Horsetail is a special guest in the garden. They are constantly fighting with it, trying to completely get rid of it. It is not afraid of swampy or dry places. This weed is considered difficult to remove. He lives on acidic soils and deepens the roots by 1-2 m.
Ways to fight
It is quite difficult for opponents of chemicals to get rid of horsetail. When digging, carefully select the rhizomes and take them outside the site. Shoots left on the ground can take root again and give rise to the development of new plants. Sections of rhizomes 1 cm long are capable of producing new shoots. In spring, it is better to prune the shoots immediately so that the spores do not have time to spread by the wind. You can fight horsetail this way for more than one year.
Liming reduces the acidity of the soil, thereby slowing down the growth of the weed. For digging, slaked lime, dolomite flour, limestone, and ash are added. In the first year, 2-3 kg per 1 sq.m., in the next two, 500 g per 1.sq.m. At the same time, be prepared for a simultaneous decrease in nutrients in the soil. Combine liming with weeding.
Eco-dacha residents get rid of horsetail with the help of cruciferous plants. The weedy area is densely sown with rapeseed, white mustard, oilseed radish, horseradish, cabbage or. So at the same time the soil is good and the weeds stop growing.
The complete absence of light will help you get rid of horsetail without much effort. If there are areas of a continuous carpet of grass, then cover with dense black plastic film for several years. It’s good to press down the edges with bricks, and scatter pebbles or gravel on top. Use mulching: sawdust, wood chips, shredded bark.
For herbicide treatment, choose a cloudy evening time so that there is no wind. Don't forget to wear protective equipment: mask, respirator, latex gloves, use . Process carefully and slowly.
Horsetail spreads quickly; all it takes is just one spore to get into your garden and next year you will be in for an unpleasant surprise. Destroy new shoots immediately so that the grass does not have time to develop a defense mechanism against herbicides.
Horsetail is a malicious weed that most often comes to us with imported soil from developed peat bogs, where this plant loves to settle.
Horsetail is a very harmful weed that produces spore-bearing shoots in various parts of the garden, starting in mid-May. The plant is dangerous because its growing rhizomes draw all the moisture from the ground and deplete the soil, preventing cultivated plants from developing normally.
When digging (both spring and autumn), horsetail roots are hardly noticeable, so it is difficult to select them. Meanwhile, they can go into the soil to a depth of 40-60 cm or even 1 m. It is very difficult to dig up the ground to such a depth. Thus, the shovel does not reach the rhizomes of the weed, and it quietly reproduces, populating new territories. Therefore, there are several rules for preparing the soil on the site, following which you can protect the site from horsetail.
Principles of soil preparation
1. When using imported soil, make sure that it does not contain inconspicuous blackish horsetail rhizomes. Otherwise, the plant will settle on your site, and it will be difficult to get rid of it.
2. Lime the soil to create unfavourable conditions for horsetail growth. Usually calcium-containing preparations (lime, chalk, ash, dolomite flour) are used for this purpose.
If horsetail grows on the site, it means the soil is acidic
The most popular and most convenient remedy is dolomite flour. Indeed, in addition to reducing acidity, it also improves the structure of the soil and enriches it with magnesium. And, unlike lime, dolomite flour can be added at any time of the year.
The table shows approximate application doses dolomite flour during liming different types soil.
3. Be consistent. In the first year, apply the full dose of liming materials, and in the next 2-3 years - no more than half. It is preferable to do this in the spring. If you alternate this activity with weeding out the green stems of horsetail, then after 3-4 years you can get rid of this insidious weed completely.
What medications will get rid of horsetail?
Since horsetail is a spore plant and not a flowering plant, the use of Tornado or Roundup is ineffective. Horsetail can only be destroyed by using a large dose (4 ml/10 sq.m.) of a more powerful herbicide, such as Glyphos. But in this case there is a high probability of dangerous chemical substances not only into the soil, but also into vegetables and fruits.
Horsetail does not get along with plants of the Cruciferous family: winter rapeseed, oilseed radish, white mustard. Therefore, in order to protect the site from weeds, after harvesting, these plants can be sown in empty beds. Winter rye has the same property.
Medicinal properties of horsetail
On the one hand, horsetail is a malicious weed that takes nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus from the soil and accumulates them in its nodules.
On the other hand, it is unique treatment plant, which contains a large number of valuable substances, as well as silicic acid, which the human body really needs. It is necessary for the construction of the skeleton, the functioning of mucous membranes, the healing of wounds and damage to the walls of blood vessels. Silicon compounds contained in horsetail prevent the formation of kidney stones. It is especially effective for diseases of the urinary tract.
