears? (Seems quite trivial when peoples' houses and cars are being washed away just a few miles from here)

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RE: Harvesting hops drenched in rain?

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Posted by mrclint z10SoCal Valley (My Page) on
Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 23:41

Hops are flowers not fruit. I'm not sure which forum would be best for your inquiry.

RE: Harvesting hops drenched in rain?

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Posted by windfall_rob vt4 (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 17, 13 at 7:32

It depends on how much you are harvesting and what sort of weather is in the near future.

As fluffy as they are when ripe they could really hold a lot of water on them, that could make drying without mold difficult...you would want a thin layer (1-2cones deep)with a moving air (fan)

If you have a lot of them that turns into a tremendous amount of space, they will dry off faster with no chance of molding on the plant, then you can keep them a bit more piled while curing.
But if they are already ripe/overripe and no decent weather in the near future....I can see the temptation to work with them wet as a last resort.

RE: Harvesting hops drenched in rain?

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Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 17, 13 at 11:37

windfall_rob,

Thanks. I guess I came to the same conclusion. We had a dry day yesterday and it looks like today will be dry also so I will leave them hang till they are papery again and hopefully not too overripe.

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