Is it OK to Compost Mares Tail Tops

[Fred Perry]

I put all parenial weeds and roots into a onion bag and suspend in water tank for 3 months then on to compost heap so that the water kills roots and nutriants go into the water.
Grandad used to dry them out and use as fuel for lotty burner.
All the best to all
Fred Perry xxxx

[Polly Fouracre]

I read somewhere,years ago that mares tail could be used as a spray for potato blight. Has anyone else heard of this. I've never tried it though.

[lovebirdbirds]

Mares tail is the biggest pain of a weed going. It will find it's way through anything even came up through our driveway which then need to be dug up and re-laid. The problem mares tail we had coming up between the house and the canal we have almost eradicated.

I hate weedkillers even the ones they say are safe but on this occasion we did use weedkiller (strongest one we could find!) left it until it looked dead, then we cleared it and then spent another couple of years pulling them up gently to ensure we got the whole thing. If any of the bits break off they seed themselves and then start growing again. Fingers crossed 9yrs on they have virtually gone now and for the last three years been growing tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, parsnips and cucumbers.

Good Luck and happy weeding!!

[snohare]

They supposedly contain good stuff! I have even heard of them being used in some kind of tonic for hair/nail strength, but I've never tried it!

I believe they are rich in silicone, which makes them good as pot scourers (that was a bad Victorian idea, eh ! ) They are almost inevitably high in nitrogen as well, like all fast growing evil b******rs.
Don't know about using them as veggie "tea" - as long as they are well dead, I don't see why not, I do it with dockens and so on - but why don't you try using a flame gun on them ? I used a big paraffin one on cloudberry bushes, which have roots that go 15 feet deep and 30 feet sideways (or the other way around, I didn't care as I wasn't going to dig ) and that stopped 'em dead in their tracks. Heat seems to shock the whole plant. I don't know if a twee wee gas gun would work though - maybe a blowlamp ?
Funny to think, when the dinosaurs were around, these things were 90 feet tall and formed huge forests. Then bacteria that could eat lignin evolved, so they died and made fossil fuels. Who is having the last laugh now....?