Carry on up the Kibosh!

My young mate Micky, the apprentice allotmenteer, has a weed problem on his newly acquired plot, namely Marestail AKA Horsestail or Pipeweed or, to give it it's botanical name, Equisetum arvense. This little devil is very difficult to get rid off. The evil black creeping rhizomes penetrate deep into the soil and where they surface they give rise to green ‘bottlebrush’ stems in the late spring and summer.

It is virtually impossible to eradicate by cultural means because when you pull up one of these stems you are rewarded a few weeks later by two more where once there was one! When you dig the ground where they lay, the black rhizomes break up and this helps to propagate more stems. A three centimetre length of rhizome can give rise to a whole new plant.

We have achieved a measure of success by spraying it with Glyphosate (‘Round-up’) but the problem with using any herbicide spray against Marestail is that the ‘Bottlebrush’ stems are practically impervious to chemical uptake by virtue of the waxy nature and small ‘leaf’ area.

However, last week during an idle early morning moment I decided to put Google to the test and searched the internet on “Control Marestail” and I was immediately rewarded with the following:

1. Control mares tail weeds

www.progreen.co.uk Buy Kibosh online to kill weeds plus superb control of mares tail

Further investigation of the website revealed the answer to all our prayers:

I immediately ordered 2 bottles which were delivered that evening.

The wonders of the internet.

Now we didn't get where we are today by procrastinating so “Have Kibosh will spray” has been adopted as our motto for the week and yesterday morning the Kibosh was applied. How successful it will be is questionable as we are very late in the season and the growing process which causes the chemical to be absorbed and transferred through the root system is virtually at an end. If not we can try again in the spring if and when the weed starts growing again.

Since our return from Cyprus we have been busy clearing the raised beds so that manure can be dug in ready for next season. I have planted autumn onion sets, garlic and broad beans, on the appropriate moon days of course, for an early crop next year.

Just to give you all a laugh, here is the photo from the Rushmoor in Bloom Award night.

Nothing changes except the Mayor!

I seem to put more effort in each year but the result is the same. Next year, with the newly purchased caravan in Selsey, I won't be spending so much time at the allotment but perhaps that will mean I will do better - You Never Can Tell!