As soon as the wound is no longer wet/weepy (make sure it's dry), paint it with waterproof wood glue being careful to cover only the wound and not the surrounding periderm (bark). If you don't do that, currently living tissue surrounding the wound will dry out and the the wound will end up far larger/deeper than it would be without sealing it. It will also take much longer for callus tissue to roll over the wound and the indentation caused by tissue desiccation at the wound site will take much longer to become inconspicuous. For the same reason, this strategy should also be employed whenever a crassula or portulacaria is pruned using a flush cut (not advisable) when removing a branch.
(A bit off topic but ....) While flush cuts are taboo on woody plants in the landscape, houseplant trees (ficus, schefflera, rain trees, coffee, China doll, citrus, etc., are best pruned using flush cuts, or better yet, a concave cutter that actually creates an indentation in the spot where the branch was removed.
A special tool is available for making concave cuts,
and you would find them extremely useful for pruning woody plants in the landscape.
Oh no, poor palm! But don't worry, it's not a goner. Just trim the rough edges of the gash with clean scissors to prevent infection, and let it dry out to form a natural seal. Keep it in stable conditions—enough light and not too much water. It should heal up fine with some TLC!
As soon as the wound is no longer wet/weepy (make sure it's dry), paint it with waterproof wood glue being careful to cover only the wound and not the surrounding periderm (bark). If you don't do that, currently living tissue surrounding the wound will dry out and the the wound will end up far larger/deeper than it would be without sealing it. It will also take much longer for callus tissue to roll over the wound and the indentation caused by tissue desiccation at the wound site will take much longer to become inconspicuous. For the same reason, this strategy should also be employed whenever a crassula or portulacaria is pruned using a flush cut (not advisable) when removing a branch.
(A bit off topic but ....) While flush cuts are taboo on woody plants in the landscape, houseplant trees (ficus, schefflera, rain trees, coffee, China doll, citrus, etc., are best pruned using flush cuts, or better yet, a concave cutter that actually creates an indentation in the spot where the branch was removed.
A special tool is available for making concave cuts,
and you would find them extremely useful for pruning woody plants in the landscape.
Al
Oh no, poor palm! But don't worry, it's not a goner. Just trim the rough edges of the gash with clean scissors to prevent infection, and let it dry out to form a natural seal. Keep it in stable conditions—enough light and not too much water. It should heal up fine with some TLC!