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Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:01 pm
by banksia
Mentioned this on one of my other posts "Signs of Life. Seeing as it hasn't been viewed for a few days , I thought I'd put it up as it's own subject before it gets lost.
The other week while treating some deadwood on my Bougies, I noticed a warning on the back of the spray bottle. "Do not use on surfaces previously treated with Sulphur or Borates". Now....due to not being a chemist, I'm a little worried as both Bougies had Lime Sulphur treatment the year before.
Can anyone out there explain what this means?... Why?... and are my trees going to be O.K?

Cheers!
Anthony ;)

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:05 pm
by Bretts
I don't think they where concerned about tree health when they came up with that warning ;) As long as it didn't go up in flames I reckon it will be fine.

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:09 pm
by Jamie
hi mate :D

Dont know why you wouldnt be able to use it on lime sulphured areas, Rod has used it on bougies which have been lime sulphured so it is interesting that it says that. your tree will be fine mate, you are treating the deadwood, not the live part of the tree, only thing i would be cautious of is if there is any fresh cuts where a little could get in the trees system. the only other thing is that dont put to many coats on, it will end up with a semi glossy sheen on it.

I have been wondering about the wood hardener, it is quite expensive but i swear all it is, is PVA glue which is a little thinner. I reckon that would work just the same too if you mixed some PVA wood glue with a little water. Has anyone tried this??


Jamie :D

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:23 pm
by Gerard
I suspect that if you expose the wood to sulphur and wood hardener you are likely to have a bleaching effect, perhaps undesireable in building but not a problem for bonsai.

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 8:25 pm
by dayne
yeah i use pva on my bougs and collected trees works a treat watering it down would help it penetrate more easily but may be double amount of half strength would be the go for finished trees

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 9:26 pm
by banksia
Cheers for the replies people. My main thought was that the mixing of the two may result in a reaction of some sort. Then again, this could only happen, I imagine, if the two liquids were combined. Had a look at said trees today and I'm not to sure if I'm keen on this product anyway.....sorry Earl! :) The result is a quite glossy sheen to the deadwood...something we (or atleast I) don't want.

Thanks again for the feedback
Anthony ;)

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 20th, 2010, 11:01 pm
by anttal63
i have used the two together. first the hardner then the lime no prob just interesting color. A bit like a micorizo fungus growing. :D

Re: Earls Wood Hardener concern

Posted: August 21st, 2010, 8:09 am
by Glenda
One of the ladies in our local club had some rosemary wood she had treated with hardner, and some with PVA. Both looked the same, but again had a glossy sheen that made them look very 'plastic' The rosemary must have been enormous - the pieces she had were about 15 cm thick, but beautifully twisted :D

Glenda