Painting trunks for sunburn and rodents

It will be fine and make sure its white or light colored with no additives.

I was out re-painting the trees today, I know not be the best time of year but the weather was great and I had to get outside. Sunscald is a problem in my area (Utah) and I have had a lot of damage on trees if I don’t paint them or if I prune to much. Also all of the orchards in the area paint their trunks as well as the local extension recommends it. I have a few small pawpaw trees and I want to know if pawpaws need protection from sunscald? In case you are wondering I went ahead and painted them anyways. I have never heard of people painting them and they seem to have a naturally lighter colored bark, but is it enough? I think it is important to say that a lot of the larger indigenous trees in the area have light bark like quaking aspen, cotton wood poplar and box elder.

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gregkdc,
I think that was a great idea it certainly won’t hurt to paint them. I grow mine in the shade so I have never painted my pawpaw.

Here is my experience with 3 mixtures.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1516623/comparison-of-3-painting-mixtures-for-trunk-protection.

Quick summary:
1/3 interior acrylic/latex water based paint:1/3 general purpose gyprock joint compound:1/3 water

Yeah I do this too.

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Does anyone know what to use if contemplating organic certification? I’ve heard paint is out ;-{

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http://gonaturalpaint.com/

https://www.organicgardener.com.au/articles/lime-based-whitewash

Unfortunately neither of those is appropriate for organic certification. GoNaturalPaint is just latex paint tinted to the color of tree bark. And whitewash uses Calcium Hydroxide which is “Not approved for organic production”

Wow, ok, maybe just use a tree guard, although made out of plastic!

At what age or size is an apple tree bark not vulnerable to mice or rabbits? Or is it always vulnerable?

Hambone,
I’ve had rodents attack mature trees. Once the bark gets hard I feel pretty safe. Seems like some trees get hard bark much later than others. I have pears that develop hard bark in 3-5 years. Apples in my experience take much longer to harden up than pears. Apple trees are rodents preferred food over any other fruit tree.

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I just painted a few trunks with interior latex mixed with joint compound but I left out any water, didn’t seem to need it as the mix went on pretty easily. Is water a key ingredient? Any problem with just latex and joint compound?

Update-For anyone interested in the paint formula, I just heard back from John Bunker at Fedco in Maine: no need for water.

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See my earlier comment (#44). I did not test 50-50 paint:joint compound but when I did 100% paint I had bark die back/rot. Disclaimer, in my zone with my soil in my hands. I use 1/3:1/3:1/3 paint:water:joint compound with good results.

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I’ve had real good results with 1/2" hardwr cloth cylinders around my trees, 18 or 24" high. It keeps out mice/etc yet lets air in. And you can see what’s going on. Easy and last a real long time. You could leave them on all year but I take them off when I borer-paint and tanglefoot the trees in early summer, put them back on in fall. I’ve used Fedco/Bunker’s alternate formula anti-borer paint for six years with success (no borers), having lost many trees previous. I substituted what I had on hand (dry milk instead of fresh, potters clay instead of Surround) and it stays on the trees just fine. I like the color – more gray than white.

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I have a whit water- based latex paint leftover. It has Titanium dioxide as the second ingredient after water for extra white.

Do you think it will be OK to paint ptrees with itcome to think of it, I use sunscreen with Titanium dioxide as the main ingredient. :grin:

I just use the plain flat white paint with no extra additives.

Flat/semi/glossy? General recommendation is to use flat white interior paint, without mold deterrent, diluted 50:50 with water. Supposedly the semi and glossy finishes are too tight and don’t breath enough. But folks seem to use whatever successfully…

Another option is to buy over the counter tree paint and use it straight out of the can without diluting it. This is sold here in Arizona and in other sun belt/citrus states.

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I’ve never seen that before. Do they sell it at the regular box stores or do you need to go to a nursery type place to get it?

I know about the water-based, white interior paint but I have leftover interior paint that has the extra white condition to it. It is the titanium dioxide rhat gives the " extra white" quality.
Thought I would ask in case anyone else has used it.

Not sure if tiranium dioxide would do any harm to the bark.