How to close a hollow in an apple tree and with what. Lots of rotten wood

The defeat of a tree by wound rot, which makes itself felt by the appearance of a depression in the trunk, causes a lot of trouble for both beginners and experienced gardeners. If it is not closed, healthy tissues become infected, the bark rots, and the tree gradually disappears. How to close a hollow in an apple tree also depends on the reason for its formation, but it is easier to carry out prevention than to stop the growth of the cavity.

A hollow can form due to the fault of the gardener himself. If the bark is pulled up during pruning, bacteria or fungi enter the untreated stump. The trunk cracks under the weight of the apples.

The depression is formed:

under the influence of wood diseases;
in case of rodent invasion;
as a result of freezing of the cut area.

The tree breaks during a storm or hurricane, after which a hole is formed in it. Most often, the problem arises due to neglect of pruning rules and improper care of the plant.

At what time can a hollow be filled?

After a frosty winter, sometimes cracks appear on the apple tree from which juice flows out. They need to be closed immediately. Large cavities are filled in late autumn, when the tree is no longer growing and the material quickly hardens.

What tools will you need?

To deal with a hollow on your own, which even a novice gardener can do, you need to purchase a sharp knife and saw. When working with clay or cement, you need to stock up on a trowel, spatula and chisel.

If you have to fill a large hole, take a drill with an attachment on which a metal brush is attached.

The hollow is cleaned of rot with a spoon and a file, illuminated with a flashlight. It is necessary to work in rubber gloves and a respirator.

Preparing the affected area for treatment

You should not think that depressions appear only in old apple trees; a hollow can also form on young tree, but the wound heals faster.

Before filling the hole:

Clean off dead bark.
Scrape off a small layer of live wood.
Inside and outside are disinfected with fungicides.

Destroy fungi or bacteria using iron sulfate or copper sulfate. Wood is treated with these substances.

Selection of filling material

How to close a hole in the trunk depends on its size and the degree of damage to the bark. The large hole is filled with brick chips or crushed stone, after which it is filled with cement mixed with lime.

A small cavity is filled with a wooden plug so that it fits tightly, using oil paint or garden varnish, which can be prepared by heating the mixture:

wax;
resins;
sunflower oil;
rosin.

The recess is sealed with cement, the wire is secured in it, and the top is covered with drying oil-based paint. Does not allow air to pass through, and does not allow moisture to enter the hole using polyurethane foam, which is applied in 3-4 layers.

Hollow filling methods

The depression in the apple tree trunk is closed in several ways; which option to choose depends on its size and the time of formation.

Sealing

With this method of filling a hollow, they use different material which prevents air from entering. Gardeners often cut a plug from healthy wood, which is disinfected and adjusted to fit the size of the recess. Having installed it in the hole, the excess part is cut off and filled with a composition that is boiled by mixing resin and ash.

Cementing

When the cavity is significant in size, first the affected tissues are cleaned and disinfected inner part vitriol and fill it with gravel or broken brick, filled with cement. When the solution hardens, oil paint is applied on top in several layers.

Filling a small hole

Many gardeners use polyurethane foam to fill a small depression. With this method, neither air nor moisture gets inside:

The hollow is cleared of the affected bark.
Disinfect with copper sulfate.
After 3 hours, the edges are greased with garden varnish.
Cover polyurethane foam.

So that the polymer that makes up the substance is not damaged sun rays, apply oil paint. Large cavities can also be filled with this material.

Large size hollow

If the hole has a significant diameter and appeared a long time ago, the dead wood is cleaned using a drill with a metal brush attachment. The recess is disinfected several times with vitriol or a solution of carbolic acid.

The cavity is filled with brick chips in 3-4 stages, thoroughly compacted, and filled with layers of a thick mixture of cement and lime. Paint or garden varnish is applied on top.

If the diameter of the hollow reaches 60 cm, it is necessary to secure metal mesh both inside the apple tree and outside.

The construction waste is filled with cement, and the trunk is wrapped in polyethylene. After hardening, cover with drying oil, when it dries, apply garden varnish and cover oil paint.

