Wound sealant: helpful or harmful?

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I have used the stuff in the toothpaste tube for a number of projects, particularly bald cypress. On resinous species that bleed a lot I have used plumbers putty. Wet your fingers to prevent it creating a sticky mess. Also a few minutes in the sun will soften it. In reading Harry Harrington’s tips on pruning spruce he swears by plain old Vaseline, says it stops the bleed, will try that next time. Arthur at the WNC bonsai exhibit uses plain old carpenters glue.
 

Kendo

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Here is the West some people are eschewing the use of cut paste on tree wounds. The theory is that fresh air and sunlight are best healers. It’s good theory if you don’t care about scar. However, if you want to control how scar tissue form and how scar look after the healing, then use of cut paste is important. The same can be said for cutting technique.
 

River's Edge

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My plan is to experiment with both paraffin wax and soy wax and see what I think about results.
The only disadvantages i found with paraffin wax were ease of use and sometimes it crept into areas and prevented healing or grafting if the approach or scion was not bound properly or cambium had pulled away in spots. Heating and applying it was a pain in the butt compared to cut paste and modern sealants. Some of the new latex caulking sealants are very easy and effective when grafting for keeping in moisture and sealing off the site.
 

WNC Bonsai

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Here is the West some people are eschewing the use of cut paste on tree wounds. The theory is that fresh air and sunlight are best healers. It’s good theory if you don’t care about scar. However, if you want to control how scar tissue form and how scar look after the healing, then use of cut paste is important. The same can be said for cutting technique.
They also need to talk to them in a soothing, healing tone!
 

Tieball

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Then solidifies. Can be repeated! Just gets messier then.;)
Hmmmm...perhaps I’ll skip the wax idea. It sounded good in my head....now...not so good. I think melting in the hot summer and cracking in the freezing winter. Yup...messy. I have plenty of sealer in tubes....continuing tube sealer use will be the plan.
 

Zach Smith

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I can only speak about deciduous trees from my experience, but here's what I've found. All cuts about 1/4" and up should be sealed. Why? Mostly to prevent desiccation at the spot of the cut. Now, I'm coming at this from the tree collector's perspective, meaning I have to keep that collected trunk alive and intact. Chopping exposes a lot of xylem surface area. The xylem transports moisture from the root area to the above ground part of the tree. If you seal this upon collection, no drying out and you maintain moisture the length of the trunk. This supports back-budding. If you don't seal, the risk of dieback or outright loss is very high.

Now, the principle for branching retained upon collection is the same, only the risk is generally limited to the branch itself.

If you remove a branch altogether, I would advise always cutting outside the branch collar to promote rerouting sap flow. You can come back later and carve the area. If you cut too deeply at first, you risk dieback down the trunk from below the removed branch to the roots on that side.

As for promoting healing, I have no idea if cut paste or sealant works. I do know that collected deciduous trees recover better when it's used, solely due to moisture retention.

FWIW.
 

WNC Bonsai

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I can only speak about deciduous trees from my experience, but here's what I've found. All cuts about 1/4" and up should be sealed. Why? Mostly to prevent desiccation at the spot of the cut. Now, I'm coming at this from the tree collector's perspective, meaning I have to keep that collected trunk alive and intact. Chopping exposes a lot of xylem surface area. The xylem transports moisture from the root area to the above ground part of the tree. If you seal this upon collection, no drying out and you maintain moisture the length of the trunk. This supports back-budding. If you don't seal, the risk of dieback or outright loss is very high.

Now, the principle for branching retained upon collection is the same, only the risk is generally limited to the branch itself.

If you remove a branch altogether, I would advise always cutting outside the branch collar to promote rerouting sap flow. You can come back later and carve the area. If you cut too deeply at first, you risk dieback down the trunk from below the removed branch to the roots on that side.

As for promoting healing, I have no idea if cut paste or sealant works. I do know that collected deciduous trees recover better when it's used, solely due to moisture retention.

FWIW.
Zach—what about major tap root cuts. I had two failures this year and both had large diameter roots that I flush cut similar to what you show on BC. Do deciduous trees compartmentalize root chops easily?
 

Zach Smith

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Zach—what about major tap root cuts. I had two failures this year and both had large diameter roots that I flush cut similar to what you show on BC. Do deciduous trees compartmentalize root chops easily?
I confess I don't know. The roots have to be kept moist, and given the flow path for moisture in trees I've never worried about large root chops. With that said, I do know one local expert who seals root chops. I use the tube stuff, which has to dry out some before water hits it, so I would imagine the putty type is what he uses.
 

thumblessprimate1

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Duct seal, aka “electrical putty” is a soft putty that will keep water out. But it’s soft so a growing callous can expand and eventually cover over the wound.

It’s a cheaper version of the putty sold in little tubs with Japanese writing all over it!
I've been wondering if duct seal is the same putty stuff I see in Japan. There's a soft moist pliable material they put on the around the small duct that comes off part of their air conditioner from inside the home through the wall.
 

River's Edge

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I've been wondering if duct seal is the same putty stuff I see in Japan. There's a soft moist pliable material they put on the around the small duct that comes off part of their air conditioner from inside the home through the wall.
Not always the same the plumbers and duct seal often has added chemicals. Need to check first according to the trades people i have consulted.
 

M. Frary

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I use silly putty and sometimes play doh soaked in superthrive.
 

KiwiPlantGuy

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Hi Adair M (& others),
So I have now bought a 5 pound block of the soft feel Duct Seal from Amazon. Probably have a few years supply.
I can figure out how to use it so my question is - how do look after the block after it is opened etc? Does it need to be in a Zip-lock style bag to stay fresh ?

Thank you for your help in advance,
Charles
 
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