Healing Scar on a Trident

[Ozz80]

I got this trident a few months ago. The wound due to the big chop on the trunk was already covered with cut paste when I got it. The cut paste started to crack and fall a few days ago.

How should I proceed for healing the wound successfully? Should I remove the remaining cut paste, then reopen the wound on the whole perimeter of the callus (approximately from the red line I marked till the end of the callus) and reapply the cut paste? Or just cover it with paste and wait until the next spring to reopen the scar at the perimeter?

Also, I am planning to create a lower branch by thread grafting next season. Assuming that the height of the tree will be to the red line, is the blue line's spot OK for grafting the righthand side whip to the trunk?

 

[Paradox]

It's best to reopen the callus in late spring/early summer. That way the foliage can help drive healing. If you do it too late in the summer/early fall, it won't heal as well.

Generally we will reopen the callus every year to keep it moving over the wound. It can take several years for a large wound to heal completely.So I'd recover it and wait until then unless it's that time of year for you now.

 

[Ozz80]

It's best to reopen the callus in late spring/early summer. That way the foliage can help drive healing. If you do it too late in the summer/early fall, it won't heal as well.

Generally we will reopen the callus every year to keep it moving over the wound. It can take several years for a large wound to heal completely.So I'd recover it and wait until then unless it's that time of year for you now.

Thanks for the reply, I resealed it without reopening the wound as you suggested.

 

[Shibui]

Blue line looks like a well balanced spot for a branch on a tree to the red line height.
I assume you are aware the graft needs live cambium to join so the whip will need to come out through live bark. It should graft onto the developing callus where the scar is healing but cannot graft into the bare section in the middle of that scar.

 

[Ozz80]

Blue line looks like a well balanced spot for a branch on a tree to the red line height.
I assume you are aware the graft needs live cambium to join so the whip will need to come out through live bark. It should graft onto the developing callus where the scar is healing but cannot graft into the bare section in the middle of that scar.

Thanks for your help !

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It hasn't been said yet, so I just want to emphasize - the single fastest way to get that wound to heal is to let all the growth above the wound run and thicken. Foliage mass will in turn drive vascular demand which will cause the tree's trunk to thicken.

 

[Ozz80]

It hasn't been said yet, so I just want to emphasize - the single fastest way to get that wound to heal is to let all the growth above the wound run and thicken. Foliage mass will in turn drive vascular demand which will cause the tree's trunk to thicken.

Of course! Thanks for reminding. I will not be removing anything up in the near future, until the scar is healed and the leader becomes thick enough to be visually fit to the trunk with taper at the chop area.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Congrats on the tree - it's nice. Reminds me a little of the attached (sand that right branch). Perhaps consider growing your intended height in pieces so you get better taper.

Remember to chisel down the graft on the entry side once the graft takes, rather than simply clipping it off. When I have patience and slowly shave it down over a number of weeks I have basically 100% success. When I lose patience and clip to early, not so much.

 

[Ozz80]

Congrats on the tree - it's nice. Reminds me a little of the attached (sand that right branch). Perhaps consider growing your intended height in pieces so you get better taper.

Remember to chisel down the graft on the entry side once the graft takes, rather than simply clipping it off. When I have patience and slowly shave it down over a number of weeks I have basically 100% success. When I lose patience and clip to early, not so much.

Thanks for your reply and yours is also a very nice tree by the way. I am also thinking of chopping and regrowing the leader at 2/3 height in future, as described in this video, in order to get better taper, as you suggested:

For the chiseling, I fear I might be missing something due to my poor English. Do you suggest me to weaken the donor side of the connection in steps, by removing bark and wood gradually, instead of clipping it all in one step?

 

[dbonsaiw]

I’ll find some pics and send them over, but you can generally tell when the graft takes when the exit side connection is fatter than the entry side. Later in the summer (for me at least) the swell on the connection of the exit side becomes kind of obvious. I’ll take a sharp knife and start shaving down the entry side a little each week. When I can’t shave off the top anymore (because I’ll sever the connection) I start to shave off the sides. I’ve learned to leave it after a few weeks of not being able to shave it down anywhere else and then remove the connection. It gives the graft more time to get used to standing on its own and not depending on the main branch for water and nutrients.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Here’s two I found. I have more somewhere.

 

[Ozz80]

I’ll find some pics and send them over, but you can generally tell when the graft takes when the exit side connection is fatter than the entry side. Later in the summer (for me at least) the swell on the connection of the exit side becomes kind of obvious. I’ll take a sharp knife and start shaving down the entry side a little each week. When I can’t shave off the top anymore (because I’ll sever the connection) I start to shave off the sides. I’ve learned to leave it after a few weeks of not being able to shave it down anywhere else and then remove the connection. It gives the graft more time to get used to standing on its own and not depending on the main branch for water and nutrients.

Thanks for the tip, I got it now.