# sprouting sweet gum stumps



## dannyray (Sep 5, 2007)

Ive got a couple recent clear cut areas and my wife tells me the sweetgum stumps are sprouting back out (which I assumed they would).  I will not be back in the U.S. until November.  Is that too late to do a hack and squirt on these stumps?  I will only be home for about 30 days in November before having to come back to the big sandbox, but plan to be home again next summer for awhile.  What would be my best longterm plan to kill these sweetgums sprouting from stumps, considering I will only be there to attack them for the month of November and then again next summer?  I figure a two pronged attack of hack and squirt in the fall and then spray the leaves in the summer???  But wasnt sure if November was too late for the hack and squirt procedure?


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## seaweaver (Sep 5, 2007)

If you can get your bride to get mad at them like mine did, she can do it! She took her cordless drill and drilled, and poisoned all the stumps and roots. She was the second wave. Your plan is the basic plan we are following.
cw


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## gadeerwoman (Sep 5, 2007)

November is an ideal time to hack and squirt ! I just did 1/2 acre on Monday. You can get a good kill back with Hack and squirt anytime of the year except spring and early-mid summer. From late summer thru winter, grab a hatchet or machete and go get em. Not sure what you are using but if you are using arsenal you won't need a second hacking . That stuff kills em 'dead fred dead' in one treatment. For trees less than 5 inches in diameter, I even make only 1 cut. Larger than 5 inches diameter and I'll use 2-3 cuts. I've been simply using a drinking straw and dropping about 3/4-1 inch draw in each cut. You won't want to try to treat them during the summer when sap is up.


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## dannyray (Sep 5, 2007)

Gadeerwoman where can I get Arsenal.  That definitley sounds like a plan.  I am happy to know that it can be done in November as I will have limited time and REALLY want to get them under control.  Kill the sweetgum and let the browse and Oaks and Hickorys and other good stuff come on.  Giant weeds is what the sweetgum remind me of.  Is Arsenal easily obtained?


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## GAGE (Sep 5, 2007)

Sandra, do you think straight undilluted Kilz All, will knock them out if I go a little heavier on the dose?


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## gadeerwoman (Sep 5, 2007)

Most forestry supply places will have arsenal. But a word of warning...this is some SERIOUS herbicide. Don't use it on trees that are near trees you don't want to kill. It can travel thru soil and entwined roots. And it's not cheap: about $150 for a quart but I guarantee it will kill sweetgums and a quart will kill a lot of trees. So will Garlon. Garlon can be used as a foliage spray or basil treatment (sprayed on the trunk) and isn't as soil active as Arsenal but both are some serious stuff. 41% glyphosate (killzall or roundup) will kill them but it may take several treatments to get the job done. When using glyphosate, I like to spray the foliate in late spring/early summer after leaf out and then come back with hack and squirt in fall. Glyphosate does not contaminate the soil but works better when it's sprayed on foliate. All can be bought without a license but use them carefully and follow the directions. Arsenal is what the timber companys usually spray over cutovers to get rid of all the hardwoods in young pine stands.


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## SakoL61R (Sep 5, 2007)

Sandra, 
I was given some Tordon to use on my sweetgums.
http://www.dowagro.com/usag/prod/051.htm
Any experience with it?
Thanks


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## dannyray (Sep 6, 2007)

Very good information all.  Thanks much.

With the Arsenal drinking straw method, thats straight Arsenal correct?  No cutting it with water or anything else?


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## gadeerwoman (Sep 7, 2007)

I don't cut mine with water. I want em dead quick. You can cut it with water and it will still kill em, just not as quickly. I can promise you my sweetgums won't send up any more shoots from the roots after a treatment. I haven't used tordon before. Heard it will do the trick but just never gotten hold of any.


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## dannyray (Oct 23, 2007)

Gadeerwoman,

OK just about done over here in the big sand pit and on my way home to Georgia next week.  Looking forward to attacking those sweetgum stumps.  Have found Arsenal for $178 per quart and Garlon 3A for $232 per 2.5 gallons from Forestry Supply Inc.  They say Garlon 3A can be used on cut stumps.  Thinking about going with the Garlon 3A and using your straw method, but increasing the amount by 2 or 3 times.  Do you think that will work?


