Every gardener may encounter a hollow in the apple tree, but not everyone knows how to deal with this trouble. In the article you will read about the main reasons for the appearance of voids in the apple tree, the necessary actions to eliminate them, as well as about preventive measures aimed at reducing the risk of their occurrence.

The main causes of hollows in apple trees

The hollow formation in the apple tree means that it struck by wound rot. In this case, the absence of the necessary therapeutic measures can lead to a decrease in yield, and subsequently to the death of the tree.

The main causes of holes in trees are as follows:

• wind damage. A strong wind can provoke the breaking of the branches of the apple tree, which leads to decay of the tree and the formation of voids in it;
• wrong pruning. Untreated scraps of more than 2.5 cm in diameter are expelled from the inside if they were not disinfected;
• rodent damage caused by rodents. To discourage pests from the tree, after gardening is done, it is whitewashed or putty made of clay and fresh mullein;
• mechanical damage near the root of the tree. They can be applied with a shovel, rake or other agricultural implements.

Did you know? The oldest apple tree grows in the USA — it was planted by Peter Stuvesant in 1647.

How to properly prepare and seal a hollow with your own hands

The defeat of the apple tree with a hollow does not depend on its age, therefore, when a hole is found, you do not need to get rid of the tree, but necessary measures should be taken to close it.

Cleansing

Before treating an apple tree, the first thing to do is to get rid of dead and infected wood, for which you need:

1. Remove rotten parts of the tree with a chisel or garden knife until a healthy, light tissue appears. The deep cavity should be cleaned with a tablespoon. In especially difficult cases, the passage should be cut out.
2. On healthy wood, remove the first layer, as it is likely that it is also affected by the fungus.
3. Wipe the cavity, clean it of small debris and allow to dry.
4. Collect all waste and rotten parts of the tree into a bag and destroy. This will minimize the risk of a repeat fungal infection.

All garbage and infected wood are collected in a bag so that they do not get into the soil

Disinfection

To avoid further decay, the wood must be treated with special antiseptics.

To do this, it is necessary to use fungicides sold in the public domain:

• a solution of 2% copper sulfate (20 g of vitriol will require 10 liters of water);
• a solution of vitriol of iron (mix 50 g of vitriol with 10 l of water);
• potassium permanganate solution (1 tsp. of the drug is dissolved in 10 l of water);
• carbolic acid (30 g of the drug is diluted with 10 l of water);
• streptocid (grind 2-3 tablets and wipe the walls of the hollow);
• wood ash (it needs to grease the walls of the hollow).

Processing solutions is carried out according to the principle of spraying..

Important! Disinfectants are toxic, therefore, treating them with a tree, it is necessary to wear a respirator, gloves and tight clothing.

If affected by fungus

If the fungus is damaged by the fungus, additional measures must be taken:

1. After treatment with disinfectants, the hole should be sprayed with Bordeaux liquid or colloidal sulfur solution. In the case of a small lesion, you can use sorrel leaves or garden var.
2. Large hollows need to be processed in several stages - to carry out 3-5 procedures for 2-3 weeks.

Hollow Sealing Methods

After cleaning and disinfection has been carried out, you need to close the cavity inside the apple tree, for which you can use one of the following methods.

Filling

This method is used if the hole in the apple tree is small. For filling, you must:

1. Make a wooden cork matching the size of the hole.
2. Sanitize the cork, place it in the hole, cut off the excess.
3. Using a garden var or oil paint, hermetically seal all cracks.

Care for tree trunks: a - the structure of the tree trunk: I - bark; 2 - bast; 3 - cambium; 4 - wood; b - cambium, improperly closed with garden putty; c - cambium, properly closed with garden putty: 1 - putty; 2 - antiseptic; g - hollow cleaning: 1 - rot; d - hollow filling: 1 - antiseptic; 2 - seal; 3 - putty

Cementing

To cement a large hole, you must:

1. Take fragments of red bricks, break them into even smaller parts and fill them with a hole.
2. Knead cement solution and cover with hollow. For quick solidification, this procedure must be done on a dry day.
3. When the cement has completely hardened, coat the cemented hole with oil paint to protect the surface from precipitation and the sun.

Larger and deeper cavities are covered with a thick cement mortar

Using an unusual method

When sealing a hole, you can use an unusual method, which consists in using polyurethane foam. It does not leak moisture and air and can fill a large space.

Important! Cracks after a frosty winter need to close up immediately, finding them. Large hollows should be closed in the fall when the tree stops growing.

