Monterey Cypress - from the 'free' table at the bonsai club

[aframe]

Left over from a club raffle, no one wanted. I tried to give the lady $10 for it but she wouldn't take my money.
First full wiring was April 2020.

 

[aframe]

Fall 2021: Noticed a low primary branch was 'weak', saw some sap emerging from low on the trunk directly under the branch collar - borers. Carefully peeled the bark to locate the holes, removed the borer, sprayed the wound with some insecticide and oil. The sap oozing stopped. I hope I got the bastards before they caused too much damage, tree seems healthy.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

What!?!?!? you got it for free?

 

[rockm]

nice IF you can get ALL the borers. They are not easy to get rid of. I'd keep an eye out as well as poke around a bit to get a more accurate reading on how much damage has been done to the base of the tree. That low down, the damage could endanger the life of the tree. Borers eat live cambium from the inside of the tree, which can result in girdling of trunks...

 

[aframe]

nice IF you can get ALL the borers. They are not easy to get rid of. I'd keep an eye out as well as poke around a bit to get a more accurate reading on how much damage has been done to the base of the tree. That low down, the damage could endanger the life of the tree. Borers eat live cambium from the inside of the tree, which can result in girdling of trunks...

You're right - finding them all is difficult, and total removal is no guarantee. I keep an eye on this one, I hope the systemic treatment gets to the ones I did not find. They seamed to follow the vertical vascular tissue, no girdling is apparent at this time.

 

[aframe]

What!?!?!? you got it for free?

yes - leftovers from the club raffle. I didn't win anything and the owner did not want to take it home...it just looked like scraggly nursery stock, and at the time I was grabbing as much material as I could hide from my wife.

 

[aframe]

nice IF you can get ALL the borers. They are not easy to get rid of. I'd keep an eye out as well as poke around a bit to get a more accurate reading on how much damage has been done to the base of the tree. That low down, the damage could endanger the life of the tree. Borers eat live cambium from the inside of the tree, which can result in girdling of trunks...

Do you have a borer treatment that you recommend?

 

[rockm]

Do you have a borer treatment that you recommend?

Yeah but you won't like it--open up all the tunnels as much as possible. Hunt and destroy the worms. No real way to get rid of them reliably. You can try systemics, but that depends on the worms eating enough of the tree's tissue to be poisoned. That can take time and with a tree this size, the goal might not be accomplished before severe damage is done.

The difficulty in getting rid of borers is probably why this tree was free. It wouldn't be otherwise, as its a pretty nice start on a rarer species for bonsai. That the woman refused any payment at all likely reflects the survival chances more experienced bonsai folks gave it.

 

[mwar15]

I use this for borers it’s got rid of them. I also hunted a few also

 

[aframe]

I use this for borers it’s got rid of them. I also hunted a few also

That's what I started using - so thanks for the good news. Seemed to work for root aphids on JBP and JRP too.