I took a trunk of cherry that was cut down from the local bank . Not very thick...about 8". When I turned my wife a small dish to put her rings in when she does "raw meat" and etc., it had this awsome spalt to it. It had just been cut down and I hadn't noticed any signs of distress before. (go to bank weekly}. I think this was a healthy tree cut down for improvment . Any reason for so much spalting?
How does wood spalt?
Dec 04, 2005
7 Replies
Spalting is a growth of several fungi in the wood after it is dead. It takes som dampness and warmth to develop.
Bjarte
It does not necessarly have to be dead to spalt. The fungi growth can occur in a sick or damaged tree as well.
Absolutely. I have seen a lot of spalting in pecan due to borers and wood peckers. When I trimmed my otherwise healthy pecan trees in my back yard, the spalting was where the woodpeckers had made a nest, and where the borers had gotten inside.
Robert
People say cherry spalts, but it must be some variety other than the ones I use. While the sapwood can spalt - black line fungal boundaries - the heartwood can remain sound for years.
What I see is generally called brown rot, and it's fairly common in trees with some sort of external damage. Daresay pruning would suffice as a method of entry for the spores. You can see it on the rim of my dummy move.
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It's almost at the cubical stage. Good, well-documented answers to most wood questions can be found at
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Cherry is one of those woods that is prone to "pitch pockets". This is a black discoloration that might be confused with spalting.
Barry
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