Horsetail... again!!!

kazschow

This weed is the absolute bane of my life lol I have a 2 acre field covered in it, it's also completely taken over my veggie patch, I've been getting my field cut, hopefully that will eventually weaken it, and I am pulling it out my potato/ onion patch, my question is..... do I compost the stuff from my veggie patch, or should it be burned to within an inch of it's evil, evil life!!!

kings981

I have a similar problem...it cannot be gotten rid off. I can pull bags of the stuff and still it comes back. Now I've even got it coming up in the lawn which I#ll never get rid of.

I read that if you crush the stems and squirt it with Roundup that should do the job. I try to garden organically so this really was the last resort but in desperation I tried it on the bits that growing through the gravel, it appeared to kill it by a month later it is still growing back.

I've got a book at home that suggests growing certain plants near it would deter it. I'll look it up when I get home, but its not particularly helpful when you want to grow mixed vegetables.

I'm now going with the method that you just need to keep pulling it - at least then I don't have to look at it.. Not to bad in a small back garden though a nightmare in two acres.

hkminca

Burn it! Horsetail spreads by its incredibly long roots, which seem to be able to grow with even the tiniest bit left in the ground.

kazschow

In fairness it makes my field look luch and lovely... from a distance lol

I wonder if burning it would kill the !!!!!!, can you tell I'm getting a tad frustrated and desperate with it hehehehe

I read about the bruising it and spraying, but seriously how do you bruice 2 acres!!! I think it's trying to kill me before I kill it!

MrsBartolozzi

I've got this nasty stuff too.
I've read though that you mustn't pull it, this only releases the spores and makes it spread more!!:mad: I remember reading that you need to dig it out, down to 2 or 3 feet iirc:eek:, but like you I tend to pull it as it's instant.

I've had luck in the past using ammonium sulphamate, but unless you can get every bit it will spread again. This is available on ebay and is only sold as a compost accelerator because the license to use it as a herbicide expired and it proved too costly for the new tests to be performed to relicense it.(It wasn't banned for safety reasons was what I wanted to make clear). It's only supposed to be for putting on your compost heap, but if you trip and spill it on the way...

kazschow

Do you have to bruise it for the ammonium sulphate to work too?

Davesnave

Kaz, look up Kurtail. It isn't cheap, but then neither was the Asulox I fed my bracken with last week. I can't vouch for either yet, mind.

MrsBartolozzi

kazschow wrote: »

Do you have to bruise it for the ammonium sulphate to work too?

Well, I sort of trampled roughly over the main bit I was treating, and as there was a bit of the mix left over I just poured it over some un-bruised stuff. Seemed to work equally well. You need to add a bit of washing up liquid (just a squirt) to help it to be absorbed by the weed.

I also just wanted to point out that it is Ammonium Sulphamate (not sulphate).

traceye

I spay with jeyes fuid doesnt kill it all but it helps to die off when young shoots start shooting up

Yorkie1

Can't believe the number of illegal remedies being suggested on here ... Apart from roundup, none of them are legal for this use by amateurs.

Davesnave

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Can't believe the number of illegal remedies being suggested on here ... Apart from roundup, none of them are legal for this use by amateurs.

Sorry, but if you are suggesting that people cannot spray their own land with appropriate & effective remedies then you're wrong. It is still perfectly possible to do this.

What's restricted is the use of professional chemicals on someone else's land without appropriate certification. Contractors must be qualified.

There are two sides to this, you see. I have a couple of fields which I'm not overly keen to have treated by my certificated mate, blanket-spraying from a tractor. For one thing, the cost would be prohibitive, and secondly, there are wild plants I like that would also be clobbered. I'm managing 4 acres with nothing more than a knapsack sprayer. It's time consuming at first, but the result for the environment is much better, and after a year or two it's pretty quick and cheap to stay on top of things.

No doubt, in the longer term, the powers that be will make the legislation tougher. That's what legislators do. However, if tighter legislation is brought in, then there should be a parallel improvement in the cost and availability of training.