Raffia and Alternatives

[Arcto]

I'm curious about different alternatives to Raffia out there. A search here gave fragmented results. I've heard of intriguing options and wacky ones. Please feel free to contribute if you have experimented. Listing pros and cons of the wrap material would be very helpful. Respectful disagreement and debate are welcome. Have at it.

 

[barrosinc]

Adam from adamaskwhy blog uses a tape that only sticks to itself. I hate raffia, it gets stuck to the tree... But still use it.

 

[aml1014]

I use this 1inch plastic tape with a layer of electrical tape over it, works great!


Aaron

 

[justBonsai]

Use electrical tape backwards. Non sticky side on the tree.

 

[Stan Kengai]

Vet wrap.

 

[ghues]

Inner tubing works .......

 

[Guy Vitale]

Vet wrap, sticks to itself nicely.

 

[Dav4]

I've used vet wrap and raffia personally. The vet wrap works just fine, but tends to break down in the sun and can gum up the bark beneath if it's mature and flaky, which is then a pain to remove. I've heard of some who have used nylon baling twine, and Jaun Andrade has recommending using a vinyl strapping tape. Bottom line, there are many things out there that will probably do the trick.

 

[0soyoung]

I like to use a self-amalgamating silicone tape that is manufactured for radiator hose repair (available at auto parts stores). While it is stretchy, it is very strong and very tough. It is somewhat clumsy to apply, though, and there are no 'do-overs'. It does not adhere to bark, so it comes off cleanly, though it must be carefully cut. It is UV resistant - I've not noticed any degradation in two years under full sun outside in the elements.

Aside from its toughness, I like it because silicone is impervious to water (holds in moisture) but transmits oxygen. So, should I break a branch/trunk while bending it, it can 'heal' or re-grow, even if it takes years. Raffia, on the other hand, will do nothing in this regard.

 

[Arcto]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll momentarily jump back in. What I see with all the alternatives posted is that all stretch to a certain extent. My limited experience with raffia is that there is little apparent stretching. So the question is, how important is it that the wrap does or doesn't stretch?

 

[A Random User]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll momentarily jump back in. What I see with all the alternatives posted is that all stretch to a certain extent. My limited experience with raffia is that there is little apparent stretching. So the question is, how important is it that the wrap does or doesn't stretch?

The whole point of wrapping a branch or trunk to bend is to prevent blow-outs. If this happens, it defeats the point of wrapping... So, stretch is not what you want.

Now, you can sometimes get away with something that stretches... but if it fails, and you loose the branch or trunk and possibly the tree... then it really was not worth using what was used.

Raffia is really not that hard to apply, just takes doing it a couple of times... and when it dries, it actually shrinks, creating an even more rigid binding.

 

[Alain]

I like to use a self-amalgamating silicone tape that is manufactured for radiator hose repair (available at auto parts stores). While it is stretchy, it is very strong and very tough. It is somewhat clumsy to apply, though, and there are no 'do-overs'. It does not adhere to bark, so it comes off cleanly, though it must be carefully cut. It is UV resistant - I've not noticed any degradation in two years under full sun outside in the elements.

Aside from its toughness, I like it because silicone is impervious to water (holds in moisture) but transmits oxygen. So, should I break a branch/trunk while bending it, it can 'heal' or re-grow, even if it takes years. Raffia, on the other hand, will do nothing in this regard.

Excelent!
What's the name of this product?
I already use the Napa oil dry as a soil the guy at the closet Napa will think I am the shittiest mechanics ever: just spill oil and pierce tubing

 

[Alain]

I agree with @sawgrass

I love your thread because it gives me a ton of options for when I want to stick the branches together or the roots or something but to protect the branch during the bending raffia is fine.
But if you use raffia use a good one! If you use one that is too dry or too old then it could just fall apart.
If it's a good raffia you should be able to pull it pretty hard and wrap it easily without it breaking in little straws everywhere.

 

[0soyoung]

The whole point of wrapping a branch or trunk to bend is to prevent blow-outs. If this happens, it defeats the point of wrapping... So, stretch is not what you want.

Now, you can sometimes get away with something that stretches... but if it fails, and you loose the branch or trunk and possibly the tree... then it really was not worth using what was used.

Raffia is really not that hard to apply, just takes doing it a couple of times... and when it dries, it actually shrinks, creating an even more rigid binding.

Self amalgamating silicone tape is superior to rafia, despite the fact that it can stretch. It can be wrapped on just as tight as raffia. It can save a blow out that raffia cannot. I used it to bend a long JBP trunk not knowing at the time that it would just snap. I snapped it twice and now, 2 years later, it is doing well (I left the heavy wire on far too long, thinking it was necessary to stabilize the breaks).



I am confident this would have been a dead tree, otherwise.

I also used it to bend the trunk of my JWP 'Aoi'. No similar 'blow out' occurred with it (the wire and silicone tape are still in place and the tree is doing well; half bare rooted it this spring).

