Stump killer?

[kyle1!]

Bringing this back up. I have a couple of dogwood shrub rows that have been infested with silver maple, mulberry and junk elm. I plan to cut all this down and apply tordon to the fresh cuts. These shrub rows are close to some pines, crabapple and other small trees I would like to keep alive. As long as I don't slop tordon every where the other trees should be ok? They are 6 to 10ft away from the shrub row.

 

[Bill G]

There are many that believe the Picloram will translocate through the roots. I love Tordon but I use other methods when there is something nearby to save.

 

[pdqdl]

That sums it up pretty well. Tordon RTU is safe, in my opinion, for cut stump treatments near other trees. Get one of these, and just daub it onto each stump you cut. If you don't sling it around excessively, it will not generally affect nearby plants.



Alternative herbicides would be Glyphosate (Roundup), & Triclopyr. There are lots and lots of commercial preparations for stump treatment, but they mostly rely on the 3 herbicides mentioned here.

You should get a strong marker dye rated for herbicide use if you are going to mix up your own stump treatment. Tordon RTU is the only stump treatment on the market with marker dye included in the batch.

by the way: the generic herbicide for Tordon is picloram, triclopyr is the generic herbicide found in many lawn and garden products. Glyphosate is the generic herbicide found in Roundup.
Tordon RTU is a mixture of picloram, 2,4-D, and perhaps surfactant as well as the marker dye. Should you come across it, Tordon 22K is okay to use, but needs severe dilution prior to using it on your stumps, as it is a concentrate only suitable for spraying larger areas. It does not contain 2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), and it is a restricted use herbicide.

 

[pdqdl]

Can it just be spread on the top of the stump and if so how much of the stump should be covered

The only parts of a freshly cut stump that should be treated would be the outer ring of living tissue (under the bark) called the cambium layer. When using Tordon RTU, if it is blue, it had just been adequately treated.

and at what ratio should it be mixed at or use it full strength? Thanks for any help

This is one of the joys of using Tordon RTU. It is already premixed. The "RTU" stands for Ready To Use. Furthermore, it safely stores for many years, although it might be considered poor form to let it freeze.

 

[pdqdl]

... if 22K and look back as they will be dead with zero regrowth and in some cases kill the surrounding ones. Those who push glyphosate mean well but are not killing stumps, they are stunting the growth. It is simple science

This is not especially good advice, not that the OP need be concerned. Tordon 22K cannot be purchased unless the buyer has a pesticide applicator's license. Furthermore, it requires dilution, and does not contain marker dye, nor does it have any 2,4-D in it.

Glyphosate does in fact kill stumps, and it is labeled to do so legally. That being said, I don't think it is nearly as effective as Tordon RTU, which is somewhat considered the standard of the industry.

 

[pdqdl]

Bore several holes, and dump copper sulphate into each home. Walk away.

Copper sulfate is truly destructive to plants, but you will only kill the stump parts that are exposed. A tree like crabapple is likely to grow sprouts quite some distance from the treated area.

Furthermore, that's a bunch of work, considering that the results are not predictably better than other, easier to use methods.

Just put that Copper sulphate down your septic lines. Once a month keeps the roots away.

 

[iowa_jim]

This is not especially good advice, not that the OP need be concerned. Tordon 22K cannot be purchased unless the buyer has a pesticide applicator's license. Furthermore, it requires dilution, and does not contain marker dye, nor does it have any 2,4-D in it

I looked it up, and Tordon 22k is an RUP or restricted use pesticide and can only be purchased and applied by licensed individuals, and the RTU variety is not.

 

[pdqdl]

What!? You doubted me?

 

[kyle1!]

The largest stem are around 4inches so not very large. I have concentrated Glyphosate and Tordon RTU at my disposal. The Tordon worked great in my ditch where I have trees starting to grow. I will use the Glyphosate first and see what that does. I will add some dye to it so I know when it has been applied.

 

[snobdds]

Here's my stump killer...

 

[freeasaburt]

Less of a waste that all the chemicals touted today.
Only a waste if it didn't work and was more costly than whatever else was available.
This is what my Grandmother already knew around 1953.

"Cultured Buttermilk ~ Natural cultured buttermilk is also a good source of nitrogen, and it contains probiotics that will help digest the stump. It’s much slower than other nitrogen sources, and you’ll need to dump a bit more buttermilk on the stump every week or two in order to encourage breakdown."

https://practicalselfreliance.com/natural-tree-stump-removal/

I didn't test it myself, but reportedly another substance that's quite good at speeding up the rotting process is potassium nitrate a.k.a. saltpeter (yup, the black powder ingredient).

From wikipedia: "After an average of 4–6 weeks, the stump will be rotten through and easily fragmented in manageable pieces. If time is a limiting factor, setting fire to the stump is effective because once the potassium nitrate has been absorbed it acts as an effective oxidizer."

edit: I noticed just now that your link already mentions potassium nitrate, sorry.

 

[pdqdl]

I've done no research, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that buying saltpeter will get you a visit with someone from homeland security.

 

[uniballer]

Perhaps there is a climate where KNO3 works great on stumps, but my experience is that it kills any fungus that would be rotting the stump, and leaves hard stump wood for a long time. I started with greenhouse grade potassium nitrate, so maybe it was too pure, or something.

 

[rngrchad]

I didn’t read this whole thread, so I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned yet, but I purchased a product called eraser and sprayed a wooded lot with it and it killed trees up to 10 inches in diameter. It took about a year for them to completely rot, but after a year of after year from sprain, you could walk and push 10 inch diameter trees down in the woods it was kinda scary how well it worked

 

[freeasaburt]

I've done no research, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that buying saltpeter will get you a visit with someone from homeland security.

If you try to buy it here in Belgium, in some cases you have to provide a reason/justification why. I actually wanted to test the stump thing but they were sold out at that moment and I didn't try again yet.
No idea about the US, I just looked up 'black powder' on youtube and there's quite a lot of people, mainly Americans, explaining how to make it there (I'm sure that search query made my youtube profile a bit more colorful )... Risky business, I'd say. But that would mean they can procure KNO3, unless they produce/purify it themselves somehow.

 

[capetrees]

The largest stem are around 4inches so not very large. I have concentrated Glyphosate and Tordon RTU at my disposal. The Tordon worked great in my ditch where I have trees starting to grow. I will use the Glyphosate first and see what that does. I will add some dye to it so I know when it has been applied.

Start slow. The Glyphosate will work but works slowly. Tordon works faster and goes into co-mingled roots of other plants where glyphosate not so much. It will a little but not like Tordon.

 

[ZinTrees]

everyone is so quick to dump chemicals all over their property, rent a stump grinder and grind the stumps down 8-10 inches below the dirt, it wont come back...
and you wont get cancer from it

 

[lone wolf]

everyone is so quick to dump chemicals all over their property, rent a stump grinder and grind the stumps down 8-10 inches below the dirt, it wont come back...
and you wont get cancer from it

Rock salt, dump it right on it! Never mind toxic cancer causing agents!

 

[ZinTrees]

Rock salt, dump it right on it! Never mind toxic cancer causing agents!

ive heard that works too but never tried it
my stump killer is a 500i and a vermeer sc292

 

[Woody912]

everyone is so quick to dump chemicals all over their property, rent a stump grinder and grind the stumps down 8-10 inches below the dirt, it wont come back...
and you wont get cancer from it

stump grinders and fence are not compatible