I have a rather small maple tree that froze and thawed to quickly last spring. Its in front of my barn on the east side, and I think the quick freeze and thaw split the tree. Anyway most of the tree has healed but the worst part. It has a jelly like supstance in the wound. I keep cleaning it out and spraying with a combination spray. What is that jelly stuff? We are going into winter now and I am afraid the tree won't heal enought to make through the cold in Pa. I have also sprayed with a pruning sealer. Anything else I can do?

Sorry for the delay in answering.

The jelly-like substance is probably either a fungus or perhaps a slime-mold. There are certain types of fungus that produce a stiff jelly-like growth on the surface of exposed dead wood. These are usually not a serious threat to live trees.

Slime molds form on wet areas where there is exudation of fluids from the tree, often in the form of a fermented liquid caused by bacterial infection. Again, this is not usually considered as a serious threat.

Applying treatments on the surface of the wood will probably have little effect, since in both cases the infection is inside the wood and can’t be reached by any surface treatment. Applying wound dressing or paint also will not really help, as the infections have already invaded, and the paints don’t really prevent infection in the first place.

If the tree is still young it will eventually close over the old crack, sealing itself. Over time the internal infection will be compartmentalized and sealed off. The health of the tree in the long term should not be affected very much.

Having said all that, it may still be a good idea to have the tree inspected by a qualified ISA Certified Arborist. International Society of Arboriculture