No cut paste

[Rowdy]

I am currently down in country NSW visiting family.
I have a few trees growing in the groud here and i was going to cut them back while i had the chance.
But i forgot my cut paste.
Anybody got any suggestions for a replacement?
i was thinking PVA wood glue.
or maybe just leaving the cuts bare, but they are going to be big cuts.
My father is a floor sander so has a lot of wood sealants and polyurethane lying about, or is that type of stuff likely to harm the tree?

[Bougy Fan]

Hey Rowdy vaseline will do as an emergency sealer.

Tony

[bodhidharma]

Playdo works well as does non toxic wood filler. Also pva non toxic glue will work but i would stay away from the poly urethane.

[Damian Bee]

Vas will melt in hot weather, (not that there is much of that about for the next few months).
PVA or acrylic wood glue is not so hot as it will deform (go gooey again) with moisture.
Playdough would be the best, Beeswax is also quite good followed by candle wax but I am not sure how the candle wax would go

Has anyone tried BLU-TAC before? or is it something you would never do

[kvan64]

Natural clays are perfect for temporary sealing and can found naturally.
Cheers,
DK

[Paulneill]

You can use the white stuff that bleeds from fig ( rubber trees) as cut paste. Just pull of a few leaves or prune a branch .

[kcpoole]

Many people swear by not using Cut paste at all, so you could just clean the wounds and not seal them at all

Ken

[Pup]

Selly,s no more gaps mixed with clay to stop the white colour.Or if you can get the wood colour no probs or straight clay.

[Ray]

Has anyone tried BLU-TAC before? or is it something you would never do

I've used blu-tac before with no ill effects to the tree, chewing gum also works, but tends to disappear, think ants/bugs like it...

If your going to carve the cuts at a later date, you could even paint over the cuts, it's not exactly pretty, but it will seal the cut if done correctly.

[Andrew E]

Many people swear by not using Cut paste at all, so you could just clean the wounds and not seal them at all

Ken

Veyr true. I tend not to use it on tree in training phases of growth. The tree forms a natural collar which 'shuts down' the cut area and produces the die back we see after pruning. If you don't seal the cut leave it longer (a stub) to account for any of the dieback and then come back later to clean the cuts up and then use the paste. The paste prevent drying out of the cut so the cut heals right there with little or no dieback. Of course it will depend on the tree, pines dieback more readily for eg, but if your still in the training phase and the cuts are at the back of the tree then it will have little impact on the end result.

Andrew

[Rowdy]

The tree is a chinese elm
Because its still in the ground, i may just cut it off to a stub, then worry about cleaning it when i pull it out of the ground in the future.
I can leave an inch or two to die back on.

[lennard]

Koos Robbertse, the blind bonsaist and President of our Kai, just take some dirt and rub it into the wound when we go on a dig - he never had any problems doing that but I personally will not do it.

I use woodglue, tree sealer, modeling clay and sometimes even waterbase paint.

Lennnard

[Graeme]

Spit on the cut and rub a hand full of dirt across it. Will seal the cut long enough for the cambium to start healing over. Or paint with black or brown water based paint.

[Scott Roxburgh]

Koos Robbertse, the blind bonsaist and President of our Kai