Proper wound healing

To make the affected tissue heal faster, a black polyethylene bandage is cut into strips about 50 mm wide. They are wound around the hollow, starting from the bottom. The tape is secured at the top with twine. In the spring, the bandage is untied, the living cambium is opened and wrapped again plastic film, which promotes the appearance of new tissue cells.

Time frame for trunk restoration

The wound healing time depends on the size of the hollow and when treatment began. If a small depression is not immediately repaired, fungi and bacteria will grow in it, and then the trunk will take a long time to recover. If the operation is performed in a timely manner in the fall, the wound heals by spring.

What to do

Unfortunately, the gardener does not always discover a small cavity in the trunk immediately after it appears, and then it is difficult to seal the hole.

When treating an old apple tree

The amount of damage on a tree of considerable age can reach one and a half meters. The hollow is cleaned with a drill and brush, the rot is removed, treated with a disinfecting solution, the cavity is filled with construction waste and sealed by mixing cement with lime. If the wound cannot be healed, the apple tree has to be dug up.

A hollow has formed in a seedling

Very rarely, holes form in the trunk of a tree that is only a year or two old. It is covered with garden pitch and secured with film or tape. The wound on the seedling heals quickly.

Radical

The cavity that forms at the bottom of the apple tree leads to its weakening. At any moment, the plant can fall on a building or on a person. Filling up a large hollow in an old apple tree is ineffective. It needs to be cut down. You can try to save a young plant by installing a metal mesh and filling it with liquid cement.

Through

In the hollow, the diameter of which does not exceed 25 cm, construction chips from bricks or pebbles are placed and filled with cement mortar. If the hole is through, install a board, which is removed when the composition hardens.

To seal a large-diameter hollow, first a mesh up to 3 mm thick is fixed in the cavity or a wire is pulled through and nailed. The recess is filled with crumbs, filled first with liquid cement, and then with a solution of a thick consistency.

If affected by fungi

It happens that when cleaning out a depression in the trunk of a plant, mycelial spores are discovered. Not everyone understands what to do next. Wood infected with fungi must be treated:

fungicides;
copper preparations;
colloidal sulfur.

If the apple tree is slightly infected, prepare a decoction of sorrel. You need to spray the hollow more than once, but at least 3 times, after which the cavity is closed and sealed.

Infested with ants

Sometimes insects appear in the damaged trunk of an apple tree, which do not spoil the bark, but carry mycelial spores. When cleaning a cavity, ants are often pulled out along with the rot. Insecticides are injected into the cavity, the soil is dug up and treated with Diazonin.

Lots of rotten wood

When such a problem appears on an old apple tree, it is better to cut it down, cut off the stalk and graft it onto a wild one. It happens that you are struck by a hollow small area trunk, but there is quite a lot of rotten wood. In this case, the hole is thoroughly cleaned, sprayed with fungicide, and filled with liquid cement.

There is a nest

Sometimes birds make their home right in the hollow of a plant. The hole needs to be filled in late autumn, when the birds leave it. You can simply pull out the nest, clean the hole, spray it with fungicide and cover it with garden varnish.

Juice flowing

When bark beetles appear on an apple tree, liquid begins to leak from the damaged area, and the plant may disappear. It is treated by injecting the Actellik insecticide with a syringe. In the spring, after the flowers fall, the plant is sprayed with Fufanon.

Sap leaks when wood rots, which often happens if a person does not know how to seal the cavity. To eliminate the problem, the trunk is cleaned of affected tissue, disinfected and a composition is applied, which is prepared by mixing garden varnish with Rannet paste.

Prevention

To prevent the appearance of a hollow, the shoots on the apple tree need to be shortened before sap flow begins. The cuts should be immediately lubricated with garden varnish or zinc paint.

If rotting wood is detected, clean the affected area, dry the wound, and treat it with iron sulfate or copper sulfate. In the fall, the dried bark is removed if insects have settled under it, and the apple tree is sprayed with fungicides.

Hollows formed on the trunks of fruit trees cause slower development of the plant, a noticeable reduction in yield, and over time will certainly lead to further destruction of the trunk and death of the tree. Therefore, the fight against this phenomenon is very important for the gardener. great importance. But at the same time, you need to keep in mind that incorrect filling of the hollow will only cause even more damage to the tree. Therefore, for beginning summer residents, we will tell you how to heal a hollow in a tree.

