The concentration of the glyphosate will be printed on the label, I'm not sure what the color of the cap means for round-up. I usually buy the off brand of glyphosate because it is much cheaper and a lot of times the concentration will be higher. You should still mix it per the label though as I think if the concentration is too high the leaf will be killed before the glyphosate is trans-located to the roots where you want it. Also, it is most effective if sprayed onto the leaves and not the trunk. Many trees and vines can have it sprayed directly onto the trunk without damage, which makes it very useful in orchards and vineyards.

Agree w/ Backyard. If you want the best bang for the buck, buy the generic. Most of the generic stuff is 41% a.i.

The most powerful tree killer I know if is picloram i.e. Tordon. Requires an applicator license to buy the concentrate, but the premixed solution (sold as stump killer) can be purchased by anyone. Even spraying the solution on the bark of a tree will generally kill it. Be advised it does have "carry over" which means it will keep killing any broadleaf plants in the immediate treatment area, for up to a year.

Thanks for the feedback...

Do you any store chain to recommend that sells a "stump killer" or that 41& generic glyphosate product....can I find any at Lowe's, Home depot etc?

Garden centers carry generic glyphosate, sold under all kinds of different names - Eraser, Touchdown, Glystar, etc.

Farm stores carry Tordon stump killer and glyphosate. Around here it's Tractor Supply, and Orscheln.

In my mission to clear my property of bush honeysuckle, I have been making extensive use of the "cut stump treatment."

Below is a link to an outstanding article with the details of herbicide use. Here's the bottom line: you can use the pre-mixed Tordon RTU, a 20% glyphosate concentration, or a 4% Crossbow concentration in diesel fuel. You're much better off using the Crossbow in diesel. Tordon is $120 a gallon, while the glyphosate and Crossbow mixes will net to about $5 a gallon! You use the same amount! And with the Tordon and glyphosate you must paint the stump immediately after cutting. With the Crossbow you can go back several days later.

My method is to mix the Crossbow and diesel in a backpack or garden sprayer, add some red dye to the mix, then spray the stumps. No need to bend over. With this mix you can ever kill the bush or tree by simply applying it to the uncut trunk (basal application).

Good luck. The war on honeysuckle is difficult but important.

Controlling Invasive Species

Marc,

One can buy Tordon RTU stump killer for about $12/quart on sale.

I agree glyphosate is still a lot cheaper, and so if you have a lot of trees to get rid of, is a better value.

Tordon however, is more effective than anything else I've ever used. Even at a very diluted rate to control thistles, it would kill trees if enough of it landed on the bark.

I've successfully killed about 100 large Ailanthus trees (and countless seedlings) on my property with Garlon 3A (Triclopyr), using the "hack and squirt" method with almost no resprouting from the roots. I could only buy it in a large size (2.5 gallons, purchased online) which was expensive, but it more than paid for itself in work hours saved in recutting and/or reapplying a lessor herbicide. I was also very pleased with how little I had to apply and would estimate it only took about 3-4 cups total and about 3-4 hours of my time to kill such a large number of trees spread over a number of acres.

Here is a link that might be useful: hack and squirt

All good recomendations from all.
Anyone know a store to find these products, preferably in upstate New York?
a chain of co-op stores that is easy to find?

thanks

It's worth mentioning, I think, that only the phloem tissue (the inner bark - that brownish layer between the outer bark and the cambium) is capable of carrying material downward to the roots. That is why basal bark applications and the "hack and squirt" method work, ie the herbicide easily enters the phloem tissue.

Painting the entire cut surface of a stump is wasteful, as the sapwood, or xylem, only carries sap upward from the roots, and of course the heartwood is dead tissue that doesn't carry anything anywhere.

I've had great success over the years painting triclopyr on the phloem of freshly cut stumps with a small paintbrush, or by pouring very small amounts with the cap over the same. A little goes a long way. The cheapskate in me gets pleasure from having maximum results from minimal input, and I've never had any nearby plants show damage. I used to use Ammate (ammonium sulfamate, I believe it was) in the old days, if anyone is old enough to remember that stuff. Yellow crystals.

I have a raspberry patch that produces lots of red raspberries and lately I have a problem with invasive berry bushes that produce no berries. I was wondering if you use the tordon or triclopyr if it would kill just the plant that was cut off and had the pesticide brushed on the stump or would it travel through the roots and kill the adjoining plants? also are these products safe to use that closely to a food product and will there be any carry over in that regard?

Kokos, what is going on that you do not just take a chainsaw to the trees you want to kill. With my chainsaw instantly the trees are dead and the area is more or less ready for replacements. Total cost is probably $500 to get a kick but Stihl amd a replacement chain.

This round-up I put on the pesky weed/red twig mess I created will probably need another application to do the job and I STILL need to go clean the dead weeds and red twigs. I used the poison due to the type of vines and suckering red twigs. What ya up to?

Oh, if you just want to kill them and leave them stand for some reason then girdle the treea with the saw.

Franks,

Tordon can travel through the roots of treated plants to roots of untreated plants.

Painting the stumps w/ glyphosate is considerably safer than painting w/ tordon.

Tornado,

Around here, a chainsaw won't kill most trees. They sucker up from the stump, if the stump is untreated.

If the trees are small enough to mow with a shredder/rotary mower, you can kill them that way. A shredder will shatter the stump and for some reason this will discourage suckers from coming up, except for hedge and locust. Those trees have to be sprayed, or the roots will continue to send up suckers.

It seems nothing is what it used to be...nothing. It's not all governmental or environmental issues either. Every single thing seems to be lessened, cheapened up, watered down, de-contented, reduced, made lighter, and or with reduced engineering.
Most of it is in the name of price points and profit maximization. It works now where it did not used to because people have simply become more dumb and purchase a "thing" based on what it is supposed to be and not it's actual content. Wal-Mart has created an empire following this very simple technique.

Yup.