JM bark chewed by animal....

[BonsaiScrub]

Hello, One morning when i went to check on my JM, i noticed part of the bark was sheered off by an animal overnight. Should i be concerned or will the JM slowly heal itself. The animal attacked the JM maybe 2 weeks ago and i just took a pic of it recently.

 

[BrightsideB]

It’s starting to callous. So it’s starting to heal. Adding a wound sealer helps the wound keep from drying out and the callous to heal quicker. It can heal quicker but also create a bulge. The wound is large compared to the size of the trunk so it’ll be noticeable.

 

[BonsaiScrub]

I have just been putting water on it when ever i water her then blowing excess water off the wound. Will look into a wound sealer.

 

[MrBonsai19]

I would not water the wound... it will accelerate the rotting of the heartwood underneath and the callous will not be able to roll over rotted wood.

Additionally if there are fungus spores or bacteria that have drifted onto the surface of your foliage, watering may help push those pathogens into the wound site. For me I would keep it dry and apply a cut paste/putty to seal it as well.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Yep. The local rabbits create a lot of havoc on bonsai out here.

Would actually spray with alcohol first. Let dry and apply the sealer. We use Top Jin and the green topped cut paste for good healing. Both have an anti fungal embedded in the product. Likely there are a couple others with similar.

BTW: It’s a good idea to include both your approximate location and USDA plant hardiness zone on your icon. To do so, double tap your icon, the Account details and scroll down to enter these data and save. This will help us advise you in the future.

Good luck!
Cheers
DSD sends

 

[rockm]

If this is in a container get it off the ground and you eliminate the rabbits. Of course if you have chipmunks and squirrels this won’t help much.

 

[BonsaiScrub]

the container sits on top of a box on my above ground deck, so probably a chipmunk or squirrel. Coons are probably too big for this damage as my trunk is only around a finger/thumbs width. Its only 4 years old.

 

[rockm]

the container sits on top of a box on my above ground deck, so probably a chipmunk or squirrel. Coons are probably too big for this damage as my trunk is only around a finger/thumbs width. Its only 4 years old.

Raccoons are carnivorous/omnivorous distantly related to bears. They don’t chew trees. Rodents like squirrels and chipmunks chew stuf because they have to keep their teeth worn down.

 

[Russ1]

Woodchucks are a PIA around here, they will eat just about anything. Had one chew the trunk of a collected Pitch Pine. They will climb up on things that you wouldn't think possible.
They will eat an entire Zucchini plant before you can turn 360 deg.
Mid morning and late afternoon seem to be their prime times.