North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Richard Ashton" <bwoodtx@verizon.net>]

Do you think that bagging would work with peaches?
Richard

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>
To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: RE: [NAFEX] re: Apple Bagging


> 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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