For cooking medicinal tea from horsetail 1-2 tsp. dried chopped herbs pour 250 ml hot water, leave for 30 minutes and filter. It is recommended to drink up to 3 cups of this drug per day.
Of course, for an ordinary summer resident, horsetail is a weed that harms plantings. Therefore, carefully check the brought soil, monitor the acidity of the soil and promptly get rid of “accidental” weeds before they have time to fill the entire area.
In its ability to take nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from the ground, horsetail is noticeably superior to other weeds.
We are used to seeing these Christmas trees, but in early spring Horsetail may not be recognizable. Juicy brownish-pink “candles” appear in damp meadows and wastelands, in ravines and abandoned beds. These first spore-bearing shoots are replaced by green, hard, thin branches at the beginning of summer.
The summer herb horsetail has long been used in folk medicine as a hemostatic, diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent.
Why is he dangerous?
And yet, despite these advantages, horsetail has a reputation as a nasty weed. In appearance it is inconspicuous and even boring: it has neither flowers nor spreading leaves. Loves high humidity, prefers light soils. However, I am ready to adapt to the most different conditions.
Like most weeds, horsetail is stubborn and resilient. Where the ground has not been disturbed for years by a plow or shovel, it does not send its black-and-white rhizome further than 40-50 cm. In crops, it sometimes goes 1.5 m deep into the soil. Imperceptibly, but very persistently, the weed depletes the bed, accumulating in the rhizome with small nodules located on it, there are reserves of sugars and starch.
Horsetail is especially successful in making its preparations on fallow lands or in a potato field, where it takes a hefty portion of mineral nutrition from the cultivated host.
If you decide to get rid of this green “predator”, do not hope to defeat it simply by weeding. Most likely, in a couple of weeks you will be disappointed to discover that there is even more horsetail in the area than there was before.
And this is not surprising: the rhizome nodules remaining in the ground are organs of vegetative reproduction. By destroying aboveground part plants, you just forced it to vigorously fight for survival. That's when the weed needed nodules with a supply of nutrients.
How to get rid of horsetail
How to deal with this harmful plant?
Among other things, the presence of this weed is considered one of the signs of increased soil acidity. It can be reduced by adding dolomite flour or crushed slaked lime under digging.
On a note
The herbicide Glyphos can be used against horsetail. It blocks the synthesis of aromatic amino acids in plants, as a result of which the weed gradually dies. It is practically safe for bees, but it limits their flight from 6 to 12 hours.
Biological method of controlling horsetail
Horsetail does not tolerate proximity to cabbage crops (formerly called cruciferous crops). Their root secretions are capable of suppressing weeds. Therefore, in places where the appearance of horsetail has been noticed, radishes, radishes, daikon, rapeseed or mustard should be planted next year.
Horsetail - traditional medicine recipes
In winter, you can prepare an infusion of horsetail to boost your immunity.
Its use will help resist viral infections. 1 tbsp. l. dry herbs, pour a glass of boiling water, leave for 1 hour, strain. Drink this amount of infusion in 3-4 doses throughout the day.
For exacerbation of cystitis, horsetail decoction is used. 2 tbsp. l. dried herb, pour 1 liter of water, boil for 10 minutes, let it brew in a warm place for 20 minutes, strain. Take 150-200 ml 2-3 times a day. Do not throw away the squeezed grass, but place it in a gauze bag and apply it warm to the lower abdomen.
Viktor Anatolyevich Krylov
Horsetail is an intrusive weed, very tenacious, loves to grow in acidic and clay soils. Its summer shoots are very similar to young Christmas trees. In spring, the plant produces spore-bearing shoots of a pinkish color, very juicy and not branched.
Horsetail is a root-sprouting weed that reproduces through its rhizome. They have a thin and durable root, black or dark brown. The root system lies at a depth of sixty centimeters.
How to get rid of horsetail in the garden
Prepare a respirator and gloves, gardening tools, lime fertilizers, chemicals and cruciferous plant seeds. Now let's get started.
1. According to agronomists, fields and vegetable gardens become more and more clogged every year. Horsetail is rightfully considered the most intrusive weed, which loves to clog crops. Its thickets actively deplete and dry out the soil, which makes it difficult to care for crops and reduces the yield of gardens and fields.
