getting rid of horsetail

[jeremy....@virgin.net]

Can anybody advise me about getting rid or horsetail from my allotment ?
I've tried weed killers and also mulching with black plastic sheeting but
to no avail.

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[Pete >-M->]

>Can anybody advise me about getting rid or horsetail from my allotment ?
>I've tried weed killers and also mulching with black plastic sheeting but
>to no avail.

Glyphosate will work eventually if you bruise the stems first and just
persevere.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Marrow

e_mail: P.Ma...@bgs.ac.uk
work: http://www.gsrg.nmh.ac.uk/
play: http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/scottish_ff_faq.htm

[John & Melinda Sheridan]

maxon wrote:
>
> jeremy....@virgin.net wrote in article
> <8678686...@dejanews.com>...

> > Can anybody advise me about getting rid or horsetail from my allotment ?
> > I've tried weed killers and also mulching with black plastic sheeting but
> > to no avail.
> >

> This question was asked about two months ago and the general (though small)
> consensus was that there is nothing you can do to get rid of them except
> pull the buggers up and deprive them of their food source (see John
> Sheriden's answer of 15/6/97). What I want to know though, given their
> considerable regenerative properties, is is it safe to put them in the
> compost? Jen

That is a really good question. I try to avoid all chemicals if
possible in my work. Everything I remove from my various gardens, goes
into compsot and then back where it came from. I use a very simple
method for composting, I mound everything up in a big heap. I always
have two heaps, one that is waiting to go out, and one that is being
built. I generally put the material out twice a year, at no specific
time, just when it looks and feels ready. I do not need my compost to
be reduced completely to soil, because I use it more as a mulch than as
a soil amendment. Here is where the problem with horestails comes in.
I don't worry about the the green bits, but anything that looks as
though it might have even the slightest bit of root/rhizome attached,
gets left on the surface of the ground to completely die. I also do the
same with grass roots, morning glory roots, and a number of other tough
weeds. If you have one of those homeowner composters such as the
rotating drums that build up massive amounts of heat, it might be safe
to indiscriminately add horsetails to it, but IMHO you would still be
taking a chance. If it looks like it has any root at all attached to
it, leave it someplace where you can be certain that it has died, and
then you can feel reasonably secure composting it.

John Sheridan
Ground and Gardens
Royal Roads University
Colwood BC, Canada
http://www.royalroads.ca/docs/gardens/home.html

[Kelvin J Yue]

In article <01bc8a1a$67f19680$b0547ec2@default>, ma...@globalnet.co.uk
(maxon) wrote:

> jeremy....@virgin.net wrote in article
> <8678686...@dejanews.com>...
> > Can anybody advise me about getting rid or horsetail from my allotment
> ?
> > I've tried weed killers and also mulching with black plastic sheeting
> but
> > to no avail.
> >
> This question was asked about two months ago and the general (though sma
> ll)
> consensus was that there is nothing you can do to get rid of them except
> pull the buggers up and deprive them of their food source (see John
> Sheriden's answer of 15/6/97). What I want to know though, given their
> considerable regenerative properties, is is it safe to put them in the
> compost? Jen
>
>

I have mentioned this previously but here goes again!
Gardening which conducted trials on hard to get rid of weeds and concluded
that Ammonium Sulphamate completely killed Horsetail (marestail etc).
However it will kill every thing until it has decomposed after around two
months.
Also it Won't prevent re infestation if Horsetail is growing on the land
surrounding yours.
Chemical is available as Dax Root Out.
I have no connection with manufacturers but do intend trying it this
month.

Kelvin in Cheshire, UK
http://www.cix.co.uk/~kyue/roses

[Kay]

John & Melinda Sheridan wrote

>morning glory roots, and a number of other tough
>weeds.

How different from the UK ;-)
--
Kay
k...@scarboro.demon.co.uk

[David Horsley]

In article <memo.19970707...@kyue.compulink.co.uk>,

ky...@cix.co.uk (Kelvin J Yue) wrote:

> I have mentioned this previously but here goes again!
> Gardening which conducted trials on hard to get rid of weeds and concluded
> that Ammonium Sulphamate completely killed Horsetail (marestail etc).
> However it will kill every thing until it has decomposed after around two
> months.
> Also it Won't prevent re infestation if Horsetail is growing on the land
> surrounding yours.
> Chemical is available as Dax Root Out.
> I have no connection with manufacturers but do intend trying it this
> month.

Yes I mentioned the same thing a month or so ago the last time this was
asked, plus I posted some of the toxicology data from ecotoxnet as further
information, but there was very little interest and going by the subsequent
answers no one seems to have noticed. I'm told by my friend with the
Horsetails problem that Dax Root out is quite expensive. Ammonium
sulphamate is (sometimes) available from agricultural stores possibly under
the trade name Amcide at much lower prices. However my friend with the
horsetails problem was unable to get it from our local agricultural
merchant (Berrycroft Stores in Willingham Cambs.) and they didn't recommend
it for horsetails anyway. They said to try a product called Grazon (which
was also not cheap) designed to kill perrenial weeds in pasture and grass
in around farm buildings. I'll let you all know if it works.

Dave H.

[Alan Pemberton]

Kay <k...@scarboro.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> John & Melinda Sheridan wrote
> >morning glory roots, and a number of other tough
> >weeds.
>
> How different from the UK ;-)

Isn't Stateside morning glory what we call hedge bindweed, or bellbine,
(CONVOLVULACEAE Calystegia sepium)? That's a tough weed even over here.
--
Alan Pemberton
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Al...@Pemberton.u-net.com
<http://www.pemberton.u-net.com>

[Alan Batchelor]

a.j. DilleyYour Name wrote:
: If you just keep pulling it out it wont be a orioblem. What you 9and
I)
: need to ask ourselves is why we feel the urge to get rid of it :
completely!
----
20 years ago I dug out an area 6 inches deep, put total weedkiller over
it, then had a professional tarmac drive laid over it. Within 3 months
the horsetail was poking through it. For the next four years I applied
neat weedkiller to every stem in that tarmac, using a glass
dropper-pipette, until the last trace was gone. Now my next-door
neighbour is too old to tend his drive, and the dreaded stuff is on its
way back .... I'd swap it for triffids any day.
Alan batc...@dial.pipex.com

[a.j. DilleyYour Name]

Learn to love it! Quite an attractive plant really1 hell of a history in
evolutionary tems. Admire its potential as a survivor1

Cheers
In article <33D935...@dial.pipex.com>, Alan Batchelor