frost victim lesson learnt

[PWC]

Some things you just need to learn from experience, luckily it's just tube stock. I picked up this Melaleuca fulgens from state flora a few months ago and planted in ground to grow out. As winter approached i moved what I considered to be frost sensitive under cover for protection. The tag supplied with the plant stated medium frost resistance. I guess I need to be a bit more cautious in future regarding the notes supplied, particularly with young plants.

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This is the damage

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Hopefully all is not lost as there appears to be some growth down low, should I remove the affected part or leave it and see how it goes?

[shibui]

M fulgens is quite frost hardy in our garden and we get down to -5C occasionally.
I have not seen bark lifted like that from cold. Maybe something else has gone wrong?

[PWC]

I have not seen bark lifted like that from cold. Maybe something else has gone wrong?

We had -2 with frost a week ago and it was fine before that, I looked for signs of pest or fungal issues and could see nothing obvious. The bark had lifted the complete circumference for the first 2/3 rds of the trunk.
If it survives it will have saved me a trunk chop, a bit early in the process though

[robb63]

I picked up this Melaleuca fulgens from state flora a few months ago and planted in ground to grow out. As winter approached i moved what I considered to be frost sensitive under cover for protection.

That may be the issue if I'm reading that correctly.

[PWC]

I picked up this Melaleuca fulgens from state flora a few months ago and planted in ground to grow out. As winter approached i moved what I considered to be frost sensitive under cover for protection.

That may be the issue if I'm reading that correctly.

robb63, not sure what you mean. I assumed the Mel was frost resistant so left it outside in the ground. After reading Shibui's response I am not sure what caused the damage as I assumed it was the frost.

[robb63]

I understood that you grew it in ground a few months then dug it up at start of winter to move it .
If that damage happened while in the ground that's different.
In that case I agree with Neil that its not caused by only the frost.

[Max]

is that a V graft in the second photo i see?

[RogerW]

I don't believe that is frost damage. Certainly -2C should not cause any problems. I suspect either mechanical or disease damage.

[PWC]

is that a V graft in the second photo i see?

Max, there is no graft.

I suspect either mechanical or disease damage.

Roger, definitely not mechanical, if disease what do you think would be most likely? I intend to remove the affected part and monitor the progress or otherwise.

[shibui]

Mechanical damage means the tree may have been bent or twisted at some stage causing the bark to separate. I suspect that is the most likely cause. Often it doesn't show up for weeks or months after the actual event.

[PWC]

Mechanical damage means the tree may have been bent or twisted at some stage causing the bark to separate. I suspect that is the most likely cause. Often it doesn't show up for weeks or months after the actual event.

It has only bee reduced to encourage growth lower as you can see that was achieved. It is possible that unknown to me it has received some form of trauma and the frost event was just coincidental.

Twisting and bending is used often in Bonsai, I would think that in young plants it would be less of an issue.I understand that on older less supple material more care and preventative methods are required.

Thanks for the reply

[shibui]

Twist and bend at the wrong time of year, usually when the trees are actively growing, can result in the bark separating from the wood, eventually giving results very similar to what your tree is showing. In bonsai wire or raffia helps hold the bark in place better but many will not bend junipers or pines while they are in rapid growth phase for that reason. Often there's no outward indication at the time but a branch or part of a branch will just go from green through yellow to brown several months later. This is obviously a different problem from the more immediately evident snap when older wood is bent past breaking point.

Not sure what animals or people might pass through your growing area but an accidental kick or being trod on might produce those results even when there is no immediate signs of damage at the time. It may even have happened before you purchased it. I mentioned that it can take weeks or months to show up like this.