Alternative to cut paste??

[Johnathan]

No matter the cut paste or alternative.... it only has to stay on for a week or two then can be removed, correct?

 

[Dav4]

No matter the cut paste or alternative.... it only has to stay on for a week or two then can be removed, correct?

On deciduous trees, when I seal a wound that I want to callus over completely, the sealant remains on the wound until it's completely closed. That can mean more then a few years and multiple applications of sealant. I use the duct seal paste fwiw.

 

[my nellie]

I use silicone lately. The clear one in small tubes.
I run out of the Japanese cut paste I used to have and the silicone was the only substitute available.
Easy to be applied on the cut surface.
I haven't noticed ill-effects so far (4 months)

 

[M. Frary]

Usually I use NOTHING. It is state of the art since twenty years to usually not use any sealant in gardening. This has not yet leaked through to the bonsai scene.

Being an arborist I put my cut sealants in the trash.
Although collecting some trees I believe it wise to seal a large cut. Hornbeam comes to mind. Other than that I never use cut paste.

Tits!

 

[Sifu]

I get better (and more natural) results with using nothing at all. Just be sure you cut bigger branches during the winter or at the end of fall when wounds won't get affected by diseases and will have enough time to naturaly dry out completely.

 

[Lonefrog]

I am new to bonsai but not new to gardening and horticulture. In my opinion cut paste is almost entirely unneccesary. I don't even have any here at the house and I don't intend to purchase any for my bonsai work.

 

[Hyn Patty]

Personally I use thin super glue. For those of you who say don't use anything, you haven't noticed how much die back pruning can cause if you don't seal wounds on certain species? For shame. From succulents to spring maples that bleed excessively, or touchy species that die back dramatically from cuts, I find a /huge/ difference. Try photographing your cuts before and followup with after, depending on which sealers you use versus not using anything. No die back whatsoever most of the time using the super glue. It's made a big difference since I started using it over other sealants.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

udder balm also has a fair amount of lanolin. It is a safe choice.

Glazier's putty - the putty used to hold panes of glass in a window frame. It's oldest formulation was basically clay, as in pottery, mixed with linseed oil. The modern versions are still based on clay and oil, but with more preservatives. Available at any hardware store where they sell glass for fixing broken windows.

 

[leatherback]

From succulents to spring maples that bleed excessively, or touchy species that die back dramatically from cuts, I find a /huge/ difference.

Yes. Somehow the idea from professional tree maintenance that you should not seal, as you seal in diseases has now resulted in ignoring the main reason for using cut paste: Reducing die-back and increasing callus-spread over the cut areas. The speed at which maples close when you do apply, especially compared to not apply

 

[Hyn Patty]

Yes. Somehow the idea from professional tree maintenance that you should not seal, as you seal in diseases has now resulted in ignoring the main reason for using cut paste: Reducing die-back and increasing callus-spread over the cut areas. The speed at which maples close when you do apply, especially compared to not apply

If you use alcohol to sterilize your tools, and spray the cut area before and after cutting, you aren't going to introduce disease. I don't agree that super glue slows down the callus forming from what I have seen, assuming you don't use too much of it and make a mess all over the bark. I've worked the nursery trade myself for about a decade. I understand not wanting to spend the time and material if you don't /really/ need to though. For our own trees, you might see enough difference to make the effort.

 

[Shibui]

Garden/landscape is very different from bonsai. In garden people expect to see wounds after pruning. In bonsai we desire no blemish. I have done trials and wound sealers definitely speed up the rate of callus and wound healing in bonsai.
Don't use it to prevent disease. use wound sealer to help speed up wound closure.
In my experience, almost anything that stops the cambium/callus from drying will help the wound close quicker.

 

[penumbra]

I use it infrequently and only for the color blending.

 

[PABonsai]

Glazier's putty - the putty used to hold panes of glass in a window frame. It's oldest formulation was basically clay, as in pottery, mixed with linseed oil. The modern versions are still based on clay and oil, but with more preservatives. Available at any hardware store where they sell glass for fixing broken windows.

So would you say traditional glazing putty would work (whiting and raw linseed oil)?

 

[Paulpash]

I get better (and more natural) results with using nothing at all. Just be sure you cut bigger branches during the winter or at the end of fall when wounds won't get affected by diseases and will have enough time to naturaly dry out completely.

Pseudomonas syringae infects Acer via wounds in Winter when it freezes. I wouldn't recommend pruning maples when there is a danger of frost.

 

[Captain.Bonsai]

Usually I use NOTHING. It is state of the art since twenty years to usually not use any sealant in gardening. This has not yet leaked through to the bonsai scene.

This! But not because Walter Paul said it @shinjuki. Ha! Sorry Walt.

The oldest fossils of trees have been dated to nearly 400 million years ago. Trees have been forming healthy calluses on their own for a minute or two. Not sure if anyone had cut paste back then.

 

[amatbrewer]

The oldest fossils of trees have been dated to nearly 400 million years ago. Trees have been forming healthy calluses on their own for a minute or two. Not sure if anyone had cut paste back then.

I have not the knowledge or experience to weigh into the cut paste or not debate (still performing my own trials to learn for myself). But I will offer that this may not be a great argument.
Just because something works in one situation, does not necessarily mean it applies to all.
Before accepting the "trees do [X] naturally, therefore it should be done in Bonsai" argument you should first consider some other related factors such as the mortality rate of said trees, and how many result in the ascetic features we desire in Bonsai?
Then consider if are you willing to accept that in your Bonsai?
While we are constrained and have to accommodate many of the natural aspects of the material we work with, much of what we do is decidedly not natural, and therefore may change some of the rules of the game.

No offence intended, its just that faulty logic in arguments is kind of a pet peeve of mine.

 

[hinmo24t]

bumping this up, i have been using Aquaphor/Euphorin on my cuts and they seem to be enjoying it. its similar to Vaseline with some vitamins in it. i use it on everything from cuts, burns, itch, chapped lips, and bonsai