Roundup vs Crossbow vs ?

[DoryGray]

I'm looking to kill some guava by cutting to ground & treating w/ brush killer. There is nothing nearby to be careful of, e.g. grass, food crop. I thought about painting diesel on the stumps, but dangerous & probably illegal. Other suggestions, preferences? Cost is a concern.

[topograph]

Best way we've found is to cut it down leaving about a 3 foot stump, then using a pick to dig it out (you need the stump to remain to use as the fulcrum to get it out). When done, we flipped the stumps upside down for a year before putting them in the mulch pile.

[Carey]

WeiWei (strawberry) or Common?

I only ask because I have no idea on WeiWei & have been fighting a battle with common....
Have had this house for 8yrs, have been battling a common stump & its runners for the full time... the tree had been cut years before we moved but not IMMEDIATELY treated with systemic tree killer (all of our neighbors have said that was needed to be done & some even suggested running systemic on the blade....)

tried cutting the stump shouts & cutting lines into the stump & bark sides...then treated...it regrew....a year later, after neighbors advised, recut the stump while treating w/systemic - that did kill the stump & some of the runners, but some may have had roots broken & still grew...

Every single root runner that spouts now gets painted with systemic (this thing grossed the road, was all into the neighbors yard & ours...some roots sprouted over 150' from the stump!....

After 8 years, we only get a couple of sprouts a year (seemed like a couple a week when we first moved here!)

[peteadams]

Crossbow is triclopyr plus 2,4-D. Triclopyr is a very effective systemic for woody plants. Roundup, while a broad spectrum herbicide, seems most effective on grasses, but may have some effect on woody plants at high concentrations. At the nursery to control guava we use Remedy which is pure triclopyr. Paint or spray stumps and bark immediately after cutting the guava. More concentration is undoubtedly better, but gets expensive when applying the straight product. We usually spray at the usual 1.5-2% dilution for economy, and it's generally pretty effective, but we always expect to revisit looking for any sprouts from the stump or adjacent roots.

[DoryGray]

Strawberry Waiwi. Carey - which systemic? Pete - where do you get Remedy?

[Carey]

Systemic is a poison (well, the term is for good & bad things... anything...) that travels throughout an organisms system...in this case a herbicide...we used a tree & stump killer...ran out, so have no idea which brand... but it was one of the products recommended by the folks at Dells & Garden Exchange...I think that both also carry Remedy...I have seen it in my quests...just have no idea what I used!

[bananahead]

all good info, thanks for sharing... I was going to be killing more waiwi too.

******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[peteadams]

We get Remedy at CPS at the foot of Railroad by Glover's. But that's in about two gallon containers for a lot of money. For smaller quantities I would recommend looking for "triclopyr" in the ingredient list of herbicides at retailers like Garden Exchange or Home Depot. Garden Exchange, in particular, has fairly knowledgeable staff to help out.

[okedokey]

Couldn't find any herbicide with triclopyr at Home Depot this morning. FYI.

[Anxious Messiah]

If time is on your side, use pennies. Since copper nails aren't around much anymore, we just bend or cut older copper pennies in half and "nail" them into the cut trunks. I guess it depends on how much time you have.

!980 or earlier pennies BTW.