North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Nathan Torgerson <nathantorgerson@yahoo.com>]

The nylon footie experiment on my Reliance peach tree had mixed results.  Of the 50 or so peaches on my tree, all of the fruit developed and matured the same with or without the footies on them. Since the stems of peaches (at least for Reliance) are so short, I put the peach in the footie and then tied the footie onto the branch by stretching the nylons so that they could be tied. 

This method is working really well for fruit picking, as the fruit that is ripe enough to fall off on its own is caught by the footie and is undamaged. I just need to check the tree every day.

   However, I did have a couple peaches that had larvae eating at the place where the stem and fuit meet, so the barrier might not have been tight enough around the base because of my attachement method. Also, over half of my peaches have been damaged by birds, which can easily peck through the nylon.

 

The peaches are very good quality and completely freestone.  Othertasters commented that they were as good as the peaches at the produce markets that are shipped here from Colorado.  (I am not sure what Colorado peaches taste like right off the tree at their peak, I am assuming even better)

 

Overall, I like the fact that the nylon material catches the fruit when it drops, allowing me to wait longer to pick to get better fruit. So far it has also deterred theft from squirrels, as they haven't yet been able to get them off of the tree.   But with my past experiences with squirrels, they will eventually figure out how to get them.

    I will need to come up with a way to keep the birds away...any suggestions? (The tree is about 15 feet tall...due to my reluctance living in zone 4 to prune anything that remains living on the tree after a harsh winter...which makes the tree difficult to wrap in netting).

 

Nate Torgerson

Andover, MN 55304

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