GumBall trees

[Ned]

Can I use sterilization to stop the tree from producing the balls?/If so how?

 

[paulie1972]

umm...what is a gumball tree? do you have any pics or a scientific name?

 

[Redbull]

I assume it's a Sweetgum they're refering to. There is a product that has been brought up on this site, but I can't remember the name of it. Try searching Sweetgum using the search function.

 

[Elmore]

Can I use sterilization to stop the tree from producing the balls?/If so how?

A liberal application of bar & chain oil to the base of the trunk works well for me and mine.

 

[helpmytrees]

There is/are product(s) that can be used with minimal or inconsistant success. Only one I believe is available to consumers called Florel which has the active ingredient Ethephon which is a hormone. I have heard that this acidic treatment can cause damage to paint on houses and cars although I have not had these problems. I do get very inconstant results with this product due to the fact that all trees have different micro-climates, and I have even seen part of Sweetgum with the male and female flowers out and the other part has not flowered yet. this makes it difficult to get a consistant application.

There is one other injection method that would have to be administered by a certified applicator who had access to these products.

And I have personally experimented with another product and injection method that got about 80-90% reduction in fruit on about 10 trees this season. Very promising I think.

Only other thought is that all of these treatments are annual. You should really consider the cost of annual treatment to the actual value of the tree to the property it is on!

 

[Elmore]

SWEETGUM WAS FIRST mentioned in the annals of Don Bernal Diaz del Castillo who accompanied Cortez in 1519 on the conquest of Mexico.

A witness of the ceremonies between Cortez and Montezuma recorded that "after he had dined, the presented to him (Cortez) three little canes, highly ornamented, containing liquid amber, mixed with an herb they call tobacco, and when he had sufficiently viewed and heard the singers, dancers, and buffoons, he took a little of the smoke of one of the canes."

 

[LightningLoader]

sweetgums ok?

I had been wondering what those trees were called. Used to see them in S. Georgia. Would they grow ok in central FL? Would they become invasive?