Cut paste for Ficus, yes or no?

Hey all,



I'm getting real frustrated with the chop sites on my Ficus. No matter what I do, it seems, I always get rot. I cover with cut paste, moisture gets under the paste, and the chop site rots. I don't cover with cut paste, the humidity and rain attack the chop site, and it rots. Do you all know of a good cut paste to use? I use a kind that has an anti-fungal in it, so I don't understand why it still rots, but I'm getting tired of it. Any suggestions?

Maybe different figs behave differently, but I never have used cut paste on my two figs, both of which were severely trunk chopped to start and one which has a deep shari down the trunk and into the ground and I've never had any rot. I water with an overhead misting system (and it has rained gallons at a time here this spring and summer) so the wood is often wet.

Were your chops cut on a slant or straight across? Did/do they have hollowed out cuts where moisture can stand? Do they live 100% of their time indoors in induced humidity? Are they in full (outdoor) sun all summer long? Do you water daily or do you let them dry out almost completely between watering?

I've always figured the fig sap did all the work we assign to cut paste.

From what I read, Ryan, you are, in effect, practicing monoculture -- all figs. Could there be something your figs are passing one to another?

JimLewis wrote:Maybe different figs behave differently, but I never have used cut paste on my two figs, both of which were severely trunk chopped to start and one which has a deep shari down the trunk and into the ground and I've never had any rot.  I water with an overhead misting system (and it has rained gallons at a time here this spring and summer) so the wood is often wet.

Were your chops cut on a slant or straight across?  Did/do they have hollowed out cuts where moisture can stand?  Do they live 100% of their time indoors in induced humidity?  Are they in full (outdoor) sun all summer long?  Do you water daily or do you let them dry out almost completely between watering?

I've always figured the fig sap did all the work we assign to cut paste.  

From what I read, Ryan, you are, in effect, practicing monoculture -- all figs.  Could there be something your figs are passing one to another?

Thanks Jim. The cuts aren't concave where moisture and water can gather, so I don't know why it's happening. They're all outdoors in full sun. I water like I've been watering for years, so I don't think that's the issue.

I also don't think it's something my figs are passing to each other, as they're all healthy as can be. It's just the chop sites (on some, not all are getting this way) are looking ugly.