applying wound paste

Doddins

Hi
ive just applying some wound sealent to my hawthorne's open wounds. i think ive done it right, i wet my fingers and the paste to make it more applyable...and simply applied by pressing and moulding to the wounds.

hope this was done right? or shud i have done anything diffrently?

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rockm

You applied it correctly, but cut paste isn't really necessary for most trees and can even cause some problems down the line.

dtree

Rockm - which species do you feel need cut paste ?

thanks,
dtree

rockm

"which species do you feel need cut paste ?"

Not really species-based, but depends on what's being done with the tree. I don't use cut paste on anything other than trees that have been drastically reduced (say from nursery stock) all at once. Sealing big pruning wounds in a tree that's also had its roots radically reduced (no, I never seal root pruning wounds) can help conserve needed moisture in the tree needed for recovery. It can also help reduce die back a bit in severely pruned limbs and trunks of those plants.

I stopped using it on better established trees a while ago, after I had to pry the stuff off of old collected material. The toothpaste tube sealer is particularly troublesome if left in place for more than a year or two. It can actually inhibit healing, since it seals so tightly.

The tub paste is mostly useless as a sealer as it doesn't form an air tight seal. Because of that, it also traps water against the wood beneath it.

Doddins

well basically what had happened was that my hawthorne devoloped some wounds from wiring, these wounds look like the bark had literally been split...see my other post on this forum to see what i mean.

you mentioned about the water being trapped between the tree and the sealent, im assuming this would be bad, but when i applied mine the paste was wet, would this cause a problem?

i dont have the tube paste, its a tub with a white lid. dont no the name at the minute off the top of my head as its foriegn

rockm

THe damage was done. Sealing paste won't really do much. The tree will heal on it's own without your assistance. Trees have been healing wounds for a very long time without sealants

"you mentioned about the water being trapped between the tree and the sealent, im assuming this would be bad, but when i applied mine the paste was wet, would this cause a problem?"

No. This isn't the problem. The problem is water accumulating and being trapped underneath the paste for months and years. If it rains on the plant, you can be assured water is underneath the paste-- if it's the putty kind that comes in the tub. That sounds like what you have.

In this case, I might speculate that applying that kind of paste to small delicate wounds like the tree has apparently could actually cause more damage through the additional manipulation and pressure required to apply it. If it's there, don't attempt to remove it now. Let it be for a couple of months, then take it off --gently.

Doddins

thank you for your reply, the wounds that i applied the paste to was fairly large. i meant to get a picture of it before applying the paste. it looked like the bark had been sliced and split. i just dint like running the risk of leaving the wounds open to infection or attacks from pests.

i applied the paste as gently as possible. but i have marked the date in my tree diary and i will make note not to leave it on to long.

hopefully this wunt have caused much or if any damage.
thanks again for your replies, its much appriciated

rockm

"i just dint like running the risk of leaving the wounds open to infection or attacks from pests."

This is what sells cut paste. Trees don't heal like humans. Tree wounds don't require bandaids. Trees compartmentalize damaged cells, sealing them off and shutting them down--unlike animals where open wounds can lead directly to the circulatory system. There had been great debate in the "tree world" a while back about sealant use. The opinion of alot of tree growers (not bonsai growers only) that sealant is not necessary on pruning wounds.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/e...c/minprnwn.html

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/Depart.../tree+myths.htm

http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/gard...004/myths.html+

http://www.dakota.unl.edu/newsitems/news060206132959DEL

Kylezo

Isn't the purpose of cut paste to reduce scarring on a tree?