Advertisements
No matter where you go, you’ll notice something peculiar about the trees — the fact that their bottoms are painted white. At first glance, it could look like vandalism. After all, why would anyone paint the trunks of the trees white? Yet, whitewashing is anything but that, as it is actually pretty important! And while it has been around for ages, people are still baffled by this strange yet interesting phenomenon.
Intrigued? Then you’ve come to the right place, as we’ll go in-depth to learn more about whitewashing and its usefulness.
Why Is Whitewashing So Common?
Generally speaking, the purpose of whitewashing is to protect the tree from heat and insects. However, depending on the area, there are many other reasons for whitewashing the trees. Let’s check them out!
Press continue if you want to learn the answer!
Sun Scald
You might sometimes notice that some chunks of a tree’s bark buckle and look as if they are about to fall. In gardening terms, that process is called Winter Sun Scald or Southwest Injury and usually occurs during the tree’s infancy. But what causes this phenomenon? Simply put, Sun Scald happens in areas such as New Mexico, where there is intense sun exposure, and the temperatures fluctuate wildly between day and night.
Fortunately, painting a tree’s trunk white is similar to adding sunscreen. In other words, once you whitewash your young trees, their trunks’ surfaces won’t get dry and cracked as easily anymore.
Heat Protection
Painting the base of a young tree will also help it remain cool in the spring. Why? Because white paint acts as a shield that reflects the heat and allows the tree to spend more time on transpiration and growing their fruits.
Additionally, when trees are cooler, they have less stress, which makes their stomata stay open a bit longer for the exchange of gases. That’s extremely important because the more carbon dioxide the trees take in, the more energy they create.
Pathogens and Pests
More often than not, a tree’s bark will crack, allowing insects to creep inside. Once that happens, fungi and bacteria will feed on the tree’s innards, stunting its growth and eventually killing it.
As a result, whitewashing mixtures contain three parts water and one part interior latex paint. The paint itself prevents insects from crawling up the tree and entering inside through the cracks.
Other whitewashing formulas use hydrated lime with water and salt or kaolin. As a matter of fact, people use kaolin to protect fruits from pests because it can be washed pretty easily before consumption.