The Benefits of an Apple Protection Bag

Apples are one of the most popular crops in American gardens, but they can be susceptible to pests and diseases that reduce their quality. Early season diseases such as apple scab and cedar apple rust and common pests like codling moth and hornworm can seriously damage or even kill trees and leave unsightly blemishes on apples. Bagging of the fruit on the tree deters many of these pests and also deters some fungal diseases such as flyspeck and sooty blotch. While this method is impractical for commercial growers, it offers gardeners a simple and inexpensive alternative to frequent insecticide sprays.

Apple bags, which can be made from a variety of materials, can effectively protect the developing apples on an apple tree, deterring insects and fungi and allowing the apples to mature in a more natural manner. The bags also allow for water and nutrient absorption, while still retaining air around the roots, thus preventing rot and waterlogging of the soil. The bag also provides a barrier against the sun, which can burn the leaves and fruit of an apple tree.

The first step to using an apple protection bag is choosing the right material. A variety of materials have been used for this purpose, including plastic, paper, and two-layer commercial bags. Results from a recent study found that all three types of bagging reduced direct insect pest damage and generally provided comparable levels of fruit protection to a conventional pesticide spray program. In addition, fruit from apples bagged with both commercial and paper bags was more attractive in terms of color than either the commercial or unbagged control.

A number of gardeners have tried to develop their own homemade apple bags based on the original Japanese technique. Ric Bessin of the University of Kentucky reported on the use of homemade cloth bags in the 1995-1998 issue of GrowVeg, while Quinten Fadness and William Collins of the Home Orchard Society published encouraging results with bleached white paper bakery bags secured with twist ties. These are the bags that I have been testing in my own garden this year.

The most important thing is to install the bags as soon as possible after petal fall, so the apples are covered when the insects begin to attack. The best time to do this, however, varies by the variety of apple and location. Some people suggest waiting until after June drop, while others say to put the bags on the apples as soon as they reach the size of a dime, which should be just before petal fall. The bags are then removed two weeks before harvest to enable the apples to color. The extra heat gathered by the bag also helps to build brix levels in the fruit, according to some sources. Several other benefits of apple bagging include the fact that it can help prevent hail, and it reduces the amount of pesticide residue left on the fruit after harvesting. All in all, this is an experiment that deserves more attention from the gardening community.