Author Topic: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree  (Read 1770 times)

domer

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Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« on: January 21, 2018, 01:02:49 PM »
Hi all,

New to the forum.  Been reading up and find the discussions very useful.  Hoping to get some advice on a problem with my sapodilla tree.  I live in South Florida in the Palm Beach area

Bought the sapling from Excalibur (local nursery with an extensive variety of tropicals) in late 2015.  Tree has grown slowly but has started to fruit already (this is the first year and I am quite excited).  There are about a dozen or so fruit on the tree.

The trunk has been damaged somehow (landscaper?) and I have noticed ants going up and down the trunk.  See pictures.  Any advice on what I could do a) to mitigate the damage and b) to repair it?  Many thanks in advance.

 




TnTrobbie

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2018, 08:18:45 PM »
Yikes. Looks like a healthy chunk of the trunk was lost and at a critical spot too. A perpendicular shot to the ones you posted would help determine how much is left. I'd stake it indefinitely until (hopefully) it can scar over it and recover.
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domer

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2018, 08:55:29 PM »
Thanks.  Half of it is gone.  Bark on the backside looks ok albeit I’m worried about rest of it peeling off.  The tree is quite stable.  I was thinking about using grafting tape to cover the area.  In retrospect, I should have done something sooner. 

FruitFreak

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2018, 09:09:18 PM »
No trying to be grim but that appears to be mortal wound that will likely lead to the trees demise by either disease or structural collapse in a big blow.  I’d replace the tree especially is space is a premium.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 10:33:44 PM by FruitFreak »
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Orkine

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2018, 10:09:25 PM »
Isn't there some kind of grafting, bridge grafting,  that can be used to bridge the wound?
Or perhaps get a seedling approach graft it above the wound and use it to provide a second root.

Never done this so not speaking from experience but I have come across it several times in reading about grafting.

green thumps up

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2018, 12:20:13 AM »
How about this?

Tanglefoot Tree Wound Pruning Sealer & Grafting Compound

markinnaples

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2018, 12:23:02 AM »
The damage takes up such a large area and goes so low that I think the tree is very unlikely to remain in a healthy, upright state for more than a few years. I wonder if there is enough healthy wood at the base to bridge graft without leaving a hole where disease and insects would find a home. You could plant a couple of seedlings close and pleach the strongest one into the trunk, but you will always have to rub off any sprout from the seedling. It would be an interesting experiment and that is what I would do; but I have five acres and like to experiment. And at my age 3 years is probably more precious than 3 years is at your age.

Ulfr

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2018, 01:50:14 AM »
I would replace the tree. I hate the idea of a damaged tree like that surviving only OK for years before rot and knowing that if I had planted a replacement when I first noticed it would probably be double the size and healthy. You could buy/start some seedlings and graft this variety onto them? Would be a fitting replacement :)

achetadomestica

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Re: Help with damaged trunk on sapodilla tree
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2018, 09:29:25 AM »
First of all get a new landscaper :-\

I would clean out with hose and let dry and wrap with tape.
I had the neighbors goat munch on a tree one time and I used the green tape
used to stake trees. A good strong stake is a very good idea. The tree will put allot
of energy in to healing the wound, the tree also needs allot of energy to produce the
fruit. The tree would heal much faster if you sacrificed the fruit. I have several sapodillas
without gashes and I see ants constantly on the trunk and branches. I would be more concerned
with beetles which the tape will keep out. Sapodillas don't grow much in the winter at my
place and my fruit is developing slow now. If the wound becomes infected you can always replace the
tree. When the weather warms up and the sapodilla becomes more active water heavy not on
the wound directly and increase fertilizer. You could also buy another tree and up pot and if this
tree doesn't heal you would have a replacement that is further along.