Painting the woody stems of plants may interfere with?

Painting the woody stems interferes with plant processes. Paint is applied as protection from any traveling bacteria, fungus, pest or virus whether or not there actually is an injury. The paint indeed keeps such pests out. But the price is interference with plant processes such as self-healing and respiration. Specifically in terms of respiration, the seal keeps things from getting into the woody, and from getting out. Specifically in terms of injury, woodies have four walls of defense. The seal of the paint prevents the progression through any or all of the stages, and interferes with the formation of a beneficial, natural, protective callous. Additionally, over time, the seal ends up cracking. For the woody and the seal expand and contract at different rates and times in response to weather extremes. Ultimately, the seal breaks and leaves the woody open to attack from environmental stresses and stressors. And the situation is compounded by the stresses that the seal is responsible during the time that it's intact.