thinning fruit/placing fruit in a bag on the branch

17 years ago

I've only seen the part about bagging fruit on this forum. Will someone explain this, please. I have 3 pear trees and 4 heirloom apples. All are 4 years old. I'm sure it won't take many bags, as there were few fruit last year.

I haven't needed to thin. Last year we were so happy to have a few apples, then most fell off early.

It seems strange to me to put a plastic bag over fruit in the hot sun.

Thanks,

zinia

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Comments (6)

jellyman
17 years ago
Strange it may seem, Zinia, but it is that little bag (or similar arrangement) that protects the fruit from insects in the event you don't want to spray with insecticides every week. And who does?

Apples grow in clusters, just as they blossom. Normally, there are about 6 blooms to a cluster, but sometimes 7 or even 8. Thinning normally consists of removing all but the very best, unmarked, largest apple from the cluster. You may choose to thin to 2 fruits per cluster, or even 3, but you need to thin, and the biggest best apples grow alone in the cluster, after all the others have been removed.

You may have more fruit this year than the year past. If you summer prune your trees you will see even more, because you will have more fruiting spurs. I don't know exactly what puzzles you about bagging apples, but here is a quick outline of the procedure:

1. Buy a box of ziplock sandwich bags. Not the freezer bags, which are heavier. You want the lightweight stuff.
2. Take a scissors, and cut off the strip of plastic above the actual zipper closure. Now the zipper is right at the top of the bag. Make sure you open the zipper before you cut off the plastic above it, or you will have a hell of a time getting it open.
3. With the same pair of scissors, cut off the corners of the bags at the bottom to allow drainage. Now your bags are ready to install.
4. Place the bag over the little apple, with the stem in the center of the zipper, then close from both sides by gentle squeezing until you have it snug up to the stem. Make sure it clicks shut all the way across except where the stem passes through.
5. Stand back and admire your work. It is easier to do this job after thinning, when there is only one apple per cluster, but it is possible with two. More than that becomes a little complicated.
6. If you notice insect damage before you bag, you may have to use an insecticide in the interim, but if you find one nice undamaged apple you are home free, so you can remove and discard curculio damaged fruit.

Try it. Good Luck.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
lycheeluva
17 years ago
I tried bagging a few plums last year, and the bagged fruit were completely tasteless and pale- are you supposed to remove the bag a few days/weeks before maturation of the fruit and if you do, wont the insects then damage the fruit and thus defeat the whole exercise?
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jellyman
17 years ago
lycheeluva:

Yes, it is a good idea to remove bags about 2 weeks before harvest, to allow the sun to color the fruit well and accumulate more sugars. I don't know whether the poor flavor of your plums was due to the bags or some other factors, however. I usually remove the bags from my fruit, including the apples, about 2 weeks before picking, and seldom see any problems. I do not bag plums, which I find it more practical to spray, but do bag many of the peaches.

The worst pest of plums, the plum curculio, is an early insect that attacks the fruit in the first 6 weeks after bloom. By mid-season, this insect is gone, but you still may have trouble with the oriental fruit moth if you have large numbers of these where you live. The OFM produces multiple generations. There are lots of ways to deal with the OFM, including electronic bug zappers (I run them all summer long in my orchard), vinegar/molasses traps, and spraying with an insecticide.

Whether or not you will have to take any of these measures depends on your experience in your particular location, so there is no single solution for everyone. Growing fruit requires trying a variety of solutions to see which of them work for you. Nobody ever said it was easy. At least I never did.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
murkwell
17 years ago
Do electronic bug zappers kill any useful insects?
jellyman
17 years ago
Murky:

How many useful insects have you got, and what are they? I have damn few here, but lots of night flying codling moths and oriental fruit moths that are drawn to the trap. The useful insects I am familiar with do not work at night.

There are a number of hysterical websites that will tell you bug zappers kill beneficial insects, but they can't tell you just what they are. My view is that if they feel that way, they shouldn't use zappers. As for me, I like them.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
murkwell
17 years ago
I don't know Don. For most of the insects I see I couldn't tell you whether they are friend or foe. I tend to agree with the "innocent until proven guilty" advice from the Home Orchard Society chair.

Perhaps I would amend that to innocent until suspected/accused.

I'm not sure I'd recognize a lacewing if I saw one, but I thought they were supposed to be beneficial. I don't know if they are active at night.

If I set up a zapper it would probably mostly catch crane flies and moths. That's what seem to litter my porch and spider webs around my outdoor light fixtures.

thinning fruit/placing fruit in a bag on the branch

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jellyman

lycheeluva

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