There is a lot to be said for Ziploc bags....the thing is that everyone seems to have their own preference based on costs, appearance, knowledge with handling, etc. etc.....and I am kind of glad we are all different. In Seattle, we got involved with disposable foot sox a few years ago and are now soaking them in kaolin clay to give added protective abilities....other parts of the country seem to have their own fads. I have used fuji bags for many years with success. Labor intensive, though, and I end up stapling the bags to the stem just to make sure it stays on. Portland homeowners used to use #2 bleached white paper bags.....this would hold up through the season because, believe it or not, Portland and Seattle have dry summers .... it is wet here the rest of the year but dry in the summer......the hard downpours of rain in Virginia (where I grew up) might be hard on these paper sacks, though....I don't know....so it is hard to say what works where....it depends on the locality's particular weather and bug problems. Plums are too tedious to bag, in my opinion, and we haven't had problems with insects up until now in plums anyway in the Northwest....(but the new drosophilia fly in Seattle will change that.....so stay tuned)....again though, the problems we have in Western Washington are different than the arid Eastern Washington. Apples have been worth it to bag for those prepared to thin and wanting to showcase at least a few apples. Don't be afraid to thin heavily on the big trees. Pears are resistant to codling moth in the Northwest for most of the season, but as the skin softens later in the season, a good bag will help....or foot sox to keep the codling moth out in late July. I also found a paper sack gives the pear a nice yellowish blush as well as keeping the codling moth out....(the earwigs love it, but hey...so what?). There are plenty of things that work......on a big farm, they will use pheromone mating disruptors, "attract and kills" or other cost-effective means but generally would find bagging way too labor intensive. The homeowner is different.

I don't know about where you are but here the ingredients are listed on the label, or there is a phone number on the bag you can call and ask about the ingredients. Manure in bags is--manure. Here it is usually left to sit long enough to kill off the weed seeds. Letting it sit awhile at home isn't a bad idea. Because of what they feed those poor animals in factory farms, overdoing it on manure applications may not be a great idea. For example cattle are fed lots of salt to increase their weight, so cow manure may contain a lot of salt, which is bad for soil. Chicken manure may contain arsenic. Broiler chickens are fed arsenic to make the meat look more attractive. If you can get manure from an organic farm, that would be the good stuff. A few bags probably won't hurt anything, but heavy applications over years may have some consequences because of the nature of the modern factory farm. :(

I think you can proudly call yourself an oldtimer if you joined AVSA under the name "Mrs.Robert Jones". If not - you are a newtimer. I talked to Pat Hancock (Buckeye's violet hybridizer) on Raleigh Convention - and she mentioned using green sand, dehydrated manure, I think bone meal and a couple more ingredients to mix in your soil and let the batch sit for six months to settle - and than it is pure gold. I am it is sure something to make violets big and strong. On the other side - I saw Tom Greer's violets - and you cannot imagine anything bigger and brighter - and he grows them with a modern technology - he pressurizes his growing area with carbon dioxide. So - there is more than one way to spruce them up - may be using reverse osmosis water if you live in a hard water area... There is a lot of things you can do... A great grower in FL makes his soil mix out of perlite, vermiculite and rock wool. No organics - and his violets are superb. For him - the secret - good fertilizer. But - just regular repotting, good light source and grooming - works miracles and it is free. No need to buy $1500 worth of equipment to pressurize your living room with something you do not want to breath. Barbara Spofford shared her experience with a nursing home resident growning super symmetrical violets by turning them on a windowsill every day by 15 minutes (7.5 degrees???) Barb - correct me if I am mistaken with the degrees of a turn. EverYoung Irina with memory gone south, hair dyed blond and teeth...what teeth..

Tom, "John, are you using the white bags? I'd be concerned about the dyes and chemicals in the other colors.... " Good point. Heres what they (Greenbag Inc) say... "Is made from non-toxic, non-corrosive materials and safe color-fast dyes". I'm interested in these for several reasons, drainage, cooling and cost. I know they drain well, I don't think you could ever fill one with a garden hose. The upside down tomato bag I tried last spring stayed cool and it was black. The ones from Publix are a buck and I hear W mart's are cheaper. So I'll give it a try. john