Wisteria rotting internally

[Mudgy]

Hi,
I'm kinda lucky, my small wisteria are doing OK.
My mate across the road has a chinese wisteria cut from a larger base in a semi cascade rectangular pot.
He showed me on the weekend how he found a LOT of black ants in the pot - the large wound on the side of the trunk near the base was pasted, but the inner structural wood appears rotten after shooing away the ants. I remember Ray Nesci telling me Wisterias have a spongy type of inner wood, which is easy for rot to get into.
1. How can we arrest the problem?
2. I can take a photo to show the base
3. is there a paste we can make/buy to help the wound? or is it too late?

Ants are gone, but there is a bigger problem to tackle now.

Anyone have a way to better look after these things?

[Taffy]

If you can get to the rotten areas, use a good quality wood hardener. I use Earles Wood Hardener. It's water based and it doesn't matter if the rotted areas are damp - it will still penetrate. It's good stuff and will turn spongy tissue very hard in a very short time - it's also waterproof when dry. It isn't cheap, but it does an excellent job. Also excellent for Jin's and Shari's. I got mine from the B-store.

[Mudgy]

thanks mate - anywhere near sydney we can get this??

[Taffy]

The B-store - Buzzings (Bunnings) You should also be able to get it at a good paint shop or somewhere like Home Hardware, Mitre10 or similar outlets.

If you can't find it, perhaps you could ask one of them to order it in for you.

[Asus101]

I let mine rot while feeding strong.

[Taffy]

That's not as crazy as it sounds Asus. It's only the dead heartwood that's rotting away, and as far as I can make out, the rotting won't carry on through the live tissue. If that's the case, then allowing it to rot out could be a good thing because it would make the tree lighter - easier to carry and easier to repot.

Does anyone know from experience if the rotting will affect the live tissue?

[PeterH]

I posted a wisteria about a month ago that had been infected by borers and wood rot. To remove all the borers and wood rot I hollowed it out right thru to the soil and treated it with Lime Sulphur.
viewtopic.php?f=132&t=5567
Peter

[MattA]

There have been quite a few posts on the forum regarding rotting Wisteria & what can be done about the problem. There have been several stories of trees that have slowly rotted away until they are no more, shadows of there former self (Or maybe not) viewtopic.php?f=129&t=6016&hilit=wisteria, sometimes it can be a happy ending too viewtopic.php?f=132&t=2561&hilit=wisteria

I face a similar quandry with a recently collected wisteria, there is an extensive network of hollow areas within the trunk and some soft rotted areas I have to deal with. With your raising the question you have jogged me to get onto some more research before making a decision which way I go. Treat and try to keep as much as possible or try & grow it faster than it can rot.

Matt

[astroboy76]

Hey Tman,

What is the finished effect of the wood hardener that you use? does it give the treated wood a gloss finish or matte finish?

[pjkatich]

Mudgy,

I have been growing collected wisteria as bonsai since 1988. I have had some great successes and some monumental failures. I have tried most of the suggested methods of treating rot and offer you the following observations.

Generally, the rot will not stop on its own. If left unchecked and it rots down to the roots you will usually lose the wisteria.

I would not recommend using wood hardener. It has been my experience that although the wood hardener will stabilize the softer parts of the trunk, it will kill back any live tissue that it comes in contact with. This die-back will leave a small margin between the live area and the area hardened by the preservative which will attract the boring insects like a magnet.

I have found that the best remedy is to promptly seal any cuts with a good quality cut sealer. These areas must be looked at annually to maintain the intergrety of the seal.

IMG_0002a.jpg

These are two products that I have used successfully and would recommend to you if they are available in your area. They are very viscous when they come out of the tube and can be spread over the cut nicely to form a good, water resistant seal.

If you already have a problem with rot, then you will need to remove the rot down to stable pith. Treat the affected area with lime sulfur and then seal with the above referenced cut sealer. This does not look very nice, but you will save your wisteria.

I have some archival photos concerning this issue that I would be happy to dig up and post if you are interested.

Cheers,
Paul

[Mudgy]

that would be a great help if you could. I'll run across the road now as I havent taken a picture yet.
Post again soon

Mudgy

[Mudgy]

OK they were borers, not black ants I'm told.
The wound was painted with a sealer of sorts, but I have no idea how old the cut is.