Horesetail infestation

[andys]

Hi All,

I have recently been digging over my allotment ready for this years crops and noticed a marked increase in the amount of horsetail roots in the raised beds compared to normal.

Anyone else noticed similar problems ?

I am guessing its down to the amount of rain we had last year. I am currently digging to a spades depth and removing all the roots and tubers but fully expect it to send up new shoots later in the year.

I have read elsewhere that Glyphosate mixed with paraffin is the best way to control horsetail, does anyone know of a better control method other this ?

[Wicky]

I was only reading about this the other day and there is a product called Kurtail that apparently works.

here's a link for you

http://www.progreen.co.uk/marestail/hor ... tAodXhIAng

[Monika]

Andys, we had a horsetail problem at a previous allotment and eventually greatly reduced them by constantly hoeing them out. I don't know whether they came back after we moved, but I understand you could also try crushing each plant as it comes up, then wearing an old pair of woolly gloves over plastic gloves, drench the woolly glove with a glyphosate weedkiller (say, Weedol) and pummel the plant in your hands.

I don't think digging it out, as you are trying to do, is very effective because every bit of root (which are very brittle and therefore you are likely to leave some behind) will grow into a plant.

[andys]

Cheers Wicky and Monika,
Think I will give the horsetail a two pronged attack.
I will hoe off/pull out the summer shoots that are close to my crops and spray Kurtail on the rest of the beggars that appear

I have already dug out a pile of horestail roots, laterals and rhizomes big enough to fill an old dustbin and incinerated them.

Let battle commence !

[Wicky]

Go get 'em Andys

[Gwen]

The considered opinion of folks on our plots is that you just keep pulling it up when ypu see it and eventually it gets down to manageable proportions, without resorting to weedkiller. Dried marestail does have herbal uses, of course. If you dig in March you can find and remove the spore producing member, which has a fat club-like end rather than a pointy bit. Being sneaky and producing spores early is one way in which it can get ahead.
Marestail does grow best when it's wet and there is no competition. Once I had a patch under some Brussels sprouts, and noticed that every morning the marestail fronds were dripping with water, which dropped onto the soil and kept it wet even in dry weather, which was useful. Whether this was condensed dew or whether the plant had pulled up water from below to water itself, I don't know. I see it less of a pest than couch grass. I just keep the quantity of fronds down and don't worry too much!

[Elaine]

Stick with it Andys!
We are fortunate not to have Horsetail or Marestail anywhere on our site but we do have Bindweed. This reared it's ugly head after the severe floods of 2007...we hadn't seen it up until then...at least, not on our plot. It was particularly bad last year and looks like this year is going to be the same...I've found it in the fruit cage this year.
We dig it out but like the dreaded Marestails, the roots are very brittle and you never get the whole lot out, so it's a case of containing it to manageable proportions. It didn't manage to get a stranglehold on anything last year as every time we saw it, it was trowelled out.
Battle indeed! Good luck Andys!

[Spare Chair]

Could maybe consider liming as well, horsetail likes it acidic. Good luck with it.

[Cider Boys]

Horsetail is indeed a difficult weed to control. They say it favours poorly drained land and I had been plagued by it on two of my three allotments. I recently gave up two of my allotments and no doubt you can guess which two I decided to vacate. I would advocated regular dosing with a glyphosate weed-killer and trying to bruise the plant prior to its application. Horsetail (or marestail) has also been a problem to me in pastures and meadows. It is poisonous to stock and I used to rent a twenty acre low lying poorly drained field that I mowed each year for small bale hay for horses. Each year prospective buyers would inspect the field looking for ragwort and horsetail. Unlike other poisonous weeds such as buttercups, horsetail (and ragwort) retains its toxicity when dried and renders the hay dangerous to stock. So we had to spray the field (as horsetail existed) each year to control it. Spraying controlled it for mowing but it would appear again the following year if not sprayed again at the start of each year. We used a spray called Depitox, but I'm not sure if this would be appropriate for vegetable gardens. Anycase, best of luck controlling it, I never managed to eradicate it from my allotments, I hope the new keepers will fair better.