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nafex - RE: [NAFEX] re: Apple Bagging

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  • From: "Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>
  • To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [NAFEX] re: Apple Bagging
  • Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 08:09:03 -0800

I have been meaning to write up my experience with bagging apples, but I
keep putting it off. I would say my results with this technique were a
success, similar to Stefan's. I would recommend that anyone interested
in this technique should visit Stefan's website using the link he
provided:
http://www.css.taylor.edu/~sbrandle/apples/

Some people kept detailed statistics of there bagging experiments. I
was keeping detailed records also, but stopped doing this when the
results were clear... bag on apple=perfect fruit, no bag on apple=worm
holes and funny shapes. Last summer was an unusual weather year in
Seattle, and scab was not such a problem. It seemed like the only scab
I had was on unbagged fruit, but scab really wasn't an issue like it
usually is.

My technique was the following. I used cheap clear plastic sandwich
bags and twist ties. I put them on when the apples were between 0.5" to
1" diameter. I could put them on at a rate of about 3 bags per minute.
Due to parenting demands, my bagging routine involved daily visits to my
trees in during which I applied up to 10 bags in a session. I continued
doing this daily routine over a 2 week period. When placing the bags on
the fruit, I tried to put them on with maximum room to grow. The
plastic bag material can stretch without tearing, especially when heated
by the sun. I had some huge Mutsu apples that probably stretched the
bag by 50% more than its starting volume. I had a tree of
shrink-wrapped apples by harvest time. I was worried about the apples
cooking inside the bags, but I left them on the tree to see what would
happen. At harvest time, I found the texture to be excellent and the
color was also good. The only problem I had were bags that filled with
rainwater. Those apples split their skin, but never rotted. I would
recommend cutting a drainage hole when a bag starts to accumulate
rainwater. Most bags were fine without any ventilation or drainage
holes. Things were working without punching holes in the plastic bags,
so I left them that way.

I have been surprised at how well these bagged apples keep. I ended up
leaving them in their bags at harvest time. I still have a few in the
frig. The quality continues to be good. By this time of year, my
unbagged frig-stored apples are always shriveled up and mushy. The
bagged apples continue to have crunch, but I must admit they are not as
snappy as they were last October. It is interesting to note I haven't
lost one bagged apple to rot in all these months of storage.

I will definitely bag again this year. A simple organic way to produce
high quality apples that store well.

-Mark Lee, Seattle USDA cold zone 8a, AHS heat zone 3

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Stefan Brandle
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 6:29 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [NAFEX] re: Apple Bagging

John's post reminded me that I had put together a web page with some
pictures that helps you see that the bagging really does make a
difference.

http://www.css.taylor.edu/~sbrandle/apples/

I didn't try the ziplock bags; that would probably be much faster that
trying to tie them on the way I did. Given that I also saw a suggestion
of larger apples when bagged (a "hot house" effect?), the heavier
ziplock bags might have a greater effect. And as John said, you quickly
discover that water accumulates in the bags, so it is good to take a
tiny snip out of the corners for drainage.

Paper bags work ok, but I had the worst time getting the bags on. And
then you have no idea what is happening inside the paper bag. The fruit
could have met a June drop fate and you wouldn't be any the wiser. This
leads me to prefering clear plastic.

-sb
Eastern Indiana Zone 5b where I'm trying to decide whether I can sneak
in a couple more plant orders this month. :-)


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