I would only make one slit in the zipper instead of a V.

On long stemmed fruit you should be able to get away without removing the excess. On most of my apples I have to remove it so when I'm making them I remove them all.

You're using a razor? Hmmm, I wonder how one of those rolling fabric razors would do.

David,

This seems right to me. I don't bother cutting the v at the top. The bags stay on fine without it and I can close them up to the stem. But I know that in a recent post Jellyman -- the chief proponent of this method on the forum -- spoke up in favor of doing this. I've also been cutting more off the corners, but I have no idea whether this is good or bad. My feeling is that doing so might prevent the bag from sticking together too much and so allow a little more ventilation. I also use the cheapest grade of sandwich bags -- the ones made of thin plastic. Usually the house brand at the supermarket is like this. These bags weigh less and I think are less likely to break off with young apples in them.

excellent photos to ask an excellent question....

I have a question of my own. I understand why people would be bagging apples now because the pests are flying (or soon flying) that would bother them.....but in the Northwest, pears don't have to be bagged for quite some time to come because they have such a hard outer skin, particularly in the early stages before they even begin to ripen, that the codling moth doesn't make an entry into them....so at least for some of us, for pears, I wonder if we need to rush to bag any of them in May....or even in early June.
Caveat: Obviously Southern California is different than the state of Washington.

Cut an edge off the corn for rain/moisture and leave it. Use ZipLoc brand bags. I started with a box of Glad and they suck vs Ziploc. A lot easier to seal and tighter fit. I've put on roughly 300 bags this year, and consider myself an expert now :)

I do think someone needs to come out with a bag treated with UV protection (like plastic for a greenhouse) so they can be used for a few years. I'm going to save all my bags this year and see how they do again a second year.

I don't do anything with pears and while they had marks last year, they were fine with me. The foilage did get attacked by Chafers, but that is another story.

I have to bag all of my fruit or spray them; there too many insect pests already flying about or soon will be emerging to not bag my fruit now. I am using the cheapest bag that I can find, right now that is the Wal-Mart store brand. As far as cutting a V notch, I probably will just make a straight cut in the zipper. Since that you guys think that it is not necessary to remove the excess above the zipper I probably will leave that too. I know that the excess wonÂt be a problem on the pears. Some of the apples may be a different story though.

The reason that I am bagging this year is mainly because of the Apple Maggot Fly, they are the bane to my fruit growing efforts. Even though I am bagging I am still going to set out traps for the AMF to try to continue to reduce their population. In addition to the traps for AMF I am going to use beneficial nematodes to get those that may still be in the soil.

I have a question for those of you who are much more experienced in bagging fruit. I want to do this right from the start, I donÂt want to have to go back and cut more out. How much should I cut out of the corners?

Thanks again,

David

Cut off one top corner (to place the stem through) and the opposite bottom corner (to allow water to drain). The cut doesn't have to be large (just big enough to be able to drain).

I find that by not v cutting the stems are scaring. I also have excessive moisture that is not drying. High wind also
dislodges the bags. Maybe its not warm enough yet.

I had bags last year without drainage hole that were a quarter of the way full with water and the fruit still hung on. I even slit the bag and watched the water drain.

Has anyone found a solution to two sides of the plastic bag getting a bit sticky and sealing off the drainage holes? After a week or so of the bags being on the tree, the two sides of the plastic just get more sticky and then the drainage holes are blocked. I usually go out and either have to remove the bag to open it up again or pull apart the plastic a bit. You'd almost like a little spacer in the bag to keep the two sides separate.

One thing to avoid is the Ziplock Evolve bags. They have super thin plastic but it's also super clingy almost like Saran Wrap. They are far worse than a regular Ziplock type bag.

I think i saw those. Are they the "green" ones?

{{gwi:99751}}

One of my trees. I *think* this is a McIntosh... I needed the ladder to get the top ones. I'm going to let it grow tall since space is limited . Maybe at some point i'll be bagging apples from the roof of the house :)