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Marestail - Tips for Controlling this Tough Weed

Marestail, also known as horseweed and Canada fleabane, has developed resistance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp. Although it is native throughout North America, marestail has become quite weedy due to its ability to produce and spread large quantities of seed. An individual plant can produce up to 200,000 seeds! And the seeds have a bristly-hairy appendage that facilitates being distributed by wind.

In the northern parts of Indiana, marestail is typically a winter annual (seed germinates in the fall, overwinters as a leafy rosette, then flowers and sets seeds in spring.) In southern areas of Indiana, it is more typically a summer annual (spring germination with summer flowering and seed.)  The plants can reach up to 6 feet tall.

The herbicides that provide good control of marestail are not generally available or practical for home gardens and landscapes. In the yard and garden, the most successful control strategy is preventing the plants from going to seed. Mowing, hoeing and digging the plants before they flower is key. Small, young plants will be easier to control. Mulching might help suppress germination of existing seeds.

Although aimed at agronomic production, Purdue Extension publication ID-323, Biology and Management of Horseweed, has additional information of interest to home gardeners.  

By B. Rosie Lerner Purdue Extension Consumer Horticulturist

Introducing the NEW FoodLink QR Code Resource Program

Purdue Extension is proud to announce the official roll-out of FoodLink℠, a resource designed as a FREE point of purchase or point of use way to communicate useful food facts to the consumer using QR codes.

Have you ever stood in front of produce and wondered, “What is that?” or “What do I do with that?” Scan the FoodLink℠ QR codes on fresh fruits and vegetables to learn more about them, including how to select, prepare, and care for them.

You don’t have to be a seasonal produce expert, but now you can get information fast from the experts at Purdue Extension.  Click on the FoodLink words above for more information.