AusBonsai

This is a Queensland small leaf fig I got about 2 years ago. I was pocking around the benches today and found a bit of rot in the side of this one. I have removed all the rotten wood and it went right under the tree and a lot of the roots. This is the first encounter with wood rot that I have had and would like some opinions of the best way to treat rot in a fig.

Cheers Andrew

In my limited opinion, i would suggest the first thing would be to remove all sources of moisture from the offending area (eg, moss, watering directly on the area and such).
Once that limits the spread, and the diseased area are cleaned, a proper treatment can be applied.

BTW, if you were selecting an area for some dead wood or texturing, that area appears perfect, so i wouldn't stress too much about the scar.

Gday ness
I am not a big fan of dead wood on figs but unfortunately this one will have it.
Thanks for you imput

Paint the rotted area with Earls wood hardener to preserve it
Ken

Thanks for posting AndrewM, I am also needing some advice with fig rot, so good timing!
Cheers, Dario.

Thanks Ken

Dario wrote:Thanks for posting AndrewM, I am also needing some advice with fig rot, so good timing!
Cheers, Dario.

Good luck with it mate.

Today I took it out of the styro box and finished the work on the rotten wood and treated the area. Hopefully the rot want come back as I don't want to loss this one now that I see it out of the box and in a pot.
This pot is temporary until I can get one that suits the tree better.

AndrewM wrote:
Today I took it out of the styro box and finished the work on the rotten wood and treated the area. Hopefully the rot want come back as I don't want to loss this one now that I see it out of the box and in a pot.

DSC_0423.JPG

This pot is temporary until I can get one that suits the tree better.

I like where its heading, look forward to a defoliated pic

Please let us know how it goes and good luck!
Cheers, Dario.

VelvetSicklid wrote: I like where its heading, look forward to a defoliated pic

Cheers Drew

Dario wrote:Please let us know how it goes and good luck!
Cheers, Dario.

I will update this in a few months once the tree has settled into its new home.

Andrew

Hi Andrew

I have a benji with some rot in it too. Even found an ants nest in one trunk and a curl grub living in short stump that failed to shoot after cutting back too hard. Was wondering how yours has gone and wether you were able to treat the wood successfully?

Or any one else that has successfully treated rot in figs??

dansai wrote:Or any one else that has successfully treated rot in figs??

I tend to live with it - but I've yet to try Lime Sulphur on my ficus

dansai wrote:
Or any one else that has successfully treated rot in figs??

Nowadays I treat all fresh wounds on Ficus with flowers of sulfur by rubbing it into the wounds. I also use it on Baobab, Portulacaria and other softwood trees. I also repot my Ficus in a drier mix and water only a day or two after the repot.

If you have greenwood rotting you will have to clean out all the rotting wood and then rub the flowers of sulfur into the wound.

If the deadwood of a wound cracks water will seep into the tree and this "reservoir" aids rot. Better to seal bigger wounds on a Ficus also.

There are a lot of transparent brick sealants available that can be used successfully on deadwood. I use RB10 sealant that can be mixed with oxides to color the deadwood. Don't use the sealant on freshly treated deadwood if you use lime sulphur - the bleach will turn the transparent sealant to an ugly white!

Rather safe than sorry!

Lennard

Thanks Guys for the replies.

I was reading elsewhere of people using charring to both preserve and age wood. Has anyone had a go with this method on figs?