On 3 Mar 2005 at 11:28, Rastislav Kralovic wrote:

I'm really puzzled about using sealants to cover cuts. The information I
managed to gather seems to be pretty inconsistent; basically, there are
people who

1) say that basically no sealant is needed as trees heal best without any
interference
2) say that (almost) each large cut should be sealed with the original
Japanese cut paste
3) give a number of recipes for a home made cut paste (Elmer's glue, modeling
clay, plumber's putty, bee wax, gardener's wax, etc...) which works the same
way as the Japanese original

I'm a beginner to bonsai and I have to decide what to use (if anything). Is
there any general study/resource about it or is it a trial-error for each
particular location? I guess the healing process (and hence the sealant
application) depends on the species and climate?


Like so many other things in bonsai, "it depends . . ."

As Marty said, professional tree surgeons/arborists are moving
away from the use of wound sealants on full-sized trees because
of the possibility (some say likelihood) of trapping MOISTURE
(not disease organisms) under the paste, then or sometime in the
future, and promoting rot.

I almost never use "cut paste" on my bonsai.

But . . . Some species' bark tends to dry and peel away from
wound sites, some of them badly, others less badly. For trees
with thin bark (maples, azalea, etc) I often use a bees wax-base
paste that I got from an arborist friend who also does bonsai
and smear it thinly around the edges of the cut, almost as a
"glue" to hold the bark in place.

Otherwise, I usually make a mud mix (often by spitting in my
palm and mixing some common dirt in), and rub that over the cut
site to help staunch any bleeding and to darken the wood so the
cut doesn't stand out so. And before someone asks, NO that will
not introduce some dread disease.

If the spit bothers you just rub the wound with dirt. :-)

Water soluable white glue also works well and has the advantage
that it lasts just long enough for the bark around the wound to
heal before it is washed away. My bee's wax paste has to be
cleaned off with alcohol or witch hazel after a month or so.

Whatever you decide to do, there is absolutely NO need to fork
over money for a can, tube or bottle with Japanese lettering on
it. Trees with huge gray lumps of (too) expensive Japanese cut
paste on them just look ugly anyway.

IMHO this is another thing we western bonsaiests do "because
THEY do it that way." It's heresy, I know, but there may be
better ways to do some things in bonsai than to follow
everything the Japanese do like robots. Poo balls are another.

Jim Lewis - - Hit THINK before you hit SEND

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