CLOSING WOUNDS

[Canada Bonsai]

@MACH5 are you using cut paste with the blue lid or the white lid?

This is a screenshot from the Kaneshin website. The diagrams below the product description accurately represent what i’ve experienced over an 18-month period testing both types simultaneously on the same Acer palmatum with 2 wounds.

Mr. Masashi Nishimura brought these diagrams to my attention, and testing was an eye opener!

I’m excited to learn from what you observe especially regarding grafting tape and foil!

Are you testing the liquid cut pastes? There seem to be 6-7 of them available with maybe 2-3 ‘intended uses’ as well. I have been using them indiscriminately like a real rebel

 

[leatherback]

blue

Green?

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Green?

LOL! This is not the place for deep philosophical conversation about the perception of color! Let's settle for greenish blue, or blueish green if you insist

Fun fact: Bjorn just did a Bonsai-U episode on pottery, and while discussing aokochi antique chinese pots (screenshot attached), he noted that although in Japanese 'ao' means blue, and 'midori' means green, the 'go/advance' light at traffic intersections--which many of us call 'green'--is referred to as 'ao' in Japanese, meaning blue.

I have not read through this wikipedia page, but it might interest you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue–green_distinction_in_language

I did a quick control-F on that page and 'Homer' surprisingly did not come up. In 1858 William Gladstone famously pointed out what he perceived as an ambiguity in the description of colour in the earliest texts of western literature: the Iliad and Odyssey. This led to the notorious claim that 'The Ancient Greeks had no word for blue', which turns out to be a very complicated statement to say the least

 

[leatherback]

perception of color!

 

[BobbyLane]

Heres mine
does the same job as all the others but in a different container!!

btw, i find that they heal over in the ground rather quickly without any paste at all.

 

[MACH5]

@MACH5 are you using cut paste with the blue lid or the white lid?

This is a screenshot from the Kaneshin website. The diagrams below the product description accurately represent what i’ve experienced over an 18-month period testing both types simultaneously on the same Acer palmatum with 2 wounds.

Mr. Masashi Nishimura brought these diagrams to my attention, and testing was an eye opener!

I’m excited to learn from what you observe especially regarding grafting tape and foil!

Are you testing the liquid cut pastes? There seem to be 6-7 of them available with maybe 2-3 ‘intended uses’ as well. I have been using them indiscriminately like a real rebel

I use the one with the white lid that is for deciduous only because the gray color that "matches" better with deciduous bark. I am not familiar with the one with the blue lid. Here in the States we have the green lid for conifers which is more brown.

I am not experimenting with liquid ones. The only one I am using that's semi-liquid is Callous Mate and finding it tends to promote almost too much callousing.

 

[Japonicus]

With a can of compressed air, I cleaned the area of sawdust and debris.

Thanks for the link Sergio.
A fact or question about using an air compressor instead of the compressed air.
Moisture is expelled from within the hose and tank which could harbor pathogens
so wise choice to use the can of compressed air. It irks me when I use my air compressor
to blow off saw dust from fine wood working and it sprays out rust water.
I still do it, but I'm not sealing it up within a living tree either.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

A fact or question about using an air compressor instead of the compressed air.
Moisture is expelled from within the hose and tank which could harbor pathogens
so wise choice to use the can of compressed air. It irks me when I use my air compressor
to blow off saw dust from fine wood working and it sprays out rust water.
I still do it, but I'm not sealing it up within a living tree either.

I’m guessing this is after draining the condensate trap?
cheers
DSD sends

 

[Japonicus]

I’m guessing this is after draining the condensate trap?
cheers
DSD sends

Absolutely. Cant drain condensation only a puddle.

 

[erich_raudebaugh]

Nice tutorial Sergio.

I'm having good luck with this method, I'm trying it on Japanese maples with large wounds where the wound wasn't healing well. All of those wounds are healing, and it seems like the larger and deeper ones are working the best for some reason. The one thing I did differently is to use Oatey Fix-it Stick epoxy putty, at Ryan Neil's suggestion. The color is very light, almost white, so you have to add ink or pigment if you want it to match the tree's bark. As a bonus, I used it on an old Japanese pot that came with some chips, and you can barely see the repairs after I color-matched them.

 

[Maiden69]

he noted that although in Japanese 'ao' means blue, and 'midori' means green, the 'go/advance' light at traffic intersections--which many of us call 'green'--is referred to as 'ao' in Japanese, meaning blue.

