ARRRGH!! Bad wood...

[C. Howlett]

A couple of months ago, I picked up about 120 pounds of free fig wood from a tree pruned by a little old lady. A relocation was imminent, so I quickly chunked the wood and stored it in a 45 gallon garbage can.

After a few weeks, I noticed that the wood didn't seem to be drying. I dumped it and poked an extensive pattern of ventilation holes in the garbage can. I also discarded the more obviously infected wood. I don't know what diseases are common to fig, but there was clearly something wrong with the pieces I dumped.

Now, some 3 months later, the wood still doesn't seem to be drying. Worse, the exterior of the fig chunks is covered by green mold! For whatever reason, the cherry wood I also chunked and tossed into the garbage can is NOT moldy.

 

[John Mason]

Drying wood needs a lot of air circulation. Even with holes in it, the garbage can is going to trap a lot of that water.

Best way to dry wood is to stack it two pieces north/south, two on top of that east/west etc. to maximize air flow. Once it's dry it can be stacked as a normal wood stack with all the pieces running the same direction.

In the Great Pacific Northwest, under a roof of some kind is also necessary this time of year.

Probably can be salvaged, but get it out of that garbage can and get it drying pronto.

 

[C. Howlett]

John:

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm always a bit envious of those who have sufficient space to arrange those beautiful stacks of cured wood. Unfortunately, my new rented space is limited and I've already chunked all the wood. I will remove the top from the garbage can. I've poked enough holes that any incoming water should drain right out of the bottom. Perhaps that will allow me to salvage the load. I really would hate to toss it given the work I invested in prepping the wood. Plus, of course, I rather looked forward to experimenting with fig. Guess we'll know in about 6 months.

 

[John Mason]

If you have a garage or carport you could keep it under, that would help.

Or even an eave just to keep rain off.

 

[Andy B]

You might want to try what I've done with some green apple and black cherry wood I've recently acquired. After chunking it up I put it in some burlap bags and hung them from a tree in the back yard. This keeps it off the ground and it gets plenty of air for drying.