I just spray the surround. I never tried any bags except on grapes to get the wasps away. How can you bag fruits on 25 feet tall tree. What amazes me most of the fruits are on the top. I have one Dwarf golden delicious Apple about 9 feet may be this one I could bag it. The rest of my trees are Giants.

I used the footies on apples, peaches, nectarines and plums with equal success. the only thing it did not work on was grapes- the grapes tended to get all squashed and rotten inside the bags.

Please explain what these are and sources if you can. Thanks.

Thanks for the report. I just bought a bag of the surround footies myself to try out. I bought mine from the home orchard society (link below). I wanted to try them because I kept getting earwigs in the plastic bags (along with the moisture issues) and I also wanted to try bagging peaches and plums. I would do regular surround but I don't think I could keep up if we get as much rain as we have the past two years. I'm hoping the bag will keep more of the surround attached.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit soxs

Excellent report! Now, if Surround either sprayed or via footies would deter my roof rats and ground squirrels :-) Maybe worth $28.00 to find out. I didn't get one single apple off my little espaliered Anna last year - the rats got them all. This year, I'll be putting up some bait stations for both rats and ground squirrels, which I hate to have to do, as I'm afraid a hawk or owl will pick up a weakened, poisoned rodent and will die, too. But if I don't, I'm not going to have any fruit this year, either. And the ground squirrels will strip bark right off my trees as well as damage the fruit. They are really destructive.

Patty S.

Do they work against PC? At what point do you apply them (fruit size?)??? I used plastic bags last year on the apples and that was a complete failure. I have a big bag of Surround WP that I plan to use heavily this year. 2 young kids/pregnant wife/so I'm still banned from spraying anything that could really take care of the b$&$$ds.

harvestman- athenainwi kindly posted the link to the product above- to my knowledge, it is the only source for it (nylon footie pre-soaked in surround mixture and then dried).

Hoosier- they are not much of a barrier to squirrels- to conquer the squirrels- the only method I have found to work (for areas, such as mine where shooting is not allowed) is to put out rat poison. last year was the first year i tried this, after years of trying about ten other meothds to no avail. It was extremely effective and I had virtually not fruit loss to squirrels. you would need to make sure that there are no kids or pets around that could pick it up and eat it (not a problem in my yard), though according to the manufacturer, it is not very toxic to other animals/humans and vitamin k is an effective antidote to accidental poisoning. see link below

frank - i found the bags to be effective against all bugs. the only weak spot as i mentioned above is some of the bags opened up a little as the fruit grew and allowed some minimal insect/bird damage at the opening. none of the apples had any larvae inside.

this year, i will try and devise an easy way of closing up the end of the footie after application. I put the bags on when the fruit were about the size of a cherry. I use insecticide spray until that point, and as i was putting the bags on, if i noticed any fruit with insect damage on, i would just cull that fruit as part of my thinning i anyway had to do.

Here is a link that might be useful: squirrel poison

Thanks for the confirmation about putting out poison, lychee. I am a nurse, so I know how the poison works, but good to let others know as well, as it can be dangerous if a cat, small dog or child gets ahold of it, and eats enough of it. It is an anticoagulant very similar to Coumadin, and yes, Vit K is the antidote :-) I don't have any small kiddos, just a dog (70 lb. Australian Shepherd), and I plan on using bait stations with bait blocks, so my dog can't get at the bait. And, he's not inclined to eat dead or disabled rodents, either. Plus, the dose he might get from eating a dead/disabled rodent isn't enough to cause him any harm (checked with both the company and the vet just to be sure). Very, very good to know. My rat and ground squirrel problem is off the charts. I set traps every night, and I trap a rat or mouse every night. I'm having a lanscaper pull out all the awful Wandering Jew I have growing down in the lower part of my yard, where I will be putting all my stone fruit. He just told me he found a huge rat's nest in doing that. It's also why I have rattlesnakes down there. So, if I can clean out the vermin, I can also clear out the rattlers. We're putting up snake fencing down there, too, so if I can make sure my yard is snake-free, I'll have an excellent chance of keeping snakes and rabbits out finally.

Patty S.

The cotton parts bags I have brought up here before do protect from squirrels (and, they also do about as good as these Surround-soaked footies at moth protection, and for the same price). You need to tie the string on the bag to the tree limb so the squirrel cannot run away with the bag. They will chew on a few bags but you will get most of your harvest. Google for cotton drawstring parts bag to see them. I had good luck on both apples and peaches; it makes the peaches a bit more prone to rot but otherwise works well.

Scott

The ones I purchased were not soaked and dried with Surround and were only $19.95 per 288 delivered. Now I kind of wish I had found the ones soaked in Surround.

Anyone know where I could get a small amount of Surround Crop Protectant to soak them in at a reasonable price?

