I want to try bagging apples. I assume I should thin them to one fruit per cluster? What is the right timing, because I’m already seeing insect damage on a few of the fruits?
I’m afraid if thin now, June drop will cause even more of them to drop.
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I’ve found it works best to spray with Surround and Spinosad as soon as petals fall. Then when marble to gum ball size I bag. Often many have dropped by then of their own accord. I just concentrate on bagging and come back later and snip off the extras. I still end up with bags on the ground, but fewer than when I bagged really tiny apples. You might want to wear a mask while bagging, as the Surround can be annoying to breathe.
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Mix the Spinosad w/surround?
When I first started bagging I had a lot of drops but as your learn the size and timing they are reduced. Hope they do well.
BG, yes, just mix them together.
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I just bought my usual ziplocks and started the season’s bagging - and they wouldn’t lock. I thought I had them closed around the stem, but they weren’t, and fell right off.
I’ll need to find another brand of cheap sandwich bags - and soon!
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If you’re that into self flagellation, try these:
These are, of course, footies, the sheer nylon low-cut stockings that shoe stores hand out to women who are trying on dozens of pairs. They remain stretchy enough to enclose fruit as it grows. You do have to loop the loose end around the stem or branch, preferably locking it in the loop, and you will destroy a certain amount of the crop, thus enhancing your efforts at thinning it.
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Footies don’t stop stinkbugs and their stupid little projectile.
Clemson bags and ziplocks do.
I use the ones with double zippers. Cutting through the zip helps it to completely close.
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