Anyone have an opinion on brown paper vs. white?
Regarding the seal on a paper bag, I understand that one if not both of the two primary pests (moths, apple maggot flies) identify fruit visually by shape (and perhaps color), not by smell. So the paper bag acts as both a barrier and camouflage. So the seal is probably less critical than the seal / permeability of footies and Ziplocks where the critter sees that there's an apple here somewhere and is willing to try to find an opening.
Regarding rain in the NW: my experience with my one bagged apple on my only productive new pair of trees was that the bag gets wet, then it dries out again. No problem -- it need only hold itself together. Unlike a wet grocery bag, there is not load of food to fall out the bottom.
I haven't tried them yet, but from what I've read, ziplock sandwich bags sound the most effective and inexpensive insect barrier for apples. I plan to try them this year with just a bit of the lower corners and the excess plastic above the "zip" cut off.
They have the advantage of allowing light through to color the fruit and for you to see their progress.
[quote="jafarj":2ty74xfs]I haven't tried them yet, but from what I've read, ziplock sandwich bags sound the most effective and inexpensive insect barrier for apples. I plan to try them this year with just a bit of the lower corners and the excess plastic above the "zip" cut off.
They have the advantage of allowing light through to color the fruit and for you to see their progress.[/quote:2ty74xfs]
I wish somebody would post a picture of the ideal amount to cut off the corners. I always think the moth/bugs will climb in a hole and lay eggs on the developing apple!
Should the hole be the size of a .22 bullet? smaller? Larger? Both corners are cut off or only one?
plumfan,
I don't think the size of the hole is very important, but I'd probably do about half an inch or so.
I think codling moths land directly on the apple face. If they can't land there I don't think they are smart or diligent enough to realize it is a puzzle and they have to find an opening to crawl in. Although earwigs probably are.
OK, for those whor are visual. Here is a thread with pictures of ziplock bags installed.
Skip the first picture and scroll down to the 2nd set.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/loa ... .html?4773
I have use both. White bags have a tendency to come unglued along the seam when compared to brown bags. I stapled mine on each side of the stem of the apple. This works with "long" stemmed apples. I have not stapled to the branch.
Plastic bags, zip or string, have given me problems. Usually I knock the spur or fruit off. I became irritated removing a corner of the plastic bags for moisture escape so I removed the bottom of the bag and they worked better than the ones with the corner removed.
Ted
Plastic bags, zip or string, have given me problems. Usually I knock the spur or fruit off. ... so I removed the bottom of the bag and they worked better than the ones with the corner removed.
I think I will also be removing the entire bottom edge of the ziplocks next year, this year being my first. I did cut a healthy notch in the plastic above the zip mechanism to enable me to get even the short stem apples bagged. Makes a difference there, but not on the long stem apples. I just do a hundred every nite while watching Jay Leno.
We bagged 1200 this year, all with a fair amount cut from the two bottom corners, thinking that would be just perfect. But it turns out those corners don't really ventilate well and tend to stick shut via capillary action of moisture inside the bad between the two plastic layers. So we spent a little time ripping the holes larger, by hand, in situ, and blowing the bags open with sharp puffs of breath. Seems that once the hole is totally deformed from the manual ripping and expanding, it tends to stay open better, thus ventilating the apple inside. Please, no gay jokes! 
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