Wound sealant for natives

[Jan]

I'm trying a variation on sreeve's An Alternative to Broom style post and am in need of advice re a good wound sealant to keep the cut edges moist and growing to promote quick healing. I'm trialing a silicone sealant (bathroom type - turps clean up) but not sure if it will be toxic to plants....

Any suggestions?

Jan.

[Jamie]

dont use a turps clean up sealant!!! it will get in the tree and will most likely cause deformation at least and death at worst.

get a tube of bonsai cut paste for something like that, what sort of tree are you planning on doing this with? i think it will depend on how fast the species grows.

[Pup]

Jan there are a lot of sealants, also there are a lot of people that do not recommend them. I use non toxic sealants such as vaseline also selleys no more gaps wood coloured. I do have the professional sealants if that is what they call them.
Mostly it is to stop water getting in and settling and coursing rot. In some cases it is just cosmetic. Some people I know have used Clay, then there are those that say what about the pathogens.
What happens when you airlayer so what ever, just be sure it is non toxic. Cheers Pup

[Jamie]

thats exactly what i was trying to say pup, just said a lot better than me

[bonsaibruce]

Mix bee's wax with tea tree oil into a smooth paste. Works very well. Keep it in a glass jar.
BonsaiBruce.

[kcpoole]

Mix bee's wax with tea tree oil into a smooth paste. Works very well. Keep it in a glass jar.
BonsaiBruce.

I usually Eat my Beeswax as honeycomb rather than putting on a tree but whatever floats 'yer boat

I use japanese paste in a tube. You use bugger all and 1 tube lasts for years
Ken

[dark1]

W.T.F. Why do that to a tree? There are so many good sealants on the market designed to seal wood and tree wounds. Keep the hell away from silicone, its just plain silly! Vaseline is as good as any thing but I find the best stuff is that tube sealant of the Japanese variety that Skippy calls Elephant snot! Works well. Good luck with your bonsai. Dark1

[bonsai4life]

hey Jan,
I use Blu-tack......it is very similar to cut paste in texture.
Just dry the wound with a tissue, moisten your finger and spread it out

works for me...

Gott

[kcpoole]

the best stuff is that tube sealant of the Japanese variety that Skippy calls Elephant snot!

WTF!!! How the heck did he come up with that analogy ?
Now I gotto go and see if I can find out what elephant snot really looks like!!

Ken

Edit
And i found out it is actually Graffiti remover!!! http://www.graffitisolutions.com/graffi ... t_snot.htm

LOL

[Gerard]

The part about removing sap worries me a little

Gerard

[sreeve]

Hi Jan
Just a couple of comments, if you are using the method my father uses (documented in the the post you are referring to), then you should end up with two very very closely mating surfaces.

One side of the tree will normally be slightly proud of the other side and you can trim it back with a sharp knife etc (after screwing together) (KEEP YOUR FINGERS OUT OF THE WAY THOUGH)

After trimming you will probably end up with a 5mm wide area which you want to grow over - hence your question.

I use the liquid japanese tube stuff.
Another product I use is a "purply bees wax type product called “Kendon Grafting Mastic BZ”"

I posted manufacturers details of the product in another post. - If you cant the Japanese stuff, then perhaps Leigh would sell it and mail it to you?

One other thing I should mention is that Dad corrected me on one area I documented.......You should drill the Countrersink hole BEFORE drilling the pilot screw hole through both halves.
If you dont do it this way there is a risk that the larger drill you use to countersink may drill too deep.
(I hope that makes sense - if not let me know and I will PM with a better explanation)

Regards
Steve

ps - I wouldnt use a silicon sealant etc - I would stick with bees wax type product or one of the commercial bonsai sealers

[Jan]

I'm wanting to seal a major wound on an Allocasuarina. I've cut a deep wedge out of a stump (8 inches) but not all the way down as sreeve's dad did (stump is about 18 inches high). I've enlisted my husbands help to bend the "V" together and got a reasonable match (though not as good as your dad, Steve) and wanted to seal/cover the edges of the cut untill the tree heals over. I thought that it would heal together quicker if I could keep the area moist and keep the rain out.

I was looking for something that might do the job and that I might find "about the place" (It takes 3 hours to go to town). I'm not sure about the silicone causing problems as I have taken care to only get it on the old bark but I have some beeswax available so I'll replace the silicone "just in case". (I was carefull not to squeeze it into the crack/cut as I didn't wat it to come into contact with the sappy bark or wood).

I tried Vaseline, Pup & dark1, but found that it made the elm I tried it on weep sap and marked the bark on a small wound so I hadn't tried it again. I have a "no more gaps" product but as it is a water clean up I was worried about it dissolving in rain.

This treatment has introduced a significant taper into this stump, all it has to do now is survive it.

As Grant B said, "Grow a lot, kill a lot, learn a lot". Well, here goes...

Jan

[sreeve]

HI Jan
Just in case my post wasnt clear (very likely the case), the V- wedge was cut to very low on the tree and then the remainder was cut vertically. This produced two totally separate halves - so there shouldnt be any need for bending together.

Now I understand why you have a large gap to fill.

The method has been used on quite a few trees so perhaps it is worth giving a go to separate.

I think by leaving a big gap there could be the possibility of not merging together again and also of rot setting in?
Good luck with whatever method you try

REgards
Steve

[Ron]

After reading about it somewhere, I've been using cheap kids plasticine bought from the local paper with a dab of vegetable oil added. Seems to work ok and haven't had one fall off.

Any pros/cons on this apart from the obvious cost saving?

[Jan]

I don't seem to have made myself clear, yes, I realise that you cut the tree all the way through, Steve, but I didn't want to do that on this one. I can see that it worked well for you there and I will certainly try that on another tree in the future but the post did give me the idea to try the "wedge cut" part on this allocasuarina to introduce taper.

There is very little gap - thanks to "G" clamps and elbow grease (his, not mine), and screws. It isn't perfect but I'm happy with it. I'm not looking to fill the gap. All I wanted to do is to apply a "skin" over the join (12 inches on each side) to maintain a moist atmosphere on the cut edges, to keep them activly growing instead of drying out so that it heals with minimum set back and to keep water out so no rot problems start before the plant can heal.

I've checked out the beeswax available (probably not enough), and looked at other goodies in the shed, and have decided to opt for a "no more gaps" product that I have (water clean up); thanks for the tip, Pup. The silicone comes off tommorrow first thing, Jamie.

Now all it has to do is survive this treatment; I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the advice,

Jan