Here is a link that might be useful: Maggot Barriers

Thanks, Scott, found the thread and I've included the link to Packo below. I see in the thread you bought 6 x 8 bags. I'm going to order some, and then soak them in both Surround as well as Cayenne pepper (warning if you do this - WEAR GLOVES and don't touch your face until you've washed up). I figure the Surround will make the Cayenne pepper stick to and in the bags. That, plus bait should solve my squirrel AND roof (citrus) rat problem. Really great info, Scott and everyone else! Plus, I'll get bug control out of this as well. Great deal, and organic. Very happy to do a wee bit more work, to get some fruit this year!

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Packco Cloth Cotton Drawstring Parts Bags

Scott-

PC protection from those cotton bags? I'd love to try them on a tree or two just to see what kind of results I get.

I lived in Vista for years.
The rat poison will work great on the squirrels also try the little golf course candies(green some-what soft) We got ride of all our gophers and squirrels with that stuff in Vista. Local feed store on VistaWay sells them in bags, if it is still there. I tried the rat poison here in AZ and after 2 boxes of rat poison no more squirrels. They went back to there little condo to die -thank god.

I'll be interested to see if those Surround footies will repel the earwigs.

I had ato go around pulling off all the footies from my stone fruits last year, because of them.

Thanks, campv, I know just what feed store you're talking about. Road trip tomorrow. And ltilton, you might want to try Sluggo Plus sprinkled around the base of your fruit trees. It is a new product that not only kills snails and slugs, but also kills earwigs organically.

Patty S.

I'm definitely doing the Surround footies this year. I tried the footies sans Surround three years ago and as we all know Coddling Moths are not deterred, although Apple Maggot reportedly is. I tried the sandwich bags for a couple of years with mixed results.
The only Surround I could find was a way-too-large sack which fortunately I got for half price cuz the sack was torn and leaking. Not a problem. I suggested to the HOS folks that sell the Surround footies that they could also sell baggies of Surround at a reasonable cost yet at a substantial profit.

I cannot find Surround in 1-lb to 5-lb bags at a reasonable price. Can Cosmetic grade 3 micron White Kaolin Clay be used as a substitute for Surround?

Edible Landscaping sells 5lbs for $22. No other Kaolin will work in a sprayer, it is not fine enough or consistent enough and could clog your sprayer beyond belief. Just for soaking the bags in maybe there is some chance there is enough of the smallest size in some other formulation but I heard that Surround has extremely small sized particles compared to any other formulations and I personally would not take the chance.

Scott

I bought a huge bag of Surround WP for right around $30 from a farm supply store about 25 minutes from here. If there are orchards in your area you should be able to find someone who carries it.

I think it was this place.
http://www.cpsagu.com/Regions/CentralCornbelt/

Thanks Scott. I wish I could find it local but I'm beginning to think EL may be the best I can do. However I will give the link Frank provided a shot before I give up and go with EL.

Fanktank232 I have searched and searched locally and cannot find anyone who sells it. One of the search results was for "The Orchard" and I clicked on it hoping I had found the place and only a 45min drive each way. Turns out they sell Apple Computers.lol I will try the places in the link you provided. The closest one is an hour and a half away. It would be roughly $ 18.00 in gas there and back if they have it but still a lot cheaper than shipping.

thisisme, try seeing if you can find your local orchard or vineyard supply store. Or something like Farm & Fleet, Tractor Supply, etc. We have a great orchard supply store here in N. San Diego county that caters to orchardists and vineyard owners. They carry Surround WP and I was able to pick up a 25 lb. bag. I'm going to Frazier Farms, where they sell spices in bulk, and buying about a 1lb. of Cayenne Pepper. I'm going to mix the two and soak my little cotton bags, and bag up my apples. That, along with bait stations, and I am crossing my fingers that I get some apples and stone fruit this year, without giving it all away to rats and ground squirrels :-)

Patty S.

Patty S. I am not a young guy but I do know my way around the Internet. When anyone in my family wants to find something they ask me to find it when they can't. I have searched and searched every Nursery and Plant and Garden Center every Orchard and Farm Supply and Nursery Supply and Farm Tractor Supply and Feed store that I could find in Arizona. I'm willing to drive one and half hours each way if I have too. Not willing to drive 8-9 hours each way to N. San Diego county though. Hopefully one of the three places I found in the link Frank provided works out.

Wish me luck.

Secondary kills from rodenticides/pesticides used to be a problem with some now banned chemicals such as 1080 which had no antidote and was lethal in trace amounts. It has been off the market for more than 30 years. You might have a hard time finding a chemical with a secondary kill problem, ever since the formation of the EPA.
Dan

Contrary to the search results in the link posted by franktank232. None the places in my state carry or have even heard of Surround WP Crop Protectant. Looks like its going to cost me more to get 5 lbs shipped to me than others pay locally for a 25 lb bag.