Any lime sulfur updates or alternatives.

crust

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I tried borates on some old rotten trunks and it was clear after two years this treatment leaches out and kills the tree outright-kaboom. Don't use borates. I have been leaning on acrylic wood hardener for ease. Epoxy can be a pain to use. Acrylic wood hardener (wood petrifier and others) can be warmed (and the rot area too) to aid in penetration. Creativily drying punky areas (lights, bagged dessicants, hair driers) really helps the effectiveness of penerating wood stablizers--reapplications usually are required too. I recently heard Shaner thins Acrylic wood hardener by 50 % with water but I have not. Lenz uses acrylic wood hardener now too but then he uses penetrating epoxy and Minnwax solvent based wood hardener in certain situations last I knew.

On tough rot resistant woods(larch cedar juniper) I dont' usually use epoxy or hardeners and just use tinted lime sulfur especially at ground levels-- it helps for me and is safe.
 
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I just finished brwosing a thread in the maples section and it made reference to lime sulfur becoming unavailable. I just purchased some at the bonsai nursery the other day. Them seemed to have a few left.

I was wondering if there has been a recent, official on the status of this. Also, has any one used an alterantive and how did it work out. Actually, from information I read a long time ago.. Lime sulfur is not necessarilly a preservant, it is more of, a bleaching agent. If this does become unavailable, would a good, possibly diluted, wood hardner serve as a substitue... Also, if one desired the whitening effect, could a little white paint be mixed into the wood hardner. More importantly, would this be safe from a chemical point of view...I am anxious to hear people's thought ..

Rob
I am a painter / cabinet finisher if I trade and that's all I use because I refuse to use that outdated old school lime sulfur, I do the same treatment as I would white washing off pickling Oak cabinets, I simply mix five quartz water the one part white paint preferably latex if not then use five-part thinner the one part white and white wash it and then seal it with a much better sealer than lime sulfur could ever protect it. I use min wax matte finish to seal it but the white effect is easy just getting it to seal in the elements is always the tricky part getting it to the right shade of white is not hard at all
 

Sekibonsai

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Cyanoacrylate for stabilizing punky wood. Mange treatment from the feed store has higher concentration of sulphur than the horticultural that we use...
 

leatherback

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I am a painter / cabinet finisher if I trade and that's all I use because I refuse to use that outdated old school lime sulfur, I do the same treatment as I would white washing off pickling Oak cabinets, I simply mix five quartz water the one part white paint preferably latex if not then use five-part thinner the one part white and white wash it and then seal it with a much better sealer than lime sulfur could ever protect it. I use min wax matte finish to seal it but the white effect is easy just getting it to seal in the elements is always the tricky part getting it to the right shade of white is not hard at all
Interesting idea. I think however that painting cabinets is a very different game than conserving deadwood on a tree.

The color is NOT the aim. With a tree you cannot seal out water completely, and even if you could: How are you going to get the wood so dry that sealing the outside will stop rotting on the inside? One needs all the tricks in the trade to conserve deadwood. One of them would be to reduce fungi taking a hold. In my eyes that is what limesulfur is for. A first defense so to speak
 
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