Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: paul sadler on December 14, 2017, 15:36
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Hi all can anybody help I have had allotments for a lot of years in fact 40 or more but at present I have had this one since 2013 when I took over the allotment was absolutely overrun but over the years its got less and less but this year 2017 it had came back with aggression (HELP), I have tried everything I can say I am a fully qualified gardener but this has got me stumped .
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I also have the same problem, invading from a very unkempt plot next to mine. The only answer is constant digging out, as deep as you can in order to get as much root as possible. If time is really limited then "Don't let it see a Sunday" and pinch/hoe the tops off, but sooner or later you've got to go for the roots.
It's a long war of attrition not one quick battle!
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Trouble is Pescador that I've yet to work out how to get to the roots as they seem to end in Australia. However trickling boiling water down the stems does seem to deter. However on an allotment .....
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They go down a lot further than I can dig, but if you keep at it and stop the green growth sending more energy down to the roots it will continue to weaken it.
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I agree with Pecador. I have it on my plot and all you can really do is keep on top of it and improve the soil. I have found it does diminish doing this, if not go away completely. Good news is I don't think it actually harmful to the crops...I also wonder if it does not actually do some good in a perverse way by bringing nutrients up from deep to the surface soil. No proof, just my speculation and it makes me feel better about it! 8)
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I'm told their roots have actually been seen in mine-shafts so unless you know a pal in Oz, perhaps keeping on top of the growth is the only way forward. I have horsetail and also the mare's tail near my veg garden that grows in a nearby ditch (ugh) but I am now a bit philosophical about having it in the flower beds as I will never get rid of it.
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Hoe, hoe, hoe...
I'm not laughing - I have mares-tail on my veg plots and it is without a doubt a wonderful plant... it survived centuries and won't easily be put off by us gardeners.
I've managed to reduce it significantly in a small greenhouse by thoroughly digging through to a depth of about 2 foot or more for two consecutive years and whacking the hoe through it every time I see any. Not cured but under control.
On the veg plots - hoe it through whenever you see it. Pull it out when you are digging but you'll not remove every snapped fragment of dark bootlace-like root no matter how you try or how many metres deep you dig. ;)
"Off with it's head" is about the best I can do...
I was putting all the dug up roots and chopped off tops into a bag (bags!!) for disposal but gave up and plonked it on the lawn where it grows anyway - the mower takes care of it there.
I have heard you can put it on the compost heap.. not made my mind up about that one.
Don't panic or let it spoil your growing enjoyment.
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Never ever put any scrap of horsetail on a compost heap. It will spread. Dig the roots up and burn them.
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I asked the guy at our local farming supplies depot. His advice was bruising the plant by rolling it or walking on it and then spraying with glyphosate in summer. He said it may take several applications to totally get rid of it