We’ve seen some pretty cool debates concerning the usage of copper as a way to ameliorate deficiencies in plants and, in a few cases, for killing tree stumps, all on social media.
Unfortunately, we don’t know enough about the impact of nails on tree stumps, but if you know what plants need and what copper gives the bearing plant, you can make a reasonable conclusion.
So yes, copper nails can kill tree stumps, in large amounts. Let me explain.
Basics Of Copper For Plant Health
Copper is an important element for plant growth and development.
It helps plants metabolize carbohydrates and proteins.
More than that, copper enhances flower color and improves the color and flavor of vegetables.
You can see that a plant is deficient in copper, by noticing the yellowing of the leaves. However, copper is needed in small amounts.
That’s why the copper naturally found in soil is usually enough for plants, an excess of copper will poison plants.
How Do Copper Nails Compromise A Plant?
There’s a theory out there about copper nails slowly killing tree stumps.
The foundation of this theory is that copper nails will damage the transport network of the plant, which damages nutrient transportation and will ultimately stop growth and lead to death.
Coper nails will harm trees.
If the nail is long enough to pierce the xylem and phloem of the plant, then it is very possible to injure the plant.
The xylem is the transportation tissue in plants, responsible for transporting water from the roots to the leaves and shoots.
The phloem transports nutrients from the plants leaves and shoots to the roots.
When the nails pierce the xylem, they will obstruct the plant’s ability to deliver water and nutrients.
This means there would be essentially no nutrients for any growth for the top half of the tree, and would die as a result.
Just keep in mind: the transport tissue will to allow water to be transported to the shoots and nutrients from the leaves to the roots. So when the nail obstructs the path, the shoots and leaves do not get water, and the roots do not get nutrients. The damage can extend up to five meters in either direction.
However, a copper nail will only have this effect on your tree, if you are putting a long nail in a young plant.
Old trees are able to make compatible changes around the copper nail and continue to grow, even if the copper nail is surrounding their roots.
Copper Poisoning
Copper poisoning happens when a plant has too much copper in its system.
Some of the common signs of copper poisoning include excessive wilting and growth stunting, pale leaves and stunted roots, resulting in the plant dying.
The most common source of copper poisoning in plants is over usage of copper-based fungicides, industrial processes including mining can cause copper poisoning as well.
Copper damages the plant by causing oxidation destruction to the plant’s cells. In addition, excess copper in the plant antagonizes other nutrients.
Consequently, if your tree is suffering from copper toxicity, it may have difficulty saturating nutrients like:
- iron
- zinc
- magnesium
- molybdenum
If there is excess copper, it may replace magnesium as well.
Magnesium is an important nutrient in photosynthesis.
It is a necessary nutrient in chlorophyll, meaning less green matter for the tree to make food.
The introduction of nails means introducing copper metal – these nails undergo oxidation and introduce harmful toxin output in the tree’s body.
Copper poisoning will only occur when you drill many nails into the tree stump.
Otherwise, the tree, being a tree, isn’t going to have any issues dealing with 1 or 2 nails on it’s back.
Copper Nails On Plant Roots
The roots of the plant hold the plant in the soil.
However, the roots also have protective membranes that prevent pests and pathogens from getting to the tree.
If you drive a nail into the root of the plant, you puncture the membrane and expose the plant to multiple harmful things.
The pathogens and pests can stunt the growth of the plant or even kill the cells in the plant.
In addition – The copper burns off the ends of the roots. This causes an unnecessary amount of lateral growth of the root system.
The roots end up being short, fat, and look like barbed wire.
So, if the trees you have are in need of nutrients that are deep down inside the ground, they won’t be able to get them so you have stunted growth.
So, Do Copper Nails Kill Tree Stumps?
If you’re wondering above if a single nail is going to affect tree growth, then no!
Most trees might even use the copper that is introduced to improve the color of their leaves and flowers.
Therefore, for one single copper nail to kill tree stumps is quite an exaggerated statement.
Considering the entire tree growing with copper nails, you would need a good quantity of long copper nails in order to do any meaningful impact to your tree growth.
This can be upwards of 20-30 nails in some instances.
Also keep in mind the size of the plant also affects it growing with copper nails.
A gigantic 50-year-old tree is probably going to take a little bit more than just one copper nail.
Although if you used the same nail on a small, young plant you could likely cause significant lower damage (which is continued damage to the growth features of the plant).
Keep In Mind – If you want to poison a tree with copper nails, and have any legitimate success, you will need to hammer in all of the nails at the same time. This way you are guaranteed to achieve high levels of copper present in your tree, and enough for poisoning in order to stunt the growth and finish the plant.
Bottom line
Plants need copper as a micronutrient.
Copper nails pounded into trees will give the tree copper. So, these nails may help stimulate the plant’s growth to some extent.
But a lot of nails may lead to copper poisoning, puncture xylem and phloem growth and transportation cells, and slow down the root growth.
The nails would also slow down the pathway governing transportation, and the oxidation of the copper nails will release toxins and affect the plants in a negative way.
With the combination of all of these effects, it’s reasonable to say that many copper nails may kill your tree stump.
This process is probably not going to be as fast as using poisons on your tree. Although, eventually, you start to notice the leaves change colors.
If you were to block the xylem and phloem, you are now cutting off water and nutrients to some areas of the plants and is analogues to slow death.