Mares Tail

Blimey, Geordie - long time no Vine!

I have no idea about the starch water thing for mare's tail, but wanted to say hi!

Hi there- and welcome back!

Never heard of it myself, but when I did a bit of a search, this post from a while back came up from Raised Beds...
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post113007

Interestingly it's nothing to do whatever with your post...but the two plants certainly seem to interact in another way!

Our allotment site suffers flooding, and with last summer being especially bad we decided to dig land drains ending with a pipe into the river. The final sump was 8 foot deep and we finished it today. There were mares tail roots near the surface and eight foot down at bedrock there were mares tail roots, so good luck to those trying to dig it all out. I had read in books about the stuff but actually seeing for myself was proof, you got to admire a plant that's been around for hundreds of millions of years - and you think your going to get rid of it? Dream on. My first encounter with the stuff was on moving to Southampton in 2000, drove me f****** mad, now being bald, just a few grey hairs, I live with it. It does have uses and that fact alone makes it a little bit less then a nightmare.

Do we mean horsetail by any chance? Mare's tail is an aquatic plant, horsetail is a prehistoric weed.

I've also heard that vinegar is good against it, but I haven't tried it yet. Probably should try both because it's absolutely prolific this year, despite lots of hoeing

Now that sets up a little challenge,potato water sounds fine,but,is vinegar a bit to acidy,as in,will it harm the soil,in lots of places down the lottie,its like a lawn this year,plus it was hand dug,not rotavated,when we get dry time again ,i will try some of each on the spare ground next to our fence,and tie a label to said fence our side,as a reminder of what is where,seems it's extra bad all aver england this year,

Mares tail, Horsetail, I think we mean Equisetum arvense, it is known by many names - some with only four letters.
Mares tail is also a type of cloud, so if you really want to be pedantic we should use its latin name and avoid any confusion, but any gardener will know what your talking about whether you call it horse or mares tail, and if you include weed in the sentence.

My plot has horsetail plants everywhere. It ruined 3/4 of my plot, only the beans and peas bed is under control. I don't know what to do. My allotment only opens 2 hours a day Monday to Friday, so I can only go at the weekends and no matter how hard I work, etc. they keep coming back. I don't know what else to do or what to grow now.

How on earth do they expect people to keep their plots cultivated?

I knew before I joined, but before I worked mainly nights, so I did not mind. The allotments are only open in the afternoon because they are sharing space with grounds shared by two schools. They are open from 3,15pm until 5pm. At the weekends they are open from 1pm to 6pm because they do other activities and events, such concerts, birthdays, etc.

I had horsetail in the allotment I took over. I used this stuff:

Kurtail 0.5ltr for total control of horsetail / mares tail - Weed killers - Total Weed Killers - Kurtail 0.5LT - Progreen Weed Control Solutions, suppliers of weed killers, fertilisers, moss & algae control, application equipment and more

It is expensive but fantastic. Any horsetail that has come back is very spindly and looks pretty pathetic so is easy to control.

I have a mate who is an ecotoxicologist, i.e. he studies the effect of things like weedkillers on the environment. I asked him to look into this product to ensure it was safe, and he confirmed that was the case.

He said: "rather than poisoning the plant like a glyphosate based weedkiller, Kurtail contains glufosinate ammonium which works by inhibiting the plant's ability to photosynthesise (which simply put, is the process in the plant's leaves that converts energy in sunlight to food energy, enabling it to grow). If the plant can't photosynthesise it shrivels up and dies. It should destroy all weeds with leaves, but I wouldn't use it on weeds with seeds such as chickweed, fat hen etc as the plant will dry up, and you'll undoubtedly scatter seed everywhere when you pull it up, which may still be viable. It will be safe to use around trees as it is not taken up in the roots, it is only absorbed by leaves, so if you decide to use it to clear round any tree roots, don't spray on a windy day so it gets on foliage. It is neutralised on contact with soil, excreted by mammals and there is minimal effect on aquatic life in the recommended dilution."

He also said in theory it is safe to turn in dead weeds, but I decided not to, especially with the horsetail.

Hope this is useful.

This chemical is classified as - Toxic to reproduction - but being 65 I don't worry about such things.
But I always worry when someone says - In Theory.

Horsetail or marsetail is a nightmare weed. Do not pull or dig out as you will break roots up and encourage new growth. Definitely use a chemical treatment. I used a product called broadshot and it did a great job, its also safe to use in grass! Broadshot 1L

Interesting Ramsey. I've asked my ecotoxicologist pal for his opinion on the active ingresients and will post once he replies.

Unless you're of the no weedkiller group... in which case growing tall crops, or rapid growing crops such as squash etc which shade it out (with it having almost no leaves hates competition) to help keep it under control.

I have half a plot with it really bad on, I've dug down a meter and still found the roots - I pull it whenever I see it, and now aim to have my ground covered (with crops) pretty much all year round. If it can't photosynthesis (ala that weedkiller above, which sounds horrible - but, then again that's my own opinion) it can't survive.

Doing it this way, as I've read about on here and elsewhere - I'm winning. The plot next to me, who sprays still has it coming up - when it's coming up on my plot, it's very weak and easy to pull out.
Just my two pence, but I'd say definitely do not use a chemical treatment if you value wildlife.