Back in June, I mentioned using fruit ripening bags from Japan for our nashi 梨, Asian pears. You use them by covering the developing fruit with them when they are still small. The bags protect the fruit as they develop, and help them ripen. The results are in, and they work.
This pear which I picked this evening weighed 450 grams, almost a pound, 15.9 ounces. And it was juicy and sweet. I bagged half the fruit on the tree, and left the other half unbagged to see if there was a difference. The bagged fruit are larger and sweeter. We will be picking them tomorrow for Saturday’s Mt. Vernon Farmers Market, the last market for the season. It’s nice when simple things work.
Wow! I looked online for something similar to your bags but couldn’t find anything. Only available in Japan? For what it’s worth, the sandwich bags with the corners snipped out worked well too. I had perfect apples for the first time in years. The only weird thing was that earwigs got inside the bags. Other than the yuck factor, they didn’t harm the apples. That said, I think I’d rather use paper than plastic… even if I did peel the apples before using them.
I got them online from Japan through Amazon.co.jp. The bags have a wire built into the closing end of them so they are easy to fasten onto the fruit.