Experimenting with Vasaline

[Dean Lofthouse]

A few years ago I heard a tale that a good thing was to smear vasaline on fresh cambium damage.

 

I decided to carry out an experiment.

 

Two identical areas of fresh squirrel damage on hornbeam, left side left as is, right side smeared with a thick layer of vasaline and left for two years.

 

Vasaline has not been completely wiped off but you can still see the results, left side has very thick new growth and has nearly healed completely. Right side shows very little growth and new growth has lots of areas where it shows no new growth at all

[David Humphries]

Interesting Dean

 

I wonder if the parenchyma cells that go on to create callus tissue are inhibited by the Vaseline. Possibly by a reduced access to air and light?

 

 

Looks like a very vigorous tree.

Does it have a full canopy?

 

.

[Gary Prentice]

I thought this thread was going to be about something different. Are you sure it's hornbeam ?

 

 

 

I'll go away now and ponder the reason for the results.

[Dean Lofthouse]

At the moment it is an understorey tree within a silver birch woodland, nice full crown.

 

sorry Gaz missed your post, yes its hornbeam, for some reason the squirrels are decimating them, they are leaving all the other trees but stripping the hornbeams ??

Edited February 20, 2014 by Dean Lofthouse

[Pinkfoot]

Interesting Dean

 

I wonder if the parenchyma cells that go on to create callus tissue are inhibited by the Vaseline. Possibly by a reduced access to air and light?

 

 

Looks like a very vigorous tree.

Does it have a full canopy?

 

.

 

I don't really think wounds need air and light to callous. Everything I graft gets wrapped in a rubber band and then waxed over.No air or light gets to them and they callous very quickly and strongly.

[Mark Bolam]

I've experimented with Vaseline a few times.

[Adam Bourne]

Haaaaaa

 

 

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[Dean Lofthouse]

I've experimented with Vaseline a few times.

 

i didnt have any to hand, i had to go out and buy some

[treeseer]

Good to experiment, and follow up!

 

"left side has very thick new growth and has nearly healed completely. Right side shows very little growth and new growth has lots of areas where it shows no new growth at all"

 

Pretty hard to tell from here, under all that goop.

 

If the right side is nearly the same, the squirrels left a lot of parenchyma outside of the wood. If at that time drying was less of a concern, then sealing the area probably inhibited more than it helped.

 

If the wood was scraped bare by rodent teeth, I'm guessing that sealing may have done more good.

 

This is the invasive gray squirrel? I'm sorry it got loose over there--wasn't me!

[Dean Lofthouse]

I'll try and get it clean and take another pic

 

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