Preventing Sweetgum fruit

[jvpspfdmo]

A neighbor asked me about something he heard- You can use Sulfur to prevent or diminish fruitset on sweetgum. I imagine it either affects soil pH, or prevents utilization of a nutrient in the flower. Either way it would have to disrupt flowering or fruitset.

has anyone heard of this?

Would the sulfur be applied to the soil, or injected in to the basal roots?

What are the potential hazards/damge to tree?

I have thoughts on all of these, but would be very interested in hearing any others.

As of this writing, in Springfield, MO., there is no obvious budswell, but it is coming quick.

thanks,

 

[tomthetreeman]

There is a product called Florel that is a fruit inhibitor/eliminator. There was a thread on here about it last year, in fact it was me asking about it. Never did get the chance to try it out, the tree in question wound up being removed. Attached is the label/MSDS.

Sulfur is not the active ingredient in this product, but I figured this was relevant enough.


-Tom

 

[jvpspfdmo]

Florel is a foliar spray. These trees are 40' plus. If I can employ a control measure from ground level, and very inexpensively, that's what I would like to try.

I am inclined to experiment, as I have used Ammonium Sulfate to try to lower pH around acid loving shrubs. I do not want to damage these trees.

I am not sure even where to start, and how agressively...

thanks for your reply.

 

[TreeJunkie]

i've never heard of such product....Besides florel and snipper(& any other generics) I do not know of any other products...Wish there was bc we could make a fortune if they were available...

That being said florel and snipper are both total crap! Inconsistent results to say the least and florel is about as nasty of a product you can imagine......from what my competetition says it apparently requires the applicator to buy automotive paint jobs and even paint houses....