Re- evaluating bagging fruit

I have PC and CM. My opinion is that the screen will protect against PC. My thoughts about the screen protecting against CM is that there must be a space between the fruit and screen. Neither of these methods have been well tested by myself so I might be wrong. I had about six of this variety and they were first bagged with a smaller ziploc but the bags were too small. I removed the Ziploc and put on these sleeves and let them finish ripening. I almost forgot to mention that the fruit was not damaged and tasted great.

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Where did you buy your screen material, please?

I was surprised how easy it was to staple it together. I want to use more sleeves of this material next year instead of bread bags. It offers more resistance against squirrels and such.

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i haven’t gotten into bagging. to those who bag - how many hours do you estimate you spend per tree on bagging / unbagging / prepping bags for reuse? are the results worth the time you spend? or a new pest like squirrels or deer takes over? does anyone do a sacrificial plant? i’d imagine if you bag your good plums and also have a sacrificial plum unbagged, wildlife will prefer the unbagged over chewing through plastic mesh ( at least until the sacrifice has nothing left).

Sorry I just saw this post. My screen is leftovers from when I built a screen porch. I don’t remember the source but it was ordered online to get larger sizes. Home Depot and Lowes sells screen.

How mamny hours? - depending on how many fruit you bags, how skilled you are in putting bags on, etc.

Worth it? I think so. Putting plastic zip lock bags on apples and you don‘t have to spray for the whole season. Same thing with peaches and paper bags.

Sacrificial tree? Not working. Squirrels or other animals probably go for fruit by smell. If fruit smell good ( ripening first), they probably go for it, babbed or not. I bag E pears but not A pears. Squirrels go after whatever starting to taste good to them. They tasted fruit and left unripe ones after a bite or two. Ripe ones got eaten.

To me, Bagging is not recommended for those who have a lot of trees or large trees.

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I can’t help with specific time to do but I can say it does take a lot of time. Normally I prepare the bags in advance of installation and then I work putting them on about 1-2 hours at a time. For me the payoff is not having to spray as many chemicals during the fruit development period. Nice not having to spray the later ripening varieties like Goldrush and Pink Lady apples.

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Takes me a few days to finish a full tree, as I thin as I go. But that’s apples, I don’t bag plums.

You can’t really expect bagging to deliver sure protection from squirrels. It’s about insect pests.

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How about bagging whole tree with big mesh? I’v seen cherry tree packet this way.

@galinas and @anon18642480 have done it successfully I believe. The size of a tree is important.

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It works with sour cherry and apricot. Plum is different story - aphids do not leave a chance. Next year I will try to get ladybugs and put them under the cover. If this doesn’t work - plum will be on its own.

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I use tulle. For the bigger trees, I sometimes only can partially cover them by lifting and pulling the tulle over the top and attach to the branches with clothespins. For the trees about 8 or 9 feet in the containers, I cover the whole tree and tie at the bottom of the trunk. All stone fruits ripen without any problems. I remove some after picking all the fruits and reuse the tulle on other trees. Since they seem to confuse the birds, I still leave them on and will remove all tulle in a few weeks when all the fruits are done. I will not use them on grapes because it may cause fungus from trapping moisture. I thought there was no pear this year so, I didn’t do anything and some of the pears end up with worms inside like usual. The apple and jujube have no problem since I put the tulle on. Please be careful. I don’t know if it would work if you have humid weather.

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Today picked a perfect Parks Pippin Apple, bagged with Ziplok bag, here’s proof:

IMG_0212

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Well, I just read through this entire thread, and another one on bagging fruit as well. I guess the bottom line is, everyone’s experience is different? Depends on location, fruit type, pest type, and bag type?

There’s a lot of valuable experience shared here. Am I right that-

Bagging not helpful for squirrels.
Not helpful for deer or raccoons.
Im not sure about insects. Do most here find bags helpful for coddling moth?
Is bagging better than just spraying surround?

How about bags sprayed with Habanero?

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There is no f’ing way I would go to the trouble of bagging all of my fruit. In addition to being time consuming, I find the bags unsightly.
Imidan is cheap
Captan is cheap
Respirator is cheap
My sprayer was not cheap but should last me until I am done with orcharding.
https://www.ivamfg.com/sprayers/lawn-garden-sprayer/lawn-garden-orchard-sprayers

Anyone who doesn’t like Imidan and Captan should consider Surround, Lime Sulphur etc also pretty cheap.

It takes me about 1/2 hour to spray my orchard. I spray about 4 times a year following Alans schedule.

Ribs,
I do not want to turn this into a debate. We have Lounge for that. There are many reasons people avoid spraying harsh chemicals when they can. From your sprays, Imidan cannot be spray in a residential area. I cannot spray it where I live even if I wanted to. Anyway, let’s talk about bagging.

@Bear_with_me, to answer your questions.
No, bagging does not deter squirrels, deer, groundhogs, raccoons, opossums, etc.

It is helpful with coddling moths where I live but timing is very important. You need to bag before coddling moths arrive.

Bagging in conjunction with a spray or two of Surround is best. In case of apples, if pests like coddling moths, apple maggot flies, arrive
early when apples are too small to bag, spraying Surround to protect your fruit until they size up is helpful.

I’ve found ziplock sandwich bags or fruitsox are very effective against bugs for apples and pears. Have I told you I hate earwigs? :smile:

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Bagging definitely helpful for insects, it’s the only real reason to do it.

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You asked "When is it time to quit? I said now. That was not a debate. I answered your question. Also, I did suggest for anyone who does not want to or cannot spray Imidan to use Surround and Lime Sulphur.

This year i used organza bags. Better for pest control, no moth bites. Earwigs yes. Huge sooty blotch, vs plastic with no sooty blotch. Easier to apply than plastic bags.

I did not spray fungicide at any bagging so far. May try sulfur, then bag some plastic some organza see how it compares

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Bagging is time consuming, and you have to control insects before the fruit gets large enough to bag. Plus, you still have to thin. I have had a lot of trouble with premature drops, but found spraying Surround and Spinosad at blossom drop helped a lot. It all boils down to how much time you want to spend and how many apple trees you have, plus how chemical free you are striving to be.

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@ribs1

Paul,

What size sprayer do you use and may I ask how much it cost.

Thanx

Mike

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