But first, in order to better understand the mechanism of dealing with hollow, you need to say a few words about the path of its formation. Hollows begin to develop from places where the bark is damaged, which can be caused by insects, rodents, as well as by the person himself who injured the tree through negligence or during pruning. The most common cause is the removal of large branches, after which the damaged bark slowly dies, resulting in the formation of so-called “open gates” around which harmful microorganisms penetrate into the deeper layers of the tree: marsupials, basidiomycetes, saprophytic fungi, as well as various pathogenic bacteria .

Under their influence, living wood begins to rot, so that soon a hollow forms in the body of the tree, and if it is not repaired in time, the rot will continue to spread in all directions, slowly destroying it. Something like a hole in a tooth.

From the above it follows that any gardener is capable of preventing the appearance of hollows on his fruit pets. Moreover, this task is much more important than sealing hollows that have already formed, because everyone knows that preventing the development of a disease is much easier and more correct than later paying for your carelessness with a lost tree.
In order not to prevent the appearance of hollows, you need to be extremely careful when pruning trees, trying to minimize damage to the bark, and in order to protect fresh cuts, they need to be treated with petrolatum, zinc paint or garden varnish. If, through negligence, a serious deep wound was inflicted on the tree, then it must be disinfected with a solution copper sulfate, the content of which in water should not exceed 1%.

If measures were not taken in a timely manner or did not help stop the development of the hollow, then the tree will have to be injured even more in order to repair the destructive wound.

How to seal a hollow in a fruit tree?

Before this, you need to remove all rotten wood from the affected area, which is a carrier of pathogenic microorganisms. To do this, use a special scraper-chisel. Then the inner surface is treated with a disinfectant solution - usually copper or iron sulfate is used, dissolving it in water at a ratio of 0.05 to 1, respectively. And only after this can the hollow in the tree be sealed.

The further method of sealing it is determined based on the size of the hollow. If it is small, then the filling method is used, that is, the hollow is clogged with a specially sized dry wood plug. The cork is also pre-disinfected using the same solution. Excess cork is removed with a hacksaw, after which the hollow is covered with a garden decoction - 1 part ash mixed with 1 part fresh resin, heated to give the desired consistency.

When sealing a large hollow, they take a different route, since usually in such cases, after preliminary cleaning of the wound, a rather impressive depression is formed, which is not possible to clog with a plug. Then prepare a mixture of crushed stone, sand, gravel. Sometimes they even use broken, burnt bricks. Each named ingredient may also be used as a sole excipient.

The filled hollow is filled with cement mortar from above, thoroughly coating each crack so that the infection does not penetrate inside the hollow again. Cement can be replaced with a mixture of equal quantities fresh mullein and garden soil. Using such an unusual composition as a putty gives better results than using a cement solution. At this point, the treatment of the tree hollow is almost complete.

After completing the sealing of the hollow, a small shelf must be nailed above it, the purpose of which is to protect the healed area from moisture accumulation. The shelf can be made of a plank or a thin strip of galvanized iron. That's it now! We saved the tree, closed the hollow in the tree, now we know how to heal such a hole in a fruit tree, we can proudly show the results of our work to our neighbors and, if something happens, help them too. In a word, we are great!

The appearance of a hollow in an old apple tree is a problem that many gardeners inevitably have to face. The main danger of such a painful neoplasm, which is the final stage of wound rot, lies in its ability to expand. A cavity infected with saprotrophic fungi infects nearby healthy tissue, and thus constantly progresses in size, which ultimately leads to the death of the tree. To stop this process and prolong the life of the apple tree, a putrefactive hole found in its trunk must be cleaned out as soon as possible and sealed with some biologically neutral material.

Foam seal

To fill a hollow in the trunk of an apple tree you will need:

very spicy construction knife and a chisel;
steel tablespoon;
garden var;
a bag of copper sulfate;
a container of polyurethane foam;
round popcorn;
protective glasses;
spray;
respirator or gauze bandage;
latex gloves.

