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Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

Tried just about every nasty noxious product out there. Is there anything new to kill this stuff, and please don't tell me "compost tea". ?

6/3/2005 9:37:54 PM

Indiana

explosives

6/7/2005 6:46:53 PM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

Why do you think they call me "Boom Boom"? We talking M-80's or firecrackers?

6/7/2005 9:40:55 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Mares tail grows in heavy soil wet soil. Maybe try improving the drainage and correcting PH. Mares tail is a very unique plant. It has one of the highest silica contents known. It is very useful for scrubbing out pots when camping. If you burn the plant you actually get a silica skeleton.

6/7/2005 10:18:12 PM

Indiana

dynamite!

6/8/2005 12:45:30 PM

Follansbee, Wv

Kerosene

6/8/2005 5:03:20 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I've had some success controlling Horse Tail commercially.

Years ago, all we had was Casoron 4G to work with. 100-150 lbs per acre applied early in the spring (soil less than 61*F) or late fall supresses it pre-emergently. Casoron is still a good choice.

More recently, Manage (halosulfuron-methyl) was registered for post-emergent control. My results with this were less than perfect, but better than nothing. Other folks I know have found Manage more effective & have continued using it.

Two years ago I was fooling around with an experimental herbicide from Dow AgroScience called Fluoroxypyr. It was intended for selective control of broadleaf weeds in turf but we wanted to know what else it could do. So at a friends commercial nursery we targeted some Horsetail that was growing in the planting rows. He went so far as to spray it over the top of certain plants to see the effect. I expected significant plant injury to result but was pleasantly surprised to watch the Horsetail die while the Azaleas & Ilex that were covered in it came through undamaged.

Fluoroxypyr is now registered as "Spotlight" which is NOT yet labeled for any such Horsetail erradication uses but might be in the future.

Any of these above mentioned materials might work well or play a roll in a Horsetail management program. But consideration of the desirable nearby plant material is critical to selection if unwanted injury is to be avoided.

6/8/2005 9:21:45 PM

Montoursville, PA

Also in the might work category is plain 'ole vinegar. Sorry I do not have any horsetail and do not feel deprived of any garden pleasure because I dont.

Vinegar mixed with water in various strengths will effectively kill many plants as effectively as any herbicide. If a given waxed surface provides a challenge just add a bit of detergent as a sticker.

6/14/2005 5:11:17 PM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

Thanks all. Yes, the horsetail grows in a dense wet area constantly soaked by an underground spring. Doc, I think I've tried some vinegar concoction on wild berry blackberry vines which worked on the vines, might now try it on the mare's tail. Steve, I will also look into your suggestions as well. Will I be able to find these things at my local co-op store or will I have to head to the Home Depot? Shannon, I will plan on harvesting the horsetail carcasses for use when I run out of Brillo pads. :) Then again, there are also explosives which might kill the moles at the same time. . . .

6/14/2005 11:44:33 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Flourypyr is only marketed by the trade name "Spotlight" by Dow AgroSciences. It is not to be found at places like Home Depot but maybe through an Ag retailer or Co-Op. Private email if that fails since I can get it from Dow & ship UPS.

6/15/2005 10:40:12 PM