2. The roots of the horsetail break through to a fairly large depth, and the shoots are very large, so a special approach to them is needed. How to get rid of horsetail in the garden? There are special ways to combat this weed that work well.
You can stop at mechanical method- weeding, digging, loosening. Of course, this method is very labor-intensive, but the most reliable. Weeding is done carefully; all weeds should be removed from the garden, otherwise they will sprout again. The roots, as mentioned above, penetrate very deeply, so it will not be possible to completely pull out the plant. The remains will give rise to new shoots very quickly.
3. It is worth taking advantage of horsetail’s love for acidic soils. It is necessary to introduce limestone, calcite, slaked lime, dolomite, and sugar production waste into the ground. This helps reduce the acidity of the earth. And horsetail does not like non-acidic soils. It may not be possible to get rid of it this way right away, but it will work. This method reduces the concentration of nutrients in the soil, so you should carefully read the instructions on the packaging of the chemical materials used.
4. How to get rid of horsetail in the garden with the least effort? You can populate the area with cruciferous plants, such as white mustard, arugula or winter rapeseed. This will greatly darken the existence of horsetail.
5. You can plant seeds of winter rye, which acts as a kind of orderly on the site. But the fastest and, perhaps, the most in an effective way It is still considered chemical. In specialized stores, buy fertilizers that destroy weeds but do not harm crop plants.
6. Another method for getting rid of horsetail in the garden is to prevent its spores from ripening, as a result of which the plant gradually dries out. To do this, from the beginning of spring, every twelve days you should simply mow down the weed and weed the rows. However, you should monitor the growth of horsetail, because in rainy weather its sprouts appear and stretch much faster. Good luck!
Horsetail - perennial herbaceous plant from the Horsetail family, which numbers about thirty various types and is one of the oldest plant crops on our planet. This aggressive and at the same time useful weed consists of a long (about 100 cm) creeping branched rhizome and succulent erect shoots - “fir trees” (30 to 50 cm long) with a spike-shaped inflorescence at the top. This unpretentious and tenacious plant easily tolerates frosty winters and high summer temperatures; it is not afraid of even forest fires. Grass grows on any soil, but feels more favorable in moist forest areas, as well as in meadows, along roads and in vegetable gardens.
Description
Horsetail in a country house, garden or garden is a serious problem and a cause for concern. The weed reproduces by spores and rhizomes, so it spreads easily and very quickly over a vast area and significantly reduces the quantity and quality of the expected harvest. Its main nutrition is such useful components as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Root system weed absorbs all these useful material from the soil, leaving garden crops without fertilizing. Vegetable plants stop their full development and growth.
Popular species in our country are “Meadow” and “Bolotny” horsetail, and in the dachas of the Moscow region you can most often find “Polevoy” (or “Ordinary”) horsetail. There are many people different names of this weed plant - marsh column, cat's tail, pusher, earthen cone, field spruce, ponytail, panicle and many others.
The main feature of horsetail is the ability of its reproductive organs long time maintain their vitality and survivability due to their deep burial in the soil. When adjacent to other weeds (for example, fescue and wheatgrass), horsetail can form real dense thickets that are not afraid of drought or excess moisture, sun or shade. To get rid of this culture completely will require a lot of effort and patience, as well as a comprehensive, timely and systematic approach.
Ways to control weeds
Since the weed culture feels more favorable on moist soils, one of the measures to combat it is to drain the waterlogged area.
Covering areas with horsetail thickets and row spacing with dense, light-proof material (for example, black plastic film or pieces of plywood) also leads to good results. Herbaceous crops do not have access to light, heat under cover it simply burns them out - all this ultimately leads to the death of most of the weeds.
Mulching beds performs two functions at once - it protects against weeds and feeds the soil. It is recommended to use crushed tree bark or shavings, spruce or pine needles, small tree branches, dry grass, straw and even small river pebbles as mulch. First you need to lay out geotextiles or spunbond, and on top of it a layer of 5 - 7 cm of mulch. Such an obstacle is too tough for the horsetail.
After harvesting vegetables, you can prepare the area for the next season by sowing it with any plants from the Cruciferous family. The roots of crops such as mustard, radish or rapeseed secrete substances that many weeds, including horsetail, do not like. In such a neighborhood weeds don't grow.
There is another simple, proven method. It is necessary to dig deep into the plot of land, carefully selecting all the roots along the way. perennial plants, and then add a large amount to the soil wood ash. Can be replaced deep processing soil by deoxidizing it by adding slaked lime or dolomite flour.
