This is the trunk of my Reticulatum..any ideas please. There are 2 spots about 6mm across. Also would you fill the hole in the middle of the Y..think it could encourage rot
Both in the hole and on the black spot, I would apply copper-based fungicide. I would also refresh the cut(s) of the stub on the left (pic. 1), a clean cut is better.
100% agree with Alain re treatment R. I hope you don't have the start of Phytophthora. If it is, then Copper will help.
Not just rot, but if you have water sitting in that hole during a big freeze could cause unpleasant damage from ice expansion and freeze/thaw cycles. Not to mention opening the door for pseudomonas bacteria. Can't recommend a specific product but would defo look at filling it with something to enable safe water runoff.
I totally agree : I dared not suggesting "Japanese cut paste", but that's what I would probably use. I know most people don't fancy that, but a paste that is supple enough to "accompany" the healing of a wound is perhaps the best option : refreshing the edges of the "hole" and applying cut paste. But if the hole is something deep, maybe another option would be to get rid of one of the branches forming a "Y" before rots sets in deeper. Hard to tell from a computer screen...
I don't know anything about bonsai paste, but sounds like a niche product (expensive and hard to find) with limited uses. If it was my tree I would use OB1 adhesive sealant because I already have a tube laying around. It is food safe and cures to a completely inert, permanently flexible and weather resistant finish, with no fungicides or algicides. Can quite imagine the tree being easily able to grow over this filler with wound wood and permanently encapsulate it. I would also have a dig around inside the hole first to see if there is any soft or rotten wood needs removing first... can't tell from the pics if there is any depth to it...
Yes. That's the point. Never heard of OB1, Master Kenobi, but that sounds like the right stuff to use. ;-)
Thank you all for the advice. The tree is about 25 years old, it’s about 10 foot tall..The hole has been there for many many years..it’s where originally there was a subordinate branch..in the middle of the Y..I will fill it as you have suggested..makes sense..but there’s no way I’m cutting a branch off..it’s nicely balanced and each of those dividing branches are about 50/55mm thick..the tree is healthy and there’s no sign of disease apart from those 2 tiny spots.
I would dig out the rotten stuff and fill the hole with epoxy. Maybe paint some wood hardener into the hole before the epoxy. New tissue can grow over it (in time, of course).
No, I don't. I've used https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VPO0R8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/PC-Products-...locphy=9033353&hvtargid=pla-384026825917&th=1 Both work quite nicely, though QuikWood is much more convenient to use and can be sanded (like wood) after it has cured. BTW, I am not promoting Amazon, just their listings are convenient to refence.
The spots on the bark really look like a lichen to me. Anyway spraying with copper won't hurt the tree, though it might harm the lichen? Epoxy is good because it bonds really well to everything, so hopefully might make a watertight seal. Lets see how baroque we can get to avoid using filler. ;) Using your Dremel, drill a 2 mm hole from the outside so that it just enters the bottom of the cavity. Insert 2mm plastic tubing, so that it butts flush with the inner holw, allowing water to drain freely. Cut the tube on the outside so as to leave an extrusion of several mm; this will prevent the tree from closing the hole. Now the bark from the branches can grow to close the cavity naturally, and when this has happened, remove the tubing. Voila! (Just joking about all this.)
This sounds rather like root canal dentistry..which has failed on my teeth twice so I might just give it a miss :) re lichen I did wonder the same given the crazy pattern
