Detailed method and steps for bagging loquat fruit to improve fruit quality
SummaryTime: Early-maturing loquat can be bagged in early January, and in areas with frost, bagging can also be done earlier. Materials: High-transparency white paper or newspaper can be used, or low-transparency lychee bags. Method: Thin out excessive fruit cluster stalks, diseased and insect-damaged fruit, frost-damaged fruit, and damaged fruit, then spray once with pesticide to sterilise. After the spray dries, bagging can begin, following the principle of working from top to bottom and from inside to outside, handling carefully and gently. Do not touch the young fruit with your hands. After pulling the base of the bag tight, secure it tightly with nylon thread or clamp it with a staple.
Bagging loquat can effectively protect against the cold climate of winter and spring, reduce fruit cracking caused by spring rain, prevent pests, diseases and bird damage, and at the same time significantly reduce pesticide residues, achieving pollution-free agricultural products. After bagging, the fruit has bright colour and the quality is noticeably improved.
I. Bagging period
1. For early-maturing loquat, by early January the young fruit is already as big as a thumb and can be bagged.
2. Generally, some areas of Fujian Province and Guangdong Province are earlier, but in areas with frost, bagging can be done earlier, which can reduce losses caused by frost damage.
II. Bagging materials
1. Bagging materials have a relatively large impact on fruit colour and quality.
2. If high-transparency white paper or newspaper is used to make paper bags, the fruit is dark red with high sugar content, but the flesh is relatively firm, with less juice and poorer flavour.
3. If low-transparency lychee bags are used for bagging, the peel is light red, the fruit is soft and juicy with good taste, but the sugar content is relatively low; however, the cost is too high and ordinary farmers generally cannot accept it.
4. At present, the most widely used is newspaper bags, which have low cost, good effect, and are easily accepted by farmers.
5. Make newspaper into rectangular paper bags, 20 cm long × 15 cm wide, with specific size appropriately increased or decreased according to the size of the fruit cluster. Since early-maturing varieties mature in February to March, but at that time there is no other fruit, the fruit is easily harmed by birds, noctuid moths and bats, so two-layer newspaper bags are used.
III. Bagging method
1. Before bagging, first thin out part of the still excessive fruit cluster stalks; usually 2 to 3 stalks are retained per cluster, then remove diseased and insect-damaged fruit, frost-damaged fruit or mechanically damaged fruit, then remove small fruit and densely clustered fruit, retaining the slightly round fruit swollen in the middle.
2. For trees with vigorous growth, strong fruiting branches and many leaves, as well as the middle and lower parts of the canopy, retain appropriately more; conversely, retain fewer.
3. After fruit thinning, pesticide must be sprayed once, using a mixture of fungicide and insecticide. After spraying, wait until the spray dries before bagging.
4. The principle of working from top to bottom and from inside to outside, handling carefully and gently, should be followed. Do not touch the young fruit with your hands, to prevent fruit russeting on the surface, do not bruise the fruit, and prevent fruit drop.
5. Fully open the mouth of the bag, support the bottom of the bag with your hand, and put the young fruit into the bag at a proper position, preventing the fruit from touching the bag surface to reduce sunscald.
6. After pulling the base of the bag tight, tie it tightly with nylon thread, or clamp it with a staple. For each batch bagged, it is advisable to mark the bag to distinguish earlier or later maturity, so as to identify them at harvest. If a paper bag is damaged midway, repair it promptly, and tear the bag off when picking the fruit.