In Japan those lights are in fact blue, while in most countries its green. I think that Bjorn was saying that in old Japanese language the work "ao" meant both blue and green. After all he's college degree is in Japanese language.

Quoted website "in Old Japanese, the word ao was used for both colors—what English-speaking scholars label grue".

 

[Paulpash]

For information, standard miliput is grey and it can easily be darkened with Indian ink mixed in as you mold the two parts of the epoxy together. I'm sure white acrylic can be used to lighten it for Birch, Jap Beech etc.

 

[hinmo24t]

metaphorical title , jp

 

[HENDO]

Hey Sergio! @MACH5

How is this one doing? I have a nasty deep wound on my Too Little Ficus which is an old rotted-out saw cut - looking to fill it and contemplating the Kwikwood method.

Just seeing if you've had noticeable results here?

Cut putty by itself applied last year didn't help this one roll over much at all, just helped it rot out unfortunately.

Thanks!

 

[HENDO]

Also wanted to ask you Sergio, would you ever consider applying a penetrating epoxy to the wood before the Kwikwood / filler?

Just wondering if this would help to mitigate more rot from occurring, or maybe it would just have a negative effect and cause issues with the filler bonding instead.

 

[MACH5]

Hey Sergio! @MACH5

How is this one doing? I have a nasty deep wound on my Too Little Ficus which is an old rotted-out saw cut - looking to fill it and contemplating the Kwikwood method.

Just seeing if you've had noticeable results here?

Cut putty by itself applied last year didn't help this one roll over much at all, just helped it rot out unfortunately.

Thanks!

View attachment 383285

Hello Hendo. Just took these pics today. As expected it is beginning to callous over as evident by the cracks in the cut paste. It is a large wound so it will take a while to close but now rolling over the hardened epoxy.

My biggest worry seeing your issue is even if you were able to close that wound, I doubt it will be pretty. Do you really need that branch? If so, you may have to start that branch over. Cut paste will not help if the wood underneath is rotted. The site must be cleaned out and then use either concrete or a two-part epoxy.

 

[MACH5]

Also wanted to ask you Sergio, would you ever consider applying a penetrating epoxy to the wood before the Kwikwood / filler?

Just wondering if this would help to mitigate more rot from occurring, or maybe it would just have a negative effect and cause issues with the filler bonding instead.

I suppose it would not hurt. However, I don't think this should be used as a substitute for cleaning the area thoroughly and extracting all the rotted wood out. I don't think the wood hardener if applied would react negatively with he two-part epoxy. I do think if you are able to clean and get all the rot out, it should not be necessary to apply the wood hardener.

 

[leatherback]

I do think if you are able to clean and get all the rot out, it should not be necessary to apply the wood hardener.

Indeed. Plants create a barrier against rot and decay impregnated with tannins and resin. So as long as you only remove the soft decaying wood you should be good. Be carefull not to push though the barrier.

 

[HENDO]

Hello Hendo. Just took these pics today. As expected it is beginning to callous over as evident by the cracks in the cut paste. It is a large wound so it will take a while to close but now rolling over the hardened epoxy.

My biggest worry seeing your issue is even if you were able to close that wound, I doubt it will be pretty. Do you really need that branch? If so, you may have to start that branch over. Cut paste will not help if the wood underneath is rotted. The site must be cleaned out and then use either concrete or a two-part epoxy.

View attachment 383392

View attachment 383393

Looking good Sergio and thanks for the update!!

I'm convinced, and if not using it for this specific branch issue I have, will use the filler option for deeper less structural wound applications.

It's a big old main branch so I'll do my best to save it. Biggest concern is that even if it does heal over and is unsightly as you say, that it will still be a weak point structurally.

I'll go ahead and do some more thorough cleaning with the dremel before applying the filler. If the rot is super deep then I'll probably just cut it off next Spring and start over.

Huge thanks to you and @leatherback for the quick responses and guidance on this one!

 

[MACH5]

Looking good Sergio and thanks for the update!!

I'm convinced, and if not using it for this specific branch issue I have, will use the filler option for deeper less structural wound applications.

It's a big old main branch so I'll do my best to save it. Biggest concern is that even if it does heal over and is unsightly as you say, that it will still be a weak point structurally.

I'll go ahead and do some more thorough cleaning with the dremel before applying the filler. If the rot is super deep then I'll probably just cut it off next Spring and start over.

Huge thanks to you and @leatherback for the quick responses and guidance on this one!

Good luck HENDO!