 

[0soyoung]

What's the name of this product?
I already use the Napa oil dry as a soil the guy at the closet Napa will think I am the shittiest mechanics ever: just spill oil and pierce tubing

I think what I bought was under the brand name 'Wrap It'. I cannot swear to it, but I think it was a NAPA store where I got it, not that I think it matters.
Just ask for self-amalgamating/self-fusing silicone tape (for radiator hose repair). It just hangs on the racks in the front of the store. Likely the guy will walk over to the rack, pull a package off and will likely say, 'You mean this stuff?'

This reminds me that it is a bit more expensive than raffia (about $7 a roll, IIRC).

 

[Alain]

I think what I bought was under the brand name 'Wrap It'. I cannot swear to it, but I think it was a NAPA store where I got it, not that I think it matters.
Just ask for self-amalgamating/self-fusing silicone tape (for radiator hose repair). It just hangs on the racks in the front of the store. Likely the guy will walk over to the rack, pull a package off and will likely say, 'You mean this stuff?'

This reminds me that it is a bit more expensive than raffia (about $7 a roll, IIRC).

Sweet.
I have a Napa not too far as I said but on the contrary I don't know a place to buy a good raffia around here and $7 is an affordable price in regard of the amount of my pocket money.
I don't know if the store matters but I know that when @sorce told me about the Napa oil dry product he specified that only the one sale at Napa works as a soil's substitute, may be it doesn't matter for that but who knows? Better not taking chances and use the same you already tried in case another brand had some crap in the silicone.
Thanks!

 

[A Random User]

Self amalgamating silicone tape is superior to rafia, despite the fact that it can stretch. It can be wrapped on just as tight as raffia. It can save a blow out that raffia cannot. I used it to bend a long JBP trunk not knowing at the time that it would just snap. I snapped it twice and now, 2 years later, it is doing well (I left the heavy wire on far too long, thinking it was necessary to stabilize the breaks).

View attachment 115123


I also used it to bend the trunk of my JWP 'Aoi'. No similar 'blow out' occurred with it (the wire and silicone tape are still in place and the tree is doing well; half bare rooted it this spring).I am confident this would have been a dead tree, otherwise.

Pines physically are able to bend more than any other conifer. In fact, you can actually bend them to a point where they will actually separate within the branch, without even having any blow out issues... just from being stretched too far.

On the flip side of this... this understanding is often used to an advantage. Where you might actually want a portion of the branch or trunk to purposely blow out, in a controlled brake to add deadwood and interest to a tree. This is why sometimes, no raffia or binding will be used at all... the portion is just bent, and sometimes a trunk splitter is used to introduce the brake, and cause the blowout to only peneatrate as far as one side of the pith, or heartwood. This can be done as well on junipers... I have done it on one of my junipers... But, the risk far outways the rewards, and would not do it again in the future, much safer to wrap it... do the bend, then introduce some deadwood at a later time.

I am glad your branch did not die, but this is incorrect.

 

[A Random User]

Some where there is a video of a guy from Europe, carving a hole in the trunk of his very nice pine, about 80 percent through, like a channeling process... he then throws up a guy wire, and quite literally bends the top of the trunk down, without raffia or any other form of binding. And takes the bend way past 90 degrees. This is not possible with a juniper without binding... at least I would not try it.
Will try and find it... I know it was not Mario... but, I think one of his friends?

 

[0soyoung]

Pines physically are able to bend more than any other conifer. In fact, you can actually bend them to a point where they will actually separate within the branch, without even having any blow out issues... just from being stretched too far.

Yes. And when they get old, JBP get brittle. I thought this think trunk would just bend, but it simply snapped; just finger tips against thumbs.

 

[A Random User]

Yes. And when they get old, JBP get brittle. I thought this think trunk would just bend, but it simply snapped; just finger tips against thumbs.

I am not sure I understand your point?
Everything when it get old gets brittle... This is why elderly people need to be careful when stepping off a curb, to not brake a leg, or dislocate a hip...

However, it seems to me that you have this backwards... the more brittle, the more support needed to support what you are bending... not the other way around. When bending and trying to prevent blowouts, the name of the game is Compression. The tighter the Compression... the less give there will be. If you are using a product that has built in properties that allow it to flex... it will not give the same Compression, as those that do not.

In the example you have given... you say that you did not use Raffia, correct?
That instead you used a product that had some flex... but, that you could in theory, put it on just as tight as Raffia... correct?
And then you added a Photo as an example, of how well the product you used worked, of a branch that has 2 blow out spots... that happened when bending... correct?

My Question, to you then... is how can you say that the product that you used, worked better, if it did not sufficiently do its job?
That is... prevent blowouts? Not trying to be mean or insulting here.
But, if this is the whole point of using it in the first place... something seems wrong?

Now, sure... shit happens, no matter how well you try and prep something, or even no matter what product you possibly use, you could still run into issues, seeing that we are trying to defy physics sometimes with what we are doing... and giving an example of a branch that did not die is good thing... However, I am not sure how you can chalk this up to it somehow doing a better job than Raffia, when it was not necessarily a shining example of success?

In fact... one could easily ague that perhaps just the opposite is true. Right? That the example given, would be ample proof as to why one Should use Raffia.