The reasons for the appearance of a hollow on a young and old apple tree, how to close it and what to cover it with

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.

Causes

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 appears in it. Most often, the problem arises due to neglect of pruning rules and improper care of the plant.

At what time can you close up a hollow?

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 a young tree, but the wound heals faster.

Before filling the hole:

1. Clean off dead bark.
2. Scrape off a small layer of live wood.
3. 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 sealing a hollow, different materials are used that prevent 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 of significant size, first clean out the affected tissue, disinfect the inside with vitriol and fill it with gravel or broken brick, and fill it 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:

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

To ensure that the polymer that makes up the substance is not damaged by sunlight, oil paint is applied. 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 a metal mesh both inside and outside the apple tree.

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 with 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 again wrapped with 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 a small section of the trunk is affected by a hollow, 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 on apple trees are infested with bark beetles, 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.