This is more or less about tomato stakes so I am posting this on the main tomato forum.
Some time ago someone here said they had oak stakes at tractor supply so I thought I would go down and see what they had.
The information at the stand said they won’t rot; well this is sort of true but no completely.
I looked and they had red oak and some what might be white oak, the thing is not all oak is alike some rots very fast and others not so fast.
White oak is one of the best of the oak woods for rot resistance and red oak is just the opposite.
Once white oak is brought down to about 5% moisture or less it will not take in any more moisture, red oak will.
So if any of you guys bought this stuff or use wood stakes you can easily prevent the wood from rotting so fast by soaking it in 1 part turpentine and 1 part pure Tung oil.
The only place I can find real pure Tung oil is a place on line call Real Milk paint company, Link
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...4AKr8nCP9aaVtQ
Don’t worry about the stuff harming your plants after the turpentine dries the Tung oil that is left behind is food safe so no worries about poisoning your self.
After you put the first coat on and let it dry you can use the Tung oil by its self from then on.
Just treat the wood real well every year with a few coats of Tung oil and wood should last for years to come.
This stuff is what I put on my gun stocks and furniture, the water just runs off and it’s much easier to repair a scratch than the cheap #$%^ stuff with poly you’re a something in it.
Worth