North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Judi Stewart" <js@olympus.net>]

I've seen those long dress bags from the dry cleaner pulled over peach limbs
and secured along the branch. It seems to work both against curl and
insects. The bags can be further secured by tying at intervals along the
limb.  Though smaller, they also use the clear film sleeves some newspapers
come wrapped in. 

Judi Stewart
zone 8


        
  Nathan Torgerson <> wrote:
    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