[longey]

hi ive just landed myself with an 1/2 plot on my local allotment ,ive noticed the weed growing ,known as mares tail ,it creeps along on a dark brown root ,which on inspection looks dead ,until you break it then its a pale green colour it grows along and puts shoots out ,its like a marsh type plant
is there anyone out there had this weed , & is there any way of controlling it with any known weedkillers
also would composting the roots kill it or will it grow on in the composter

thanks longey

[mumofstig]

Tis nasty stuff indeed! and whatever you do don't try to compost the roots, or rotovate the plot OMG.
This thread.............
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=55968.msg661204#msg661204
may be helpful 

[Carrot Man]

We also have this on our plots
I am lucky so far as to have it as far away as the plot next door, rather then mine
They say it is found up to 1000ft down in mines
We have tried everything and although it can be checked, nothing kills it for good
Apparently the only way to get rid of it, so I've read, is to break each stem and run a strong weed killer in the broken wound. This sounds like a lot of work
I think your best bet is to just keep on top of it and prevent it spreading
Plant spuds in it, which won't be effected much
It depends how bad it is as we have it rife

[Yorkie]

Andy, please, you know the score on here - we don't endorse or condone the recommendation of unlicensed products / products not licensed for amateur use.

Not only is this product you refer only licensed for professionals as you rightly state, but it is also not licensed at all for land where crops are to be grown.  This piece of information is dangerous to omit.

[AndyRVTR]

Deleted...

[Yorkie]

Ta 

[savbo]

....
They say it is found up to 1000ft down in mines...

as one plagued by horsetail, I'm not one to spring to its defence but surely there's no way this one could be true for living horsetail. What you would find is fossilised horsetails in coal, as it there were tree-sized ones in the carboniferous...

[BabbyAnn]

....
They say it is found up to 1000ft down in mines...

as one plagued by horsetail, I'm not one to spring to its defence but surely there's no way this one could be true for living horsetail. What you would find is fossilised horsetails in coal, as it there were tree-sized ones in the carboniferous...

LOL, no wonder I've been having problems digging the roots up if it were true

[Malturn]

I believe grave diggers regularly find it at 6ft down

By the way I also have loads of it on my lottie.

Malcolm

P.S. dont let the cones set seed.

[penance]

Mares tale doesnt seed, it spores. Break off the spore pods as oon as they start to form in spring.

We had a lot of it, over the last 5 years i make sure it doesnt see a Sunday, we have only a small amount now.

[alancas]

greetings,my allotment was covered in maretail when i got it last year i dug barrow fulls out and can now manage it i think iif you dig it up when it sprouts you will get rid of it eventually

[seedman]

i think the only thing you can do is keep it under control i dont  think you will ever get rid of it completey,It  was here here before we arrived and it will still be here when were all gone keep cutting it down and digging it up some thing to do on nice sping morning  

quick note marestails flowers horse tail does not.http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/horsetail.htm

[savbo]

quick note marestails flowers horse tail does not.http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/horsetail.htm

 I agree but the thing everyone is discussing here - Equisetum - is known as marestail by many but horsetail by many others inc. botanists. It doesn't 'flower' but it does have a fruiting head, the cone...

maretail in the botanical sense is Hippuris, an aquatic..

sav the pedant

[Goosegirl]

I have tqo varieties in my garden plot - ooooh!!!!  One is the common garden variety and I can tell the difference in the sporing heads by now. It is in a seashore bed with gravel and pebbles, etc, and so hard to dig out, but I persisted last year so we'll see what happens in 2012. The other, more aquaric, variety grows in the dyke at the back of our cottage and has quite a different root - more fat and squashy, but the size it grows 0000HH!! I will take a pic next year - prepare to be scared - be very scared  !

[mumofstig]

sav the pedant