[flowergirl]

Hi Guys,

I wonder if I can draw on your many years of experience. Have just been given a new allotment after vandals trampled all over my last site. Have just been up and had a look and it needs a lot of work to get it so I can start planting but its secure and with no public footpath through the middle !!! I met with a few fellow allotmenters and they have told me horsetail has appearred this year and my new plot has quite a lot of it !!! any ideas as to how I am best to try and get rid of it

Any suggestions gratefully received !

Flowergirl X

[DD.]

This is a perennial  question, in more ways than one.

If you do a search on "Mare's Tail", you'll find lots of different answers.

Here's one thread to kick you off with...

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=34673.0

For me it's "hoe, hoe & thrice hoe". Then some.

Aunty's the same with her "Never let it see a Sunday".

[Stevens706]

I've been battling with mine for 3 years now, I dig it up with a fork if there is room otherwise I (like DD) hoe it down. I think I am winning.

[digital_biscuit]

lots of roundup and some trampling down has worked well for me, but i've no probs with using weedkiller on the disused areas around my plot, on my plot i just pull it up everytime i see a bit of it and that keeps it under control!

[flowergirl]

Thanks guys !!!

Just gotta get it all dug out and de-weeded and hopefully I will still have time to get some stuff in !!  Thankfully I didn't plant all my bits before the vandals hit the plot so still have 90 peas, 40 dwarf fench beans 20 lettuce, 20 calibrese and 20 brussel plants growing outside in 3" pots at home, how long do you think I can keep them till they really need to go in ?

Sorry for all the questions !

Flowergirl X

[DD.]

Depends how big they are!

All could go in now if hardened off, keeping a very careful eye out for frosts as regards the beans.

[jamesbrownontheroad]

We too took a new plot this year and it's riddled with horsetail. I spent many days during the winter (while unemployed, which gave me the now rare opportunity to spend lots of time up there) weeding and turning the soil. Next winter set yourself the hard but very worthwhile task of getting as many roots as possible out. It'll be very very very boring and possibly back breaking as well, but the more roots you can get out then the better.

From now until then, just get every shoot you see as soon as you see it. The idea is that if you repeatedly remove shoots and as much of their root as possible you will eventually exhaust it. Beware: the root is very brittle and will break easily, so excavate around it as much as possible and pull carefully.

Also pay attention to the edge of your plot: we're gradually building a new fence around ours and taking great care to remove clusters that have been allowed to establish themselves there. In our case the root systems are well established under neighbouring paved pathways between the plots, and horsetail has a remarkable energy for putting up green shoots very rapidly. Encourage neighbouring plot holders to also attack it, because it if charges ahead in the plot next door it'll soon enough be back in yours.

I'm suspicious of any weedkiller solution... you just have to keep hoeing it on a regular basis. You will get there, but I'm afraid it's not likely to be completely gone for a couple of years.

[flowergirl]

Sorry DD, didn't make it very clear !  whats the latesst I can put these in the ground  ?? Only got the plot today and have no area clear to be able to plant ! Do you think they'll manage another few weeks while I get digging ?

Thanks again DD !

Flowergirl X

[DD.]

Depends what size they are now!

Just get digging & ignore the rain.

[flowergirl]

 

Thanks DD !!! You made me laugh !

They are all about 3-4 inches high with about 4-5 leaves, but yes , I will get digging !

Flowergirl X

[blackbob]

Hi Guys,

I wonder if I can draw on your many years of experience. Have just been given a new allotment after vandals trampled all over my last site. Have just been up and had a look and it needs a lot of work to get it so I can start planting but its secure and with no public footpath through the middle !!! I met with a few fellow allotmenters and they have told me horsetail has appearred this year and my new plot has quite a lot of it !!! any ideas as to how I am best to try and get rid of it

Any suggestions gratefully received !

Flowergirl X

give it a good beating with the head of you rake,and spray with gallup

[Kristen]

"Do you think they'll manage another few weeks while I get digging"

I would gently knock a couple out of their pots and check how established the roots are.  If they are thick around the outside of the rootball I think they need planting real-soon-now - or potting-on.