To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Apple Bagging Question
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 08:45:29 -0400
Now for the question: Can my bags be expected to stay put through an
average wind-storm? Or do the bags need to be stapled too? I'd appreciate
any advice or comment.
Thanks,
--
I used zip lock bags, and applied them the same way. After some heavy-duty
wind/rain last week, I found that about 30% had come off. About half had
apples inside which could either be June drop or wind pressure on the bag.
There was also a noticeable depletion in the apples left unbagged, so I'm
thinking June drop. The remaining bags were empty, but also torn or opened
at the top. I replaced the bags on remaining apples where available, and
paid careful attention to pinching them close to the stem. I also tightened
the bags still on the trees, and found that many of the ziplock strips had
opened slightly, but not enough to slip over the apple. This was aided by
the growing apples inside, which had nearly doubled in a week. You could
also see where the sides exposed to sun had started to colour up, depending
on the final colouration of the variety. I'm going to take the twenty
minutes and staple the bags on the younger trees where I only have bagged
one or two apples, which is about twenty trees, and see what happens to the
remaining bags.
At first, my family and visiting friends thought I was completely
certifiable, but they have quickly come around. They can see that the
covered apples look in great shape and have started to ask how many
different apples will we have to taste. I have also noticed that several
trees lost all their bagged apples, but these were trees that were bagged
when apples were only about a 1/2 inch in diameter. It was either bag them
or wait five days. Maybe there are some varieties that need the apples to be
larger before the bag applications can be handled by the apples or stems. I
left the list of varieties up north, so will add that later.