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Sun scald on trunk of citrus?

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posted 7 years ago

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This is the trunk of the rootstock of a kumquat tree i bought from the nursery.What has happened there and there is this scar?
I planted the tree in the ground last april.is it possible for this damage to have occured during this year and me not have noticed,or did i buy it like that from the nursery ?
Can it heal?

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Bryant RedHawk

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posted 7 years ago

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That is not a fresh or even one year old wound that is healing over. It looks to be about a 2.5 year old scrape. You can smear some white Elmer's glue over the exposed wood and up onto the healing area to prevent insects from getting inside the tree and doing more damage.
It will heal over in time.

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Marco Banks

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It looks like a branch was torn off in that spot.

Unlike human skin and flesh, trees cannot re-grow bark over a large wound like that. The tree will try its best to slowly grow around the wound and seal it off, but it cannot heal it (the way your skin grows back and within 5 weeks there is no evidence of a scrape).

So, at best, your tree will be able to compartmentalize that wound.

When trimming branches, it's best to trim them back to the "collar" where the branch begins to flare into the main trunk. Leaving only a circle of inner wood exposed, the collar will hopefully seal that wood off in the next few years. For small branches (small wounds), it's far easier. But for large branches, it opens a pathway for fungal attack on the core of the tree. Eventually, that will be the demise of the tree.

If I were you, I'd try to take that tree back and see if you can get one without such an egregious scar. Even if you've already planted it, pull it out, re-pot it, and see if you can get a better specimen.

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Panagiotis Panagiotou

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posted 7 years ago

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Thank you very much for the contribution.
There is no way i could cause this with undiluted urine right?Because the leaves began to shrink and get dry but then it began to grow with new vigorous green growth.
Can undiluted urine cause such damage to the trunk of a small tree like this?

Bryant RedHawk

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on such a young tree undiluted urine can cause root burn and if there is enough applied, it will kill the tree.

This wound was not caused by urine though, the leaf burn and curl was.
If you want to continue to use urine dilute it at least 1:5 and preferably 1:10 you can even go to 1:15 and still get good results(Urine to water).

Phil Stevens

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That's almost certainly mechanical damage, most likely a broken branch as Marco suggests. Unless you possess the urination powers of some sort of alien firehose, you didn't do this by peeing on it. Sealing it off and letting it callus naturally will do the trick. I use limewash on trees that don't mind a little alkalinity, like olives, pears and apples, but I wouldn't do that to citrus since they prefer acidic conditions. White glue or a clay and cow manure tree paste will work.

Panagiotis Panagiotou

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posted 7 years ago

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Phil Stevens wrote:That's almost certainly mechanical damage, most likely a broken branch as Marco suggests. Unless you possess the urination powers of some sort of alien firehose, you didn't do this by peeing on it. Sealing it off and letting it callus naturally will do the trick. I use limewash on trees that don't mind a little alkalinity, like olives, pears and apples, but I wouldn't do that to citrus since they prefer acidic conditions. White glue or a clay and cow manure tree paste will work.

Ι used a kind of clay paste i made ,sealed it with this plastic wrap and thus covered the wound.
Will this work?Do i leave it for as long as it has to be there to heal?

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Bryant RedHawk

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posted 7 years ago

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The plastic wrap can cause root formation by holding in moisture over a healing wound. That is not what you want in this case.

The best solution is to use a white glue (like Elmer's glue) and just paint that over the wound, it will seal the exposed heart wood but let the wound heal and get air.
If you don't have access to white glue, just remove the plastic and let the clay "patch" dry out, it should stick fairly well to the exposed wood of the tree.
The reason I like to use Elmer's is that it does not stop the tree from healing over, it just keeps bugs out.

The only time you want to do something like covering with plastic is if you are air layering to create a new tree from a branch.

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Marco Banks

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Remove the plastic wrap. All you're doing is creating a better environment for fungi to attack the wood.

The wound will not heal the way a cut heals on your skin.

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