The hollow must be sealed, otherwise the tree will soon die

Sealing a hollow with foam: instructions

First of all, on grindstone slightly sharpen the edges of the spoon and bend its handle so that it is convenient to scoop out the dust from the hollow.
After this, armed with a spoon and a chisel prepared in this way, clean out all the rot from the hollow. Work carefully, select the rotten wood down to the last crumb; use a chisel to cut off areas of wood that are still hard but already affected by rot, down to healthy tissue. In order to prevent the spread of infection throughout your area, place all wood debris removed from the hollow in a bag, which you then burn outside the garden.
After cleaning the hollow from the inside, carefully cut off all the blackened bark from its edges.

Advice. To make your work easier and speed up the process of cleaning the hollow, instead of a chisel, use an electric drill equipped with attachments in the form metal brushes(lateral and end). The use of such devices will not only simplify the matter, but also improve the quality of cleaning.

Dissolve 2 teaspoons (without a slide) of copper sulfate in a glass of water, put on all the protective equipment (mask, goggles, gloves) and using a spray bottle or spray bottle, treat the inside of the hollow and the cut along its edges with the just prepared antiseptic solution.
After 3-4 hours, when the disinfected hole in the trunk has dried, coat its edge with garden varnish, then blow foam into the hollow. Once the foam has hardened, cut off any excess foam with a sharp knife.

Advice. To prevent such a polymer filling from decomposing when exposed to light, paint it with oil paint.

Cement filling

To seal a hollow in this way you will need:

steel scraper and chisel;
package iron sulfate;
soft brush;
cement;
sifted sand;
1-2 red bricks;
natural drying oil,
latex gloves;
trowel;
gauze bandage.

Before placing a filling, be sure to treat the cavity with an antiseptic

Sealing a hollow with cement mortar: procedure

Using a scraper and chisel, clean the insides of the hollow from necrotic tissue.
When you have finished removing the rot from the hollow, prepare a 5% disinfectant solution. To do this, pour 4 teaspoons of vitriol into 0.4 l warm water and stir the liquid thoroughly.
Put on gloves and a bandage and use a brush to treat the inside surface of the hollow with the antiseptic you just made.
After the hollow has dried, fill it as much as possible with finely broken bricks.
In a basin, mix a liter jar of cement with 3 liters of sand, gradually pour water into the vessel and knead the solution. When it reaches the consistency of thick sour cream, pour a tablespoon of drying oil into it and mix well again.
Fill the hole in the barrel with the solution. If the hollow is narrow and vertical, introduce the solution into it in separate doses, adding the next portion after the previous one has partially hardened.
The finished filling should not rise above the bark, so while the cement is still wet, remove the excess with a trowel and smooth the surface of the solution with a rubber-gloved hand.
After six days, cover the filling with 2 layers of oil paint.

Advice. If you have to fill a very large and deep hollow, for greater strength the cement filling can be reinforced with pieces of steel wire or plaster mesh.

Regardless of the chosen method of filling the hollow, it is best to treat the apple tree in late autumn, since it is at this time that all life processes in fruit trees they slow down, and the movement of juices almost completely stops.

How to seal a hollow in a tree: video

Hollow in an apple tree: photo

In search of an answer to the question of how exactly to do this, summer residents come across a witty idea - to use construction foam to eliminate the hollow.

Practice shows

Having used a lightweight spray can with a convenient spout, with which you can instantly fill unwanted cavities, the gardener is delighted. He willingly shares the idea with friends and neighbors. If on next year The “patient” will weigh herself down with apples, the owner will be proud of himself with a vengeance. But why did the household members, who paid tribute to the new harvest, suddenly have stomach ache?

What's happening?

Nobody really knows. One thing is clear: construction foam is not intended for repairing living things. fruit tree. The components included in its composition are not designed to interact with vegetable juices. No one has studied any behavior frozen foam in the “body” of the plant, nor its influence on the composition of the fruit. Using this remedy to treat an apple or pear tree, you conduct an experiment on the tree and, worse than that, - on yourself and your household.

Correct version

It’s better not to take risks and seal the hollow with good old cement-based filling material mixed with coarse sand and lime (1:6:1). Water is added until it reaches the consistency of thick porridge. But first, the cavity must be cleaned as thoroughly as possible from rotten tissue, disinfected (5% solution of copper or iron sulfate) and dried for 2-3 hours. After hardening, the filling is painted over with oil paint. This treatment will prolong the life of the tree and is completely safe for apple consumers.

