Probably ruined, but Oh Well!

[Roughster]

I left for a business trip last weekend. Hops were super green, flourishing, with cones to be seen.

I got back 9 days later and think my wife forgot to water them

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Or maybe it was just too hot for them. Them being 2nd year Fuggles and Tatnager. It is California and it was 100+ for several days in a row.

I decided to pick as the cones had yellowed and had some brown. They were very dry to the feel.

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It's such a small batch I am open door small oven drying them on Warm / 150 F:

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No real idea what I am doing, lol. Thinking 1 hour then going to vacuum bag them. Brewing in about two week and will only use these as a late addition to my regular hop schedule.

Pretty bummed. I am thinking that Fuggles and Tatnager in full central Cali sun might be a bit much. Might transplant these crowns to a shadier spot and try some warm weather hops in this location.

What's the hop that can tolerate high temps (100+) the best?

Any help appreciated

 

[thaymond]

I'm Sorry to see that. It sucks when they're going strong and then something catastrophic happens. Maybe using a drip hose set to a timer. That way you have consistent and controlled watering even when you're gone.

 

[harleybug88]

Or try getting a new Wife ... just kidding, that's way to expensive.

I'm no expert, but looks like some sort of fungus going on, also some insect damage too.

 

[beernutz]

OP you might want to consider installing ollas like I put in my hop garden. See the thread here for more info: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519353&highlight=ollas

They are pretty cheap to make. To irrigate my 5 bines I spent $3 each for 8 8" flower pots and used some silicone adhesive.

I fill my 4 ollas up twice a week using a cooler filled with a water/liquid fertilizer mix though I could probably get away with filling them only once a week. I was gone for 8 days over Memorial Day and didn't fill the ollas at all during that time and my plants were fine when I returned despite being in the mid to high 80s here with little rain. The water and fertilizer go straight to the roots so that you don't waste much of either.

Another option would be some type of drip irrigation from a water basin or barrel.

 

[nextgenxx]

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-1-Port-Single-Dial-Timer-62056/100126132/

 

[day_trippr]

What I'm using this year...

It's an obvious variant of that Home Depot version (and one of many on the market). It's been working fine so far.

One feature that my previous controller lacked was an easy way to skip a day or more if there'd been a good rain since the last watering. These units provide that feature...

Cheers!