How to go about getting rid of rot on the trunk of this olive tree

[Benny w]

I posted a thread about ideas/ opinions on the styling of this olive a few weeks ago. I had aquired this olive on a Facebook auction site about a month ago. Since then I have become more acquainted with this material and hopefully I can quickly become more "acquainted" in the future so I can pass on material like this which to be fair to myself would be difficult to do without seeing it in hand. The pictures did show the deadwood but not to the extent of how much deadwood there really is. 2/3 of the main branches are deadwood. Anyways I just bid and won and i should have asked questions. Live n learn.
Do I carefully use my dremel in multiple sessions along with a hand chisel to get rid of the black soft wood until I get to hard wood? Then remove any rotten roots during repoting into new course inorganic substrate. I dont want this spreading to the living tissue. You can see a vertical line which separates the dead and alive tissue.

 

[Lazorik]

I don't think there's danger of the deadwood spreading to the living tissue.

 

[Cypress187]

I don't think there's danger of the deadwood spreading to the living tissue.

I think you need woodhardener to prevent further rotting, but maybe it's a pine thing.

 

[leatherback]

If you are not very familiar with the process of going from plant to bonsai, take someone to help you out.

From what I can tell, you have a nice plant, good material. Considering it is olive, I doubt the rotting will be very extensive. I would take a soft metal brush to start with and just brush soft material away. Do not take the old branches off. I think they may become part of the final tree. Once you have removed any soft wood, just keep it fairly dry. Olives produce wood that only slowly rots away.

 

[Walter Pall]

Why in the world are you worried about root rotting on this olive? That's what you want. Otherwise it will be just a boring fat tree. The olive, like other trees does NOT die of rotting wood. That's a wide-
spread misconception. Look at my olive with the deadwood that is rotting away since about 100 years. Look at how dead it is.



ned years old. how dead is this tree?

 

[Benny w]

lazorik, cypress 187, leatherback, and Walter Pall I appreciate you guys

If you are not very familiar with the process of going from plant to bonsai, take someone to help you out.

From what I can tell, you have a nice plant, good material. Considering it is olive, I doubt the rotting will be very extensive. I would take a soft metal brush to start with and just brush soft material away. Do not take the old branches off. I think they may become part of the final tree. Once you have removed any soft wood, just keep it fairly dry. Olives produce wood that only slowly rots away.

I am going to my first local club meeting and taking a bonsai basics class that same day because I do need help! Happy to know this tree isn't going down hill and its starting to really take off. Thank you for the advice and taking the time to reply.

 

[Benny w]

You

Why in the world are you worried about root rotting on this olive? That's what you want. Otherwise it will be just a boring fat tree. The olive, like other trees does NOT die of rotting wood. That's a wide-
spread misconception. Look at my olive with the deadwood that is rotting away since about 100 years. Look at how dead it is.



nView attachment 208634View attachment 208635View attachment 208637ed years old. how dead is this tree?

Its Not dead at all in fact it's a superb specimen. I think I've viewed this olive on your website. Its filled out and grew the crown like the drawing ( hope I'm correct about this tree being on your website)
I understand what your saying. wont worry anymore about the rot. It's an interesting tree and maybe is worthy a pot this spring ( or sooner?)

 

[Cristian D.]

A bit late, but here is my opinion.
First, don't repot the olive in the spring. Wait until the weather is hot and there is a lot of light and the tree is actively growing. Olives need lots of sun. Heat is important, but even more important is light, as much as possible.
Second, if you repot, put the tree in a different pot. Not necessarily a bonsai pot, the tree still needs to grow a lot. But try to use a wider and shallower pot, the one you have now will promote root growing downwards and you don't want that.
Please keep in mind that olives don't grow well when they are waterlogged, so use a very free draining substrate. Pumice would be excellent but you can use whatever you want as look as it doesn't retains to much water. It doesn't mean you have to keep the tree dry, it likes to be well watered and feed but doesn't grow well in standing water.
Also, regarding water and substrate: it can adapt to almost anything but generally olives prefer a higher pH and calcium in the substrate, so if your tap water is hard it would be better.

Good luck with the tree, it has good potential. Olives are beautiful trees, please try to make it look like an olive, not like a juniper or a pine