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Tobe
Senior Member
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 102
Location: Pembrokeshire
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 Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject: What The HELL Is this??????????? |
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Ok so ive seen some weeds before, and then ive seen some more but this stuff is a pain in the b*stard arse! ive tried regular weedkiller (weedol) and its thrives on the stuff, i can almost hears whispering 'more more' as im walking away.
In all seriousness tho its growing through a patch of tarmac and lifting it, am due to have all drive tarmac'ed but aint until this stuff is dead.
Please please someone tell me they have had it and killed it!!!
Cheers
Tobe!!
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Bludall
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 8507
Location: East Midlands
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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Tobe,
Does it look like horsetail close up?
A link
http://www.t-c-m-rd.co.uk/invasive-weeds/horse-tail/
Control Methods
Tenacious to life through hundreds of millions of generations; impervious in its armour of silica and older than most hills; this survivor from an era when primitive amphibians were state-of-the-art and Tyrannosaurus 200 million years down the line, is very difficult to kill. Mechanical methods vary in efficacy from making matters worse to limited success following persistent and repeated work. There are no known biological agents useful in its control and it responds to herbicides in a very inconsistent manner. There is no evidence that any herbicide or herbicide mixture can eliminate it at one spraying; nor have I encountered any verified statement to the effect that even with repeat applications, anything more than good suppression is possible. In landscape and some arable situations Horsetail may be discouraged by improving soil texture, relieving soil compaction and installing effective drainage. Raising the pH of the soil by applications of lime can also reduce the vigour of the weed. Horsetail has a very limited response to increases in soil nitrogen availability, so ensuring vigorous growth of field crops, by maintaining high fertility, can lead to suppression of horsetail through light competition. Because the vegetative stems have no functional leaves, the plant's light requirements are high, and it is also possible to suppress the weed by applying a dense non-woven mulch sheet, such as black polythene. Woven geotextile mulches should not be used as it is documented that stems have some ability to penetrate the spaces within the weave. It is theoretically possible to cut or pull every stem and all subsequent regrowth as many times as needed for 3 or 4 seasons. By this means substantial reduction in stem densities can be achieved. Any attempt at control by similar means, for one year only, will fail. Canadian researchers performed 16 hand weedings of a test plot in one season. The following year the weed density was identical to the unweeded control area! Where the weed is present in lawns, close mowing will eradicate it over a period of years. Other mechanical cultivation of infested areas should never be attempted, as this will simply detach tubers and initiate their growth, as well as spreading and fragmenting rhizomes. A number of chemicals are known to have some effect on Horsetail. Dichlobenil granules applied before growth starts in the spring to non-crop areas can eradicate the problem in 3 seasons. (personal experience) The application rate for total vegetation control on non-crop areas should be employed, as that used for weed control amongst woody subjects is ineffective. Where top growth is to be sprayed, the stems should first be bruised or crushed to damage the cuticle with its protecting silica, thus allowing absorption. Some sources suggest that Glyphosate is effective after this treatment; others indicate it has little value. |
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Only-Me
Senior Member
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 988
Location: South/West
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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Foggy
Senior Member
Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 1062
Location: Lincoln
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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its some green stuff 
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Slugster
Senior Member
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 944
Location: Cotswolds
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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Mares tail is not indestructible - it's hard to get rid of and it takes time and patience but it is possible.
Use Deep Root weed killer - crystals that you dissolve in water and then spray (get a cone thing over the sprayer nozzle to make sure it doesn't hit your other plants)
http://www.findtheneedle.co.uk/products/452786-deep-root-tree-stump-and-weed-killer.asp
I had some ground at the front of the old house in Scotland and it was infested with it.
I sprayed with this stuff every two weeks for three months and it died off and never came back...
What people forget it is starts growing from under the soil and the weed killers don't penetrate - they have to touch green foliage.
So you have to keep treating it until you are SURE there is nothing left under the soil waiting to come up.
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Tobe
Senior Member
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 102
Location: Pembrokeshire
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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ok, cheers slug. ill get me some of that, cant believe how resistant it is, and destructive!!
cheers
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Bludall
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 8507
Location: East Midlands
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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Marestail (Hippuris vulgaris) grows in water and has flowers so is an angiosperm.
Horsetail, mostly grows on land, looks similar to marestail and is not a flowering plant, its closest relations are ferns.
My husband studied plant evolution, classification and distribution at university and he studied Pteridophytes (horsetails). They've lasted over 200,000000 so they're buggers to get rid of. They still find fossilised/ petrified forests of horsetails that were once 100' tall.  |
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Tobe
Senior Member
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 102
Location: Pembrokeshire
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:35 am Post subject: |
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so in simple terms just kkeep spraying and spraying
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Bludall
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 8507
Location: East Midlands
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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| I guess so! |
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Slugster
Senior Member
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 944
Location: Cotswolds
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry Blu - I thought the terms were one and the same - I've learned better now 
Tobe, a better expresion is "Spray and Pray..!" LOL
It was hard work but it did kill it - I'm not sure but perhaps this stuff is more tree like than weed like so perhaps that is why the stump killer nuked it
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Nothing you do is a waste of time - especially if it can be used as a bad example by others... |
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Bludall
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 8507
Location: East Midlands
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Slugster wrote: |
Sorry Blu - I thought the terms were one and the same - I've learned better now
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I was like you, I thought horsetail and maretail were the same thing too, I only know because I was put right by my oh! The man from Nottingham Uni He say "Noooo"! :lol:He even showed me the books that show the differences!
Incidentally, a new landscape project at our local hospital has loads of the stuff growing like a groundcover plant. I pity the poor devils who have to get rid of it. It is a survivor! |
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Slugster
Senior Member
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 944
Location: Cotswolds
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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| He even showed me the books that show the differences! Laughing |
Was that on the first date?
With that sort of chat up patter I'm surprised he became your OH 
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Bludall
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 8507
Location: East Midlands
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Amazing how handy a Biology degree can be! |
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thescruff
Senior Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 4376
Location: Bath
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Bludall wrote: |
| Amazing how handy a Biology degree can be! |
That may be true for some people  but who showed Adam where to put it
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Scruff |
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Bludall
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 8507
Location: East Midlands
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Eve knew more than Adam obviously. |
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