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cooking apples
Peat B
Posts: 441
I have a hoary old cooking apple tree, that produces a meagre crop per year. Every year, it gets to this time, and what fruit there is, is either attacked by birds, sow bugs, wopsies and within hours, rots off 50% off the apple.
Is there someone out there who can identify with this problem, ( Not ACTUALLY ! ) and have they got some advice on how to prevent it ?
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Posts
I'd give up.
Core, blimey !
Or get a friendly Sparrow hawk to patrol the garden!
I spent the morning picking about 40 kilos of Katy apples. They have very little bird damage. Having said that we must have put about the same weight on the compost as they fell off because of codlin moth worms in them.
At Croft Castle they had a wonderful model Sparrow hawk dangling over the garden, the gardeners there said that it was most effective. You only need the outline of the hawk, not an accurate representation.
The person next door puts a net on poles over the tree but he has kept it small
Poles and netting are not viable. I think the only solution is to pick the pommes before they are ripe and let them finish off on a tray in wor shed. It's surprising how quickly the fallen fruit is finished off by da boidies, slugs 'n' wotnot, innit ! ?
I am gunna try and get the apples to stay in good condition be dipping the fruit into a bucket of Sodium metabisulphate, just a dip, and then let them dry naturally before storing. This method, like in wine making, is using NATURAL solution, and kills off any unwanted yeasts or things like that. It may not prevent ANY rotting, but it will perhaps help preserve the stuff a bit longer.
Peat B , very interesting idea , would you let us known if it works