Usage of ziploc bags for fruit growing

16 years ago

Dear Friends,

I have read a lot about effectivness of using ziploc bags when growing fruits. Currently, I'm trying to use this knowledge, however, there are a few questions that I would appreciate the answers to:

1. What types of fruits can you put those ziploc bags on? I have apple, plum, cherry, pear, peach and apricot trees.

2. How long should the fruit be in the bag? When should I put it in the bag, and when should I remove it?

3. When fruit grows inside the ziploc bag and finally occupies most of the bag's space - how many fruits can be put in one bag?

4. What could be negative consequences of using the ziploc bags? Will it deter growing and making fruit ripe? Will it change the taste or color of the fruit?

5. Do these ziploc bags give any protection from parasites / insects? Should I be using any particular chemicals in conjunction with them?

I appreciate your help very much.

Thank you,

Mark

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Comments (3)

hoseman
16 years ago
Do a search on this forum and everything you need to know will be there.
athenainwi
16 years ago
One thing I'll say is that the ziploc bags don't work for peaches. The peach grows too close to the branch so there isn't a good way to attach a ziploc bag. A couple of people are using the shoe store try-on footies on peaches with good results. I'm going to try that this year.
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I will post some photos later but this year I tried bagging, apples, grapes and chums with either ziplocks or organza bags to keep the birds/bugs away. Organza bags being the nylon mesh bags used for wedding gifts and the like. I bought mine from: http://www.yourorganzabag.com/organzabag.htm. I used Moss Green as they are not visible in the foliage. I used the 6x9 bags but are they are a bit short for long grapes. Perfect for plums and apples and small bunches of grapes. I trimmed off the top of the ziplock just to the zipper part. Then at each bottom corner I cut off a triangle of plastic to leave about a 3/4 - 1 inch hole for ventilation. After 4 months there is a big difference. The ziplocks act like little greenhouses. There is nearly always significant condensation inside. The bags have a tendency to collapse and even with the drain holes there can be 5-10ml of cumulative water condensation inside. Earwigs like to crawl up via the condensation holes and hang out. The Organza bags have no issues. The are well sealed, no bugs get inside and ventilation is perfect. For apples, there does not seem to be a big issue with the heat/humidity. They seem to be growing and coloring up roughly the same no matter which bag. For the plums and grapes there are a huge difference. Once starting to turn color there is skin breakdown and rot formation in the ziplocked grapes. Coluration of the grapes also seems to be better in with the Organza bags. My Organza bags cost about $0.22 each vs $0.04/ziplock. However after 3 months they still look pretty much like new and as I am harvesting grapes I keep the bags for re-use next year. Another positive is the Organza bags have no perperation time (ziplocks you need to trim 2 corners + the tag) and are super easy to install. The Organza bags have a drawstring, you just open the bag, pull the string then tie a bow over the branch. For me, for the look (my trees don't look like they are covered in plastic), the ease of installation and the ventilation I will be using Organza bags from now on. Not sure for apples if you would see a difference with airborn fungus and scab but they work great for all insect and bird related problems. I think they would work awesome for peaches as they breath very well but keep the bugs/birds out. Just my experience up here in zone 4.
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I live in an extraordinarily dry climate in the rocky mountain foothills. Never a problem with fungus or mold. Of course, I cut off the corners, but I doubt that would save you in Maryland. Its true you can't completely surround the fruit most of the time. Until my last crop, it was enough, though. What happened last crop was the peaches did fine until they began to bulge past the opening at the top. We also had an infestation of apple maggots which is a new development here. I don't know if that was what they were, or just the second or third generation of codling moths. I would pre-staple the top about one third of the way down. Of course I would make sure the bag was zipped on that one third. Then I pull the bag tight on the peach against the staple. zip and staple as close to the fruit as I could. I toyed with the idea of getting a special dedicated stapler, then taking my angle grinder or somehow cutting off the part of the stapler past the anvil as close to the anvil as I could get. I think that would really allow me to scrunch up there. Perhaps next year. This year I am slicing off only maybe 2/3 of the lip of plastic past the ziploc, in hopes that that will help. Growing organically (if you count putting disposable plastic bags on every single fruit as 'organic') is a game of inches. The bags work very well with our birds. We also have a lot of crows here. I've never seen them bother the fruit, but they don't allow other birds to hang around and get too creative--that's the crow department.
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Of the 300 zips that I put on my apples and a few on pears I found perhaps 10% that had earwigs. They did not destroy the flesh of the apple however. I did do the cut at the center of the zipper and applied it very tightly. I think it is very possible the wiggies are getting in on the corner drainage cuts. I will change this next year to a cut daigonally towards the center of the bag and not remove any plastic but still allow drainage. I did notice a couple of things about the zipped apples. They did ripen slower and had less color than the unzipped ones. This was however a smashing success in the face of incredible insect pressure from the thousands of wild trees here. Kudos to the guy who started this. Now you apple mongers let's perfect this method. How about a wiggie repellent like lemon Dawn on the stem and drainage cuts while the zips are being put on. I hope to double or triple the amount zipped next year.
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jellyman
16 years ago
Mark:

With apologies to all the Fruit & Orchard webbers who must be bored silly with my frequent posts on fruit bagging, in excruciating detail, I will try to answer your questions. A search may not easily turn up just the info you want, since the content of many threads is not accurately reflected in their titles.

1. Ziplock bags work very well indeed on apples and pears, but not on stone fruits. On peaches, I use nylon shoe store try-on footies that are breathable, yet protect against plum curculio and oriental fruit moth. I also use footies on one variety of apple, Macoun, which has practically no stem at all, preventing me from closing a ziplock around the stem. Athena is correct that it is impossible to properly install a plastic ziplock on peaches because of the absence of a stem, and also because earwigs can enter the gap and damage peaches. I draw the line at bagging apricots and plums because of their small size and numbers, but if you do, use the footies. Please don't try to bag cherries.
2. Install the bags just after you have thinned the fruit to one per blossom cluster. The bags stay on all season long, and apples left in the bags when stored in refrigeration will keep much longer without shriveling. So the answer is remove the bag when you are ready to eat the apple or pear.
3. No reasonable person would try to put more than one fruit in a bag. If you want to leave more than one apple or pear per cluster, (which I do not recommend), use more than one bag.
4. There are no negative consequences to using bags other than perhaps a slight delay in coloring of apples due to filtration of UV rays by the plastic. I am convinced that apples in bags grow larger than those without them.
5. Of course the bags give protection from insects. That's why we use them. I do spray the apples twice before thinning and bagging since the plum curculio strikes early here, but there is no reason to spray after the bags are installed -- at least for fruit protection. If the trees become infested with aphids or something like that, there may be other reasons to spray. I also do an early spray on pome fruits for cedar apple rust (Ferbam) and fireblight (streptomycin), but you may not need these where you live.
6. Ziplocks require some preparation before installation, which consists of cutting off the bottom corners, and slitting and removing the plastic above the zipper to facilitate installation on the apple or pear.
7. Do not try to save used bags from year to year. Throw them out and start over. Bags are cheap. UV breaks them down and weakens them.
8. If these answers generate more questions of the "why" variety, I would then refer to you to the Gardenweb search function, where threads can be found that answer just about all the "why" questions that the human mind can conceive.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Usage of ziploc bags for fruit growing

Comments (3)

hoseman

athenainwi

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jellyman

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