To implement this method should:

1. Work the edges of the hollow using a garden var.
2. Take the mounting foam and blow out the existing void.
3. After hardening the foam, cut off its excess.
4. Treat the closed hole with oil paint.

All hollow embedment work must be carried out in appropriate protective clothing, glasses and a mask.

What to use and do in individual cases

It is not always possible to detect a void in the bark on time, in addition, the gardener can get a site with existing problem apple trees that need help. Below we consider how to heal trees in some difficult cases.

In the treatment of an old apple tree

In an old apple tree, the hole in the trunk can reach a size of 1.5 m.

In this case, it is necessary to carry out such actions:

1. Clean the hole with a drill with a brush and remove the dust.
2. Treat the hole with a disinfecting solution.
3. Fill the void with construction waste and seal it with a mixture of cement and lime.
4. If the wound cannot be healed, the tree must be dug up.

Video: Covering the hollow of an old apple tree

A hollow formed in a seedling

In seedlings aged 1 or 2 years, holes in the trunks rarely appear, but if they are present, then it is necessary:

1. Close the hole with garden var.
2. Wrap it with tape or tape.

Usually the voids in the seedlings are tightened very quickly.

Basal

If the hole is located at the roots of the tree, this can provoke a rapid weakening of the apple tree. Before cementing, a triangular-shaped metal structure must be inserted into the hollow, which will serve as a support. The top of the structure should abut against the top of the hole, and the base should be at its bottom.

After filling, the hollow should be completely closed with a metal mesh

Through

Before closing a through hollow, it is necessary to evaluate the feasibility of this event. In some cases, when the hole is very large, it is better to cut the apple tree.

Before cementing, in this case, it is necessary to install a board near one of the holes in the hollow, which will need to be removed after the composition has hardened.

Did you know? Worldwide, there are about 7,500 varieties of apples.

Struck by fungi

If the fungal infection is small, it is necessary to treat the affected parts of the tree with sorrel sheets. With severe infection, fungicides, bordeaux liquid and sulfur preparations should be used as a disinfectant.

Infected by ants

Hollowing ants is a common problem.

To get rid of these insects, you must:

1. To process a hollow with the Anteater solution (1 ml of a preparation on 10 l of water). Spray a small hole abundantly with a solution, the drug should be poured into a deep hollow.
2. After 3-5 hours, the apple tree is freed from ants.
3. The hollow needs to be dried and sealed.

Anteater is used in low consumption rates: 1 ml is enough to process about 5 - 10 anthills

Lots of rotten wood

If a large amount of rotten wood is in the old apple tree, it is not worth preserving such a tree - it is subject to cutting. You can cut a stalk from such an apple tree and plant it on a wild game.

If the hole is small in size, but has an abundant amount of rotten wood, the void must be sprayed with fungicide and filled with liquid cement.

Flowing juice

The main reasons why juice flows are:

• lesions by bark beetle or sapwood. To solve this problem, you need to inject injections with the Actellik preparation directly into the insect passages (dilute 2 ml of the drug in 1 liter of water and apply for 1 m² of trunk). In the next season, when the tree fades, it must be sprayed with “Fufanon” (10 ml of the drug per 10 liters of water);
• rotting due to improper wound treatment. The lesion sites must be cleaned with a garden knife, sanitized and after 20-30 minutes covered with a mixture of Rannet paste and garden varnish.

Preventative measures

In order to minimize the risk of voids in the tree, it is necessary to use the preventative measures described below.

Use of copper sulfate

This substance is often used by gardeners as prophylactic against fungal diseases that cause damage to apple trees and the formation of a hollow on them.

To make a solution for processing, it is necessary to mix 100 g of copper sulfate with 10 l of water and add 100-150 g of quicklime there. The flow rate of the solution should be 2-5 liters per apple tree.

Garden Var

Another preventive method in the fight against the formation of a hollow is timely response to small wounds and damage to apple trees. Wounds on trees must be urgently treated with garden varieties, which will impede the development of rotting and destruction of the apple tree.

You can make a garden var yourselffor which you should take 3 parts of sunflower or linseed oil and 8 parts of spruce or pine resin. The resulting mixture needs to lubricate damage on the apple tree.

Garden var is a soft and dense substance obtained from the processing of wood resin with auxiliary components

Hollow in the apple tree can provoke a decrease in productivity and cause negative consequences for the tree. Guided by the above instructions, you can eliminate the voids in the apple trees, as well as take preventive measures to further minimize their appearance.