Did organza bags work for you 100%?

wazzamcg starts with ...
Hi,

I have a white peach tree that I must of put about 50 organza on - the problem was that I had found the dreaded fruit fly was still stinging the fruit if the bag was touching the fruit.

Is the experience of others that the bags must be puffed out so fruit fly can not touch the fruit?

I was hoping that the fruit fly was not able to sting through the bag.

If they can, the only solution is to get the big bags that encompasses the leaves as well - that will help expand the bag so the fruit does not touch the bag.

John Mc says...
What size bags are you using wazzamcg?
I use the large 120cm bags which gives plenty of room around the fruit. FF strike through the organza here are rare, I get birds trying to hack through them though, but damage is limited to half dozen fruit or so per tree. I'm about to bag all my european grapes, the Muscadines come later.

MaryT says...
I've had 100% success until yesterday I noticed one of the figs had a few small holes in its bag and the fruit had one dent/hole in it. It's not ripe yet but I think that's fair warning. Last year I ate every fig and guava I had inside organza bags; not a blemish.

Anonymous says...
Going to post my handy dandy vestpocket guide to making bags which exclude flies possums and bats, using household crap Next week with pics and instructions. Have a good mango picking design too.

VF says...
The bags don't really work with Lorikeets either. I've lost peaches to them - they chew the fruit through the bag and sort of suck it out, and you're left with a small amount of fibrous pulp and the seed sitting nicely in the bag.

BJ says...
The organza bags dont stop oriental fruit moth, which gets in at the drawstring end and pierces the fruit next to the stem. Their larvae tend to be individual or in pairs and rather large and stick to the area nearer the seed. They also wont stop fruit bats, who will suck the fruit through the bag, often leaving only a nicely cleaned seed. Possums, on the other hand, will just tear the bag to bits if they are hungry.I double bagged some fruit this year. I even bagged fruit inside fruit saver nets and didnt get 100% success. So, Im pulling out my stonefruit.

BJ says...
Yep, they work great against spotting bugs and sucking moths, and I've got a bunch on small persimmons now, but I'll have to double bag with a mesh bag once the fruits get to near ripeness or the bats will get every one of them.

KitschWitch says...
I've only tried the calico bags on persimmon. Kept out FF, but not always the birds. Ravens would stick their beaks into the drawstring end and if there was any slack at all, they would manoeuvre until they could reach the fruit.

For stone fruit I tend to use the sleeves. I'm not sure what the fabric is--it looks like interfacing. Not woven. Has worked for FF so far.

The poster formerly known as... says...
Had to re stake my mex cream guava tonight as it just about fell over under the weight of the fruit in the tree and the sodden ground. A few guava fell off but every one was stung. Spent hours bagging the fruit at quarter size to no avail. I guess the next step is wild May and fipronil mix.

Slicko says...
I have been using the pest guard bags from Green Harvest for several years and have always found them to work well with fruit fly having used them on lemons, tomatoes and capsicum. Sometimes I find a bag has been penetrated by a caterpillar or some other insect chewing a small hole in it.

Unfortunately, they are no use at all against birds, fruit bats or possums and so I find it's easier and more efficient to net the whole tree. Until last season I was using mosquito nets, however, I have since bought lengths of knitted poly net from W A that I will use to cover the trees. I have used it successfully to cover a crop of broccoli ..no cabbage moth damage at all.

Waterfall says...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=green+harvest

Slicko says...
Sorry about that Julie. Try www.greenharvest.com.au . They are in the Sunshine Coast hinterland north of Brisbane.
I agree, it is disappointing to lose crops to aerial or ground based pests, but I think the extra effort to protect your hard work to produce the crop is worth it.

ivepeters says...
How do you retrain relatives from self harvesting ? Netting doesn't ever help, just encourages.

Miranda says...
I have been used organza bags with baking paper inside the bags for last two years on guava trees, works perfectly well.