Post #454546 by AlohaStation on Sun, May 17, 2009 12:26 PM

That's mold! The only way to get rid of it is to sand it off. The mold comes from when you seal the wood before its dry. There is so much moisture in FL not only in the logs but the air as well, that waiting for a log to dry is a study in patience. Sometimes the mold can actually make a tiki look pretty cool. I've cut dead trees and had buckets of water drain from them. The cracking your getting from the inside is again from the moisture that the log had. The heart of the palm has the most water in it and when you make those deep cuts the water escapes faster - causing the cracks. Wait till you get a log with rot. It will look great on the outside but the inside is soft and stringy. All of these issues with Palm have pushed me over to the hard wood.