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## rex upshaw (Oct 23, 2007)

gadeerwoman said:


> I don't cut mine with water. I want em dead quick. You can cut it with water and it will still kill em, just not as quickly. I can promise you my sweetgums won't send up any more shoots from the roots after a treatment. I haven't used tordon before. Heard it will do the trick but just never gotten hold of any.




how fast does it kill them when you don't dillute the arsenal and what is the kill time when you do?  i am planning on knocking out some scrub oaks.


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## spencer12 (Dec 27, 2017)

I know this is an old thread, but I'm battling sweetgums in one area of my farm now as well.


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## Forest Grump (Dec 27, 2017)

*How do you guys find these ancient threads, instead of later ones?*



spencer12 said:


> I know this is an old thread, but I'm battling sweetgums in one area of my farm now as well.



Triclopyr ester (Remedy ultra, Garlon 4, etc...) is your huckleberry. Mix 1 part to three parts diesel, spray anytime of year, including dormant season, to kill trees < 6" diameter. No hack/slash required, just lightly paint all sides of the stem 12-16" high down to the root collar. No soil residual like arsenal or Tordon. Will volatilize short distances in warm weather, so dormant season spraying is better (& easier, less briars & brush to fight, no snakes, no sweating, no chiggers or ticks). 

Use a high quality sprayer with Viton seals; if you can rig it with a no drip tip it will save on chemicals.

If you have a large acreage, hire a forestry contractor to spray it with chemicals (Arsenal, escort, combos); depends on your ultimate goal. If you wish to grow pines & have > 10% basal area in hardwood competition, it will pay you to spray. If you have mostly sweetgums, elms & ash: kill it. If your browse is more diverse, with dogwood, forbs, honeysuckle, etc... recognize that a broadleaf herbicide with a soil residual will affect your regrowth for a long period.


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## SakoL61R (Dec 27, 2017)

spencer12 said:


> I know this is an old thread, but I'm battling sweetgums in one area of my farm now as well.



You can see where I asked about Tordon way back when.  Been using it ever since.  Works great for hack n squirt or drill n squirt.  I use the RTU type (ready to use).  Comes in a quart from my local farm supply and runs about $20.  
Kills’em dead with one treatment and doesn’t take much.


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## treemanjohn (Dec 27, 2017)

Hack and squirt is a very effective way to control undesirable trees. It depends on how many you have to kill. My personal favorite is RM43 which had glyphosate and imazapyr (the active ingredient in Arsenal). Imazapyr can be nasty stuff. If you spray it on the ground it will kill everything and nothing will grow back for around 6 months. It's soil active unlike Glyphosate. You also MUST wear eye and hand protection.

I can't stress enough the value of using a spray colorant like Lazer. You'll know exactly how much you spray and which trees have been treated. I prefer a 32oz spray bottle no need to over do anything


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## treemanjohn (Dec 27, 2017)

Also, if you're doing a stump treatment on fresh cut trees spray the stump immediately. Do not wait. If you wait or want to treat a stump previously cut. Just cut an inch or so off the healed stump and spray.


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## doomtrpr_z71 (Dec 28, 2017)

Triclopyr would be my preference, you can get it in quart bottles as brush b gone or Bayer brush killer, just don't dilute it. Rm43 could be used but it's expensive for such a weak formulation of imazapyr.


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## eagleron (Jan 6, 2018)

I have used Polaris with great results. Will kill a full grown tree by cutting a ring around it and then spraying the cut. If you cut a tree down and don't want new growth to come back spray as soon as you cut it so it will absorb it and it will not come back. Polaris is costly, but you can buy "Martin's" TVC, Total Vegetation Control for $82.00 at your local co-op and does the same. Will work on bushes, trees, as long as you make a fresh cut in it and then spray in cut.


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