Tillage of soil with weeds gives good efficiency chemicals"Zenkor", "Agrokiller", "Prima", "Hurricane", "Roundup" and "Glyphos".
Special preventive measures to combat weeds will help to reduce the amount of horsetail in the country house or garden many times over. The most popular are repeated liming of the soil (over 2–3 years) and maintaining a stable level of soil acidity. For each square meter soil will require from 500g to 2kg of lime. If you add regular weeding to this, then gradually their number will become minimal.
Is there any benefit from it?
Horsetail is used in official and folk medicine in dry and fresh form, in tinctures and ointments, decoctions and teas, in the form of compresses and powders, lotions and baths.
The herb is used in cooking, cosmetology and as a “medicine” in floriculture.
In its ability to take nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from the ground, horsetail is noticeably superior to other weeds.
We are used to seeing these fir trees, but in early spring the horsetail may not be recognizable. Juicy brownish-pink “candles” appear in damp meadows and wastelands, in ravines and abandoned beds. These first spore-bearing shoots are replaced by green, hard, thin branches at the beginning of summer.
The summer herb horsetail has long been used in folk medicine as a hemostatic, diuretic and anti-inflammatory agent.
And yet, despite these advantages, horsetail has a reputation as a nasty weed. In appearance it is inconspicuous and even boring: it has neither flowers nor spreading leaves. Loves high humidity, prefers light soils. However, he is ready to adapt to a variety of conditions.
Like most weeds, horsetail is stubborn and resilient. Where the ground has not been disturbed for years by a plow or shovel, it does not send its black-and-white rhizome further than 40-50 cm. In crops, it sometimes goes 1.5 m deep into the soil. Imperceptibly, but very persistently, the weed depletes the bed, accumulating in the rhizome with small nodules located on it, there are reserves of sugars and starch.
Horsetail is especially successful in making its preparations on fallow lands or in a potato field, where it takes a hefty portion of mineral nutrition from the cultivated host.
If you decide to get rid of this green “predator”, do not hope to defeat it simply by weeding. Most likely, in a couple of weeks you will be disappointed to discover that there is even more horsetail in the area than there was before.
And this is not surprising: the rhizome nodules remaining in the ground are organs of vegetative reproduction. By destroying the above-ground part of the plant, you have only forced it to vigorously fight for survival. That's when the weed needed nodules with a supply of nutrients.
How to get rid of horsetail
How to deal with this harmful plant?
Among other things, the presence of this weed is considered one of the signs of increased soil acidity. It can be reduced by adding dolomite flour or crushed slaked lime under digging.
On a note
The herbicide Glyphos can be used against horsetail. It blocks the synthesis of aromatic amino acids in plants, as a result of which the weed gradually dies. It is practically safe for bees, but it limits their flight from 6 to 12 hours.
Biological method of controlling horsetail
Horsetail does not tolerate proximity to cabbage crops (formerly called cruciferous crops). Their root secretions are capable of suppressing weeds. Therefore, in places where the appearance of horsetail has been noticed, radishes, radishes, daikon, rapeseed or mustard should be planted next year.
Horsetail - traditional medicine recipes
In winter, you can prepare an infusion of horsetail to boost your immunity.
Its use will help resist viral infections. 1 tbsp. l. dry herbs, pour a glass of boiling water, leave for 1 hour, strain. Drink this amount of infusion in 3-4 doses throughout the day.
For exacerbation of cystitis, horsetail decoction is used. 2 tbsp. l. dried herb, pour 1 liter of water, boil for 10 minutes, let it brew in a warm place for 20 minutes, strain. Take 150-200 ml 2-3 times a day. Do not throw away the squeezed grass, but place it in a gauze bag and apply it warm to the lower abdomen.
Viktor Anatolyevich Krylov
Horsetail is a very harmful weed that produces spore-bearing shoots in various parts of the garden, starting in mid-May. The plant is dangerous because its growing rhizomes draw all the moisture from the ground and deplete the soil, preventing cultivated plants from developing normally.
When digging (both spring and autumn), horsetail roots are hardly noticeable, so it is difficult to select them. Meanwhile, they can go into the soil to a depth of 40-60 cm or even 1 m. It is very difficult to dig up the ground to such a depth. Thus, the shovel does not reach the rhizomes of the weed, and it quietly reproduces, populating new territories. Therefore, there are several rules for preparing the soil on the site, following which you can protect the site from horsetail.
