"martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 May 2004 18:23:12 +0100, "Brian"
wrote:


"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On 24 May 2004 13:17:35 GMT, emon (Rhiannon S)
wrote:

Subject: mares tail
From: Judith Lea
Date: 24/05/2004 14:08 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

Help, I have sprayed twice with Roundup - it is becoming very
invasive -
any suggestions?

Move house?

Ok, on a slightly more practical note then, mares tail is almost
impossible to
kill and doesn't absorb roundup like most plants

Somebody, Franz?, said that if you trample on the part above the
surface first then the mares tails will absorb Roundup

(I'm sure someone here will be
able to give the scientific explanation for this).

It's got a waxy surface that repels liquids.


The only way to reduce mares tail is to keep digging it up, you'll
never
get
rid of it, but if you keep at it, an hour or so a day, you reduce it's
visibility.

forever? :-((

As suggested, the external tissue is practically proof against
absorption.
There are silicates involved and these will not dissolve.
To bruise the stems, is the best idea, prior to Roundup as some will
then
be taken in. Very little absorption is needed for a kill. Give three
weeks
between applications.
There is a Roundup advisory service that would be able to help. They
might
suggest some additive that will slow down or stop the 'run off'
Good Luck Brian.

Have you actually succeeded in getting rid of mares tails this way,
Brian?

Our neighbouring farm had this as a major local problem covering a field
edge that must have exceeded 2 acres in total.
He used heavy duty ring-rollers before agricultural Roundup [there does
seem to be a difference as I have used both]. The problem was minimal the
next year but had apparently been treated further as the ground was clear of
crops.
I visited once more, about three years later and saw none left/obvious. I
didn't make further enquiries.
Many years before that I found a small [3 stems]group on my own land and
used SBK as I was spraying brambles nearby. I don't remember seeing it
again~~ but it had probably not got a good foothold.
You mentioned depth of roots.~~ Near Hertford, there was a new sandpit
opened and was quickly about twenty feet deep. On the vertical edges roots
could be seen at, and more than, 12'. But then it was pure soft sand~~
perhaps not so deep elsewhere.
Brian.