AusBonsai

I'm finding on a few species ,wired thinner branches are dying off.I use copper coated aluminium.Just wondering if the wire is over thick and gets too hot in summer and cooks the branch --do some plants not like copper? any ideas? thanks

I’ve been told by a friend who has practiced Bonsai for many years that copper can be detrimental to our trees in the direct Sun of summer, he himself uses copper but in a greenhouse.

I personally didn’t see any harm to my trees even in the extremely hot Perth sun but at the time only had a small amount of trees, I have since turned to Aluminium wire and find it easier to work with which is also a bonus, tree makers have a great deal on a bundle pack just be warned the postage is very slow (well it was to WA anyway)

Hope this helps.!!

Double post. How do I remove it?

tgward wrote: ↑June 2nd, 2020, 7:41 am I'm finding on a few species ,wired thinner branches are dying off.I use copper coated aluminium.Just wondering if the wire is over thick and gets too hot in summer and cooks the branch --do some plants not like copper? any ideas? thanks

What kind of tree? Is it strong or weak? Do you move the branch and then move it again? Wiring weakens any branch. It damages the cambium layer which must be allowed to heal. Some bark is very thin and easily destroyed. If the wire is too thick for the branch it will damage it more than if the correct size is used because you cannot feel it bend. If it is wired too tightly it will damage the bark. If it is wired too loosely you can easily damage the branch because it does not have the correct support when you bend it. If you wire with a steep pitch you can cut off the sap flow. If you wire weak thin branches you can kill them. If you wire a weak branch and there are stronger ones around it, it will likely die. If you remove too many leaves or needles from a weak branch it will get weaker. Leave the weak thin branches without wire until they are strong enough to handle it.
It's not the copper or the ''cooking''

I agree with Treeman. It is not the copper wire causing the problem. Much more likely operator error.

Hi tg,
As someone who generally doesn't use copper wire (perhaps only 3% of the time and mainly due to affordability and the nature of the trees I am wiring) - I can tell you that plenty of branches have died with my aluminium wire... Therefore, I am in the operator error camp. My fails - which are plenty - are usually on Shimpaku or other Juniper strangely enough. Generally where I have used poor technique and had to bend and re-bend and/or almost imperceptibly split a branch away from the juncture of another branch (or perhaps even that is misdiagnosed) or seemingly, strangled the life out of thinner or weaker branches. I am getting better at planning and thinking about wiring before I add the wire... ... supporting branches as I bend and wiring so that the direct of the wiring allows me to sort of twist/bend ... crap desertion but I know what I am trying to say.

so much to ponder--thanks blokes