25
Just ran the numbers on oak wilt spread in our county
Looked up the Texas A&M forestry extension data last night and found out oak wilt has spread to 78% of the counties in central Texas. That's way higher than I thought. We've been pushing the wound sealant on every pruning cut over 2 inches but apparently most guys here still aren't using it. Anyone else seeing more red oaks dying in their area?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
masonm7026d ago
Whoa, that's a lot higher than I expected too. I gotta admit, I used to think the whole wound sealant thing was mostly for show (like, just another product to sell), but after reading that myself I'm totally changing my tune. If it's really that widespread and the advice is that simple, it makes me wonder why more guys aren't taking it seriously. I mean, red oaks dropping that fast is no joke, and if a little bit of paint can slow it down, that's a no-brainer in my book. I've already started telling my neighbors to be more careful with their pruning, and I'm going to use the sealant on everything from now on.
4
nancyw9725d ago
Bought a tube of that sealant last spring after watching a neighbor's oak go from fine to dead in what felt like a weekend. Ended up using it on a birch too because I wasn't thinking straight, and that birch still has a weird black ooze spot where I painted it. Tree's alive but it looks like it got into a fight and lost. So yeah, listen to that guy thompson.nathan, he knows what he's talking about. Live and learn I guess.
4
thompson.nathan26d ago
Actually one thing I want to gently push back on there. You mentioned using sealant on everything from now on, but you really dont want to do that with most trees. The research Ive seen says wound sealant is really only recommended for oaks during the high risk months, especially red oaks where oak wilt spreads so fast. For other trees like maples or birches or fruit trees, leaving the wound open is actually better because it lets the tree seal itself naturally. Slapping paint on a maple wound can trap moisture and rot in there. I used to seal everything too until I messed up a couple of my old sugar maples that way. So yeah, definitely keep using it on those red oaks during the growing season, but maybe hold off on the rest unless you're dealing with something specific like storm damage where the wood is all torn up. Its a small thing but it makes a difference.
3