Hops and bugs

Ingredients
1

Hi all - I’ve been growing hops in my backyard for a few years now, and I’ve learned that the vines LOVE attracting stuff - bugs, dirt, spider webs, other airborne things…

I just pulled a bunch down, and as I was, lots of particulates were also coming off of them. Looking at the leaves, and then the hops, there are A LOT of aphids and other living creatures.

I’ve read on this forum and others not to wash your hops - but I want to ask again - should I wash the hops? I  sprayed down the rest of the hops on the vine to see if this helps when I pull down more later. If I shouldn’t wash them, should they be trashed? You can see in the image below pretty clearly the level of infestation I’m finding…

Wash the hops?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Doesn’t matter
0 voters
2

I suggest not washing the hops but rather freezing them first. Freeze them good. That should kill most of the living things on them, especially the aphids, and they’ll then be safer to use.

3

I guarantee you that no hop producer washes their hops.  Especially if you intend to dry them before using, it’s unnecessary.

4

The bugs should leave once you’ve removed the hops from the vine and let them dry out a bit.

5

+1
between drying them, then freezing them, and boiling them- there’s little chance that a few tiny insects are going to harm anything.

6

I say don’t wash. For next year find a nursery or someplace similar that sells lady bugs. I think you can buy them online too. Lady bugs will go after the aphids.

7

we bought a bunch of lady bugs one year, they ate the aphids. then they got hungry and flew off looking for food. the aphids came back, the ladybugs didn’t.

8

Very helpful for me, take a note of it.

9

You can have our ladybugs. We get swarms of them on warm spring days.  PITA

10

control the aphids with neem oil, or a Safer brand insecticidal soap or equivalent. you’ll get a better hop crop that way too

11

It doesn’t have to be washed if you are growing it for yourself. I used to store hops in the barn. A bunch of pests appeared there. By treating the granary with fumigation (I got it here https://ajverminatorpestcontrol.com/), you can keep the grain stock from being damaged by pests, mice and mites, which multiply actively in the absence of hygiene, poor ventilation, high humidity and inadequate temperature control in the rooms. In addition to fumigation, hops can also be washed, but this will only create favourable conditions for the spread of infections on the plants.