And if you still want to keep up with the times, then during the operation you can use not a knife and a chisel, but a drill with an attachment in the form of an iron brush. It is convenient to remove sawdust from the cavity with the sticky side of electrical tape or adhesive tape. The medicinal solution can be applied with a cotton ball or using a hand spray.

The appearance of a hollow in an old apple tree is a fairly common problem. Gardeners today use various methods of treating such formations. This article will tell you how and how to seal a hollow in an apple tree.

The formation of a hollow in the trunk of an apple tree is a rather dangerous phenomenon, as it tends to expand. Most often, the reason for the development of such a formation lies in the infection of the tree with wound rot. Its causative agent is the saprophytic cavity fungus.

Due to infection of healthy nearby tissues, this disease constantly progresses. Therefore, if no control measures are taken, a large hollow will form on the trunk. Various types of mechanical damage lead to the appearance of a fungal infection (in the absence of them correct processing). Such damage may occur in the following situations:

improper pruning of branches;
broken branches in strong winds;
trunk damage by rodents.

Due to the appearance of a hollow, the apple tree begins to reduce its yield and also becomes more brittle. As a result, if this problem is not dealt with, the tree affected by the fungus will soon die. Therefore, in order to save the apple tree, you need to know what to do in this case. After all, if treated incorrectly, you can only harm the tree.

How to fill a hollow

Gardeners use the following materials to close the hollow:

polyurethane foam. Is in a simple way, since foaming the hole can be done quickly and easily;
cement. To use it, the hole should be filled with small crushed stone or broken brick. Only after this can the hollow be covered with cement.

In addition to cement and polyurethane foam, such formations can be closed with a cork made of hardwood. Whatever material is used, it is recommended to treat it with garden varnish or paint on top.

Instructions for filling

To stop the putrefactive processes inside a tree with a hollow, you need to know how to heal this “wound” correctly to avoid relapse.

You can heal a hollow of any size by doing the following:

first you need to clean the inside of the hollow from rotten tissue;
then treat the hole with a biologically neutral material;
select the material with which the embedding will be carried out;
close the hole with it.

Depending on the type of material chosen, you can close the hole different ways. Let's look at each sealing option in more detail.

A seal made of polyurethane foam is made as follows:

Before foaming the hole, all dust and other debris are removed from it;
then the inner surface of the hollow is treated with a solution of copper sulfate. To prepare it in a glass ordinary water you need to dissolve two teaspoons (taken without a slide). Processing is carried out in protective clothing, goggles and a mask. It is best to apply the solution using a spray bottle or spray bottle;
3-4 hours should pass after treatment. During this time, the solution will dry completely;
then the edge of the hole is coated with garden pitch;
then we start blowing out the polyurethane foam;
when it has hardened, its excess is carefully cut off with a sharp garden knife.

To prevent damage to such a polymer filling under the influence sunlight it must be painted over with oil paint. As you can see, working with polyurethane foam is quite simple and allows you to quickly solve the problem of even a large hollow in an old apple tree.

A filling prepared with cement mortar is created in a hollow as follows:

first, the hole is cleared of necrotic tissue using a scraper;
Next, a 5% solution of copper sulfate is prepared for disinfection. To obtain it, dilute 4 teaspoons of blue powder in 0.4 liters of water (it must be warm);
then you need to put on a mask, gloves and goggles and start treating the hollow with the solution;
after processing, the wood must dry;
then finely broken bricks are poured into the hole;
at large diameter holes are used reinforcement;
further being prepared cement mortar standard consistency (kind of thick sour cream). To prepare it, use 3 liters of sand and a liter jar of cement. After this, a tablespoon of drying oil is added to the mixture. The solution must be mixed well;
Then the hollow is covered with cement. The solution should be brought to the same level as the bark. Therefore, before it hardens, all excess should be removed. The surface of the filling is smoothed with a hand wearing a rubber glove.

The cement filling must dry for 6 days. After the filling surface has dried, the sealed hole is covered with oil paint. It is applied in two layers.