What's this?

[benb89]

Hi, can anyone identify what this is? I was over the allotment during the week and there was nothing, came over today and this has appeared everywhere. Any ideas?

[veggiechicken]

Looks like Horsetail - sorry.

[Logunner]

Got to agree with VC

Get ammonium sulphamate on it

[fishpond]

Looks like Horsetail - sorry.

Better than a having a Wombat sneaking through your garden?.


Yep, looks like Horsetail---have you had the allotment long?

[veggiechicken]

Disclaimer - I did not say use "ammonium sulphamate" as I would not use any chemicals on land where I intend to grow edibles.
Actually, I wouldn't use it anywhere.

[veggiechicken]

Better than a having a Wombat sneaking through your garden?.


Yep, looks like Horsetail---have you had the allotment long?

I can answer that - since the 6th March - about 6 weeks! https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ent_98725.html

[fishpond]

Best bet is to give it back and get another one if you can, use chemicals, suffer for what could be years of
nightmares.
Your choice
P.s The Rotavator you mentioned in the previous post may well be responsible for the spread of the Horse Tail.

[Logunner]

Disclaimer - I did not say use "ammonium sulphamate" as I would not use any chemicals on land where I intend to grow edibles.
Actually, I wouldn't use it anywhere.

Nah, that was me lol

Drastic action now for a benefit later, it’s a personal decision but then my infestation was so thick I couldn’t even walk through it.

[Mark_Riga]

If it is in other nearby plots (quite likely), it will be difficult to eradicate from yours. Meticulous attention to hoeing will weaken it and can be successful. you would need to take it an inch below the surface when it is just above the surface so you are taking out more energy that it has been able to store. Those shoots look quite sturdy so may take a while to weaken.
Having said that, you can live with it and your harvests should be pretty unaffected by it - as long as you keep on top of it which is not too difficult. It can be more of an irritant as it makes the place a bit unsightly.
There is a patch in my garden (about 20' x 10') that seems to move over time. I tend to dig out a spade deep when I see it . It is in a flower patch and a bit in with the veg. I probably dig out about 30 or 40 roots a year now and have been for the last 30+ years but I've pulled out far more couch grass in that time.
You could investigate the health benefits of the plant.

[benb89]

Thanks you all. I had a chat with the plot holder next to mine and he has informed me that in-between the previous 2 holders horsetail took over and the last holder, who had it a year, had cleared it but it's back. Burning them has been suggested to me. I haven't bothered to use the clutivator. It needs a new starter cord and I just decided to add rotted manure and compost to the beds which are already there.

[Logunner]

Had the same trouble this time last year, plot had been abandoned for over 18 months after previous couple of tenants gave up on the marestail.

I’ve yet to see any signs this year, in fact since july last year. The whole plot has been covered in layers of cardboard with manure and compost on top since October, but this was after using ammonium sulphamate and digging roots (mostly dead) 10 weeks later.

I’ve put raised beds in this year using pallets collars, these have been placed on the cardboard and manure and planted through cardboard.

It will come back, but vastly reduced.... neighbouring plots saw a vast improvement in their own problem late in the last summer after I attacked it.

Drowned any roots showing any signs of life...

[Logunner]

After spraying, the path is covered with the dead tops


Inside the roots


When digging

[Muddy_Boots]

We have the stuff on our plots, don't want to worry you but the roots have been known to appear in the roofs of old coal mines.

There are plenty of ways to get rid of it (almost), so long as you keep the soil being turned over by digging regular it will be weakened no end and just appear sporadically in places where it can be just dug out or even pulled out. It also doesn't like it when the soil is well manured, it seems to upset it and tends to grow weaker as well as it prefers less fertile soils.

If you want to have a damn good go at getting rid of it you need to let it grow a bit so the green waxy leaves appear on the growing spike. Then when it about a foot in length bruise each growing spike with a back of a trowel (you need to do this as no weedkiller will get through the waxy coating) and then get an old rubber glove from the kitchen you don't need anymore and wet it with pure concentrated Roundup and stroke each spike through your hand so the roundup wets the growing spike. Then wait for it to die in about 2 weeks time and leave it longer to be sure its gone down into the roots to kill it.

Remember it will eventually come back as its roots will invade back onto your plot from the surrounding plots so its always going to be a battle you will never win, all you can do is minimize the impact it has on your own plot by doing some or all of the things I suggest.

[Atta]

Best bet is to give it back and get another one if you can, use chemicals, suffer for what could be years of
nightmares.
Your choice
P.s The Rotavator you mentioned in the previous post may well be responsible for the spread of the Horse Tail.

Many of us have to live with this nightmare,I am giving two more years to decide if to keep my plot or not.I have dug up equivalent if three huge blue barrels roots so far.

[Speed Gardener]

I don't suffer from this much but some of the plots on our site have loads. Most people don't use weed killers so digging/ignoring it seems to be the preferred option.
The old Ukrainian guy on the site saw it when he first arrived and said "the soil looks a bit acid."
A now-retired guy from the council parks department told me once that the addition of heavy doses of lime inhibits it as it seems to like acidic soil. They had it in the flower beds and it helped.
So, check your soil pH and lime as appropriate, you have nothing to lose...