Principles of soil preparation
1. When using imported soil, make sure that it does not contain inconspicuous blackish horsetail rhizomes. Otherwise, the plant will settle on your site, and it will be difficult to get rid of it.
2. Lime the soil to create unfavorable conditions for horsetail to grow. Usually calcium-containing preparations (lime, chalk, ash, dolomite flour) are used for this purpose.
If horsetail grows on the site, it means the soil is acidic
The most popular and most convenient remedy is dolomite flour. Indeed, in addition to reducing acidity, it also improves the structure of the soil and enriches it with magnesium. And, unlike lime, dolomite flour can be added at any time of the year.
The table shows approximate doses of dolomite flour when liming different types of soil.
3. Be consistent. In the first year, apply the full dose of liming materials, and in the next 2-3 years - no more than half. It is preferable to do this in the spring. If you alternate this activity with weeding out the green stems of horsetail, then after 3-4 years you can get rid of this insidious weed completely.
What medications will get rid of horsetail?
Since horsetail is a spore plant and not a flowering plant, the use of Tornado or Roundup is ineffective. Horsetail can only be destroyed by using a large dose (4 ml/10 sq.m.) of a more powerful herbicide, such as Glyphos. But in this case, there is a high probability of hazardous chemicals getting into not only the soil, but also vegetables and fruits.
Horsetail does not get along with plants of the Cruciferous family: winter rapeseed, oilseed radish, white mustard. Therefore, in order to protect the site from weeds, after harvesting, these plants can be sown in empty beds. Winter rye has the same property.
Medicinal properties of horsetail
On the one hand, horsetail is a malicious weed that takes nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus from the soil and accumulates them in its nodules.
On the other hand, this is a unique medicinal plant that contains a large amount of valuable substances, as well as silicic acid, which the human body really needs. It is necessary for the construction of the skeleton, the functioning of mucous membranes, the healing of wounds and damage to the walls of blood vessels. Silicon compounds contained in horsetail prevent the formation of kidney stones. It is especially effective for diseases of the urinary tract.
For cooking medicinal tea from horsetail 1-2 tsp. dried crushed herb is poured into 250 ml of hot water, left for 30 minutes and filtered. It is recommended to drink up to 3 cups of this drug per day.
Of course, for an ordinary summer resident, horsetail is a weed that harms plantings. Therefore, carefully check the brought soil, monitor the acidity of the soil and promptly get rid of “accidental” weeds before they have time to fill the entire area.
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You will need
- - gardening tools (shovel, hoe, rake);
- - lime fertilizers;
- - seeds of cruciferous plants;
- - chemicals;
- - respirator, gloves.
Instructions
If you decide with horsetail ohm mechanically, i.e. digging, weeding and loosening the soil, you will have to do this carefully. You should carefully select rhizomes and under no circumstances leave them within your land plot, and take it outside its boundaries or place it in compost heap. (Weeds thrown to the ground can take root again and form new shoots). But even after the most thorough cultivation of the soil and “combing out” the rhizomes, you definitely will not get to the deep-lying roots; they, alas, remain in the ground and germinate with new strength. That is why traditional method weed control - weeding, i.e. superficial, ineffective. However, still prune the shoots with a hoe early horsetail a, which are brown spore-bearing shoots, without waiting for weeding cultivated plants, planted or sown in this place.
Because the horsetail on acidic soils, their acidity should be reduced. This can be achieved by adding lime materials to the soil. These include calcite, dolomite, limestone, sugar production waste, slaked lime, etc. However, with this method there is a risk of a significant decrease in nutrients in the soil, since when applying lime fertilizers nutrients are not reproduced. If you decide to use this method, carefully read the instructions for using a specific lime material and strictly follow the proportions specified in it.
Horsetail is not “friendly” with cruciferous plants, such as rapeseed, oilseed radish, mustard, arugula and others. Their root secretions inhibit weeds and doom them to complete death. Sow brassicas at the end of harvest and during the subsequent soil preparation period. next year. If you don’t find these crops, sow winter rye - it also has brilliant “sanitary” properties.
Chemical method. Apply an aqueous solution of Titus herbicide to the soil (read the instructions carefully). As an “adhesive”, add laundry soap or PARTrepd 90 to the solution. These herbicides do not harm potatoes and other crops, and horsetail and other weeds (sow thistle, chickweed, galinsoga, etc.) are destroyed well. Read the instructions for the timing of drug administration.
Helps get rid of horsetail and field and aqueous solution