What's going on here???

[Equilibrium]

I have a small orchard. I never decorate my trees with baggies of water. What is this person REALLY doing?

[Hedgerowe]

Are they training the branches (espalier)?

[Equilibrium]

That was a free standing tree. I looked at that and first thoughts were some sort of a home made insect bait to lure them in and drown them. No pests on the tree and no sign of anything but water in the baggies.

[Hedgerowe]

They look like they might be weights though. I may not know much about much, but I do know that this is one way to train branches.

[Equilibrium]

Cool. I would have never thought of that. I automatically assumed some sort of bizarre pest control. I guess this tells you how much TLC the fruit trees I have DON'T get from me.

[joepyeweed]

I have seen containers around fruit, to protect specimens for show... to grow them in the bottle for a neat trick... but I've never seen baggies with water hanging.

My guess would be insect control too....

[Hedgerowe]

As I understand it, when branches are more horizontal, they will produce more friut. Weighted branches = horizontal branches.

[Hedgerowe]

I mean "fruit."

[BooBooBearBecky]

When I lived in Mexico, every single outdoor eatery had baggies with water in them hanging about. I was told it was to keep "las moscas" away. That's Flies in english.

So in the photo you posted Equilibrium, it would be to deter las moscas drosofilas, fruit flies.

However, in my opinion, weighting tree branches with baggies filled with water is sort of a neat idea for creating symetrical growth and/or branch space.

BooBooBearBecky

[Equilibrium]

We don't have a problem with fruit flies. We have a problem with bald-faced wasps, birds, and deer. Baggies hung on my trees would quench bambi's thirst after they stripped my trees of fruit. I'm thinking Hedgerowe got it with training the branches.