Systemic Sterilizers?

[FBerkel]

Anybody know of any? The desired method of application would be soil injection. The specific application would be a cottonwood; one of the homeowners is threatening to have me remove it if we can't eliminate the 10 inches of "snowfall" every spring (and we just pruned it in July.

Thanks,

 

[ORclimber]

I've never used any but have you looked into the "got balls in your sweatgum" stuff that is often advertised in the tree care magazines. I think it's called florel.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Florel is a topical spray that interupts flower chemistry.

I looked at the lable on Monterey Chem's website and it lists "cottonweed" in the lable. I left a msg asking if this is a typo.

Looking at usage rates it looks like you use 7oz/gal of water in your tank mix, or 5.5/100.


(Dwarf mistletoe is 8oz/gal,leafy mistletoe is 16oz/gal)

So ballparking the application at 25 gal the chemical cost is around 80/app guessing at shipping cost.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Just got an MSG back from MontyChem and it is a typo. Cottonwood is on the lable, though sometimes I do think it is a weed.

 

[Treeman14]

Also note that Florel is to be used only on "healthy" trees, whatever that means. I assume its a form of CYA in case the tree dies after treatment.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

For those who have not tried florel, the timing is critical and efficacy is hit or miss at best.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

To add to Mikes caveat, as with all these agents, they are realy crop thinners, not eliminators. On small trees you can get a high percentage of control, but larger ones are problematic.

I've read that NAA will shrivle honeylocust seed pods...

 

[treeist]

I like florel, but I hate to commit to spraying trees to reduce fruit or snow from cottonwoods. The timing is so critical, get lazy and lose a customer because the florel was applied at the wrong time or it rained too often to spray on schedule

 

[FBerkel]

These customers don't wnat to spray, so it looks like the tree comes down in a week or two. A shame; we just did a very thorough pruning this summer, but the wife hates the cotton, so...

 

[treeist]

Hey Fred Florel is totally natural not harmfull at all. Wouldnt recommend drinking it strait out of the bottle though.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Comments like that could get one in trouble with the law.

the lable reads CAUTION

it is acidic, can cause mucosal damage. Ey and skin irritant. pH of 2.58

Never say a pruduct is safe. You do not know how the product will interact with children exposed.

Read the label, it is the law.

Always wear protective clothes......

Per MSDS it's effect on birds fish and reptiles is unknown....