Equisetum hyemale

silvertipgrizz

Does anyone know of a supplier for this 'Horsetail'? Apparently it is amazing and I need to grow it but I can't find a supplier. I know our network has some from time to time and I will be watching for that as well.

All help appreciated.

SherryA

I got mine from The Grow Network last winter. I'm hoping it lives through this winter! 🤞

silvertipgrizz

@figsagee Have you used it yet? If so, how does it taste?

SherryA

@silvertipgrizz It never grew very much this summer, so I didn't harvest much. I was hoping it would just get well established and then live through the winter to grow more next summer. I actually lost quite a few of the starts that they sent. What I did harvest I put into a batch of fire cider. It was yummy fire cider! 😊

silvertipgrizz

@figsagee Awesome on the fir cider! Let us know how your plants do.

kbmbillups1

I have bought it twice from the GrowNetwork. I will say my family thought I was nuts when I told them we were all going to drink a small amount in some water each night. My oldest flat refused so I put hers in some of those empty gelatin caps so not sure if it's doing what it's supposed to do. She took them to college so we'll see. My husband said he'd do anything not to have to get a root canal and has been gladly drinking it. We finished one jar but have not opened the 2nd jar yet.

It tastes kind of like drinking a bit of tea leaves to us. Not bad but not something I'd drink just because. We all had issues with out teeth - both of my daughters had a cavity, my husband was told her had a couple that might turn into a root canal, and I have a tooth that I'd broken on an olive pit that I'd had a crown put on a couple years ago that just never seemed to heal all the way. I had a hole in my gums in front of the tooth & my dentist said it would probably always be like that. Food was always getting stuck in it and them it would become inflamed. Well, the hole is almost gone! It's so small only the tiniest bit of food gets stuck in it now and my gums around the tooth have healed all the way. I can't say about anyone else in my family since they haven't been back to the dentist but I will say that no one is complaining about their teeth hurting or being sensitive anymore.

I bought my 1st jar when Marjory advertised those package deals around Christmas time but it took us a while to try it. I'm really glad we did! The movie it came with was very interesting. I had a hard time getting it to play though. Everytime I had to pause it to help my daughter it wouldn't play anymore and it took me many tries to get it to even load again. So, the last time I told her I couldn't be interrupted unless it was life & death until the movie was over!

Also - my husband has had a rash on his hand for years that gets worse in the fall/winter. He's gotten creams from his doctor that haven't done a thing. He finally started using the salve I make which helped a little. But surprise, surprise! Now that we've been taking this "tooth herb" as my family calls it his rash is completely gone. Funny thing is he didn't even realize it. I just happened to notice the other day!

maimover

I saw the kits when they were on sale but just wasn’t in the position at that time to purchase. My teeth aren’t the best so I’m looking forward to trying this...

seeker.nancy - Central Texas

I'm going to be trying the horsetail, I have some tinctured and just filled a dropper bottle. On an earlier thread I mentioned that I had seen/heard that you should only use it for six weeks at a time. I have searched and searched to find that source without success but have seen a LOT of positive on the horsetail. So thanks all for your patience waiting to hear (or not, lol) about that source. It's possible that whomever put that info out has pulled it. Really excited to try this! I started using the tooth powder that Marjory recommended as I had all the ingredients. I added three capsules of myrrh to it as well. It took a few days to get used to (mainly not getting the black of the activated charcoal everywhere lol) but I am really loving it. I'm not having the sensitivity in my teeth and I swear it looks like my teeth are filling in a bit on the front teeth! I kinda want to keep my teeth 🤣

Gail H

@figsagee It sounds like you are looking for a source for plants. Here is where I purchased mine. http://springdalewatergardens.com/ShopSite/pbog.html

I made several bog gardens quite a few years ago using kiddie pools. I got the idea from "Paradise Lot" by Eric Toensmeier. I bought most of my plants from Springdale Water Gardens. I was really pleased with their service and selection.

SherryA

@Gail H Oh that's very interesting. I need some bog space in my garden. What's the climate like where you live? Will a bog garden work anywhere? I just put that book on hold at my local library. Thanks!

SherryA

@Gail H On that website you linked, they say "2" cell" on the horsetail. What does that mean?

I'm learning so much here! Thanks for that link.

silvertipgrizz

@Gail H I'm wondering why shipping is just under 14.00 I think it said, but it is high for 2 cells. I'm thinking it is due to special shipping?

Desiree

I am just curious, I have seen "horsetail" in bulk herbs, but it is very hard to find Equisetum hyemale. Does it matter? Are they interchangeable? Potency?

silvertipgrizz

@desireet02

It has to be: Equisetum hyemale Check out "Alternatives To Dentists" with Doug Simons and Marjory.

silvertipgrizz

@desireet02

http://springdalewatergardens.com/ShopSite/pbog.html

Gail H posted this link at 0943 this morning and I found it there. the shipping is very high. I'm going to wait til our network offers it again.

Gail H

I think 2 cell means two individual plants. Tomatoes at garden centers usually come as four cells.

I don't recall that the shipping was exorbitant when I bought my plants, but it's been several years and I bought quite a bit, so that probably brought the shipping per item down quite a bit. Being aquatic plants, they do need special consideration in shipping. I looked at it as a one time expense since everything that I ordered was perennial.

@figsagee I'm in South Jersey . We're USDA zone 7A. I love "Paradise Lot". It's amazing what they do on a tiny lot!

silvertipgrizz

@Gail H

I agree that the shipping would prolly come down with more items ordered and the special handling it prolly requires. And I am so grateful for the site as I really need the plant. I may wind up purchasing one from them if our network doesn't offer it before April as I want to make sure I have enough to harvest to get me through to next spring.

nksunshine27

desireet02 they are the same the equisetum hyemale is smooth and what the native americans call snake grass cause they look like snakes instead of horsetails

kbmbillups1 becareful on using horsetail. there are several precautions about it it says to only take internally for 3 days on some herb sites partley because it can have a high content of nicotine one of my herb books suggest strongly of not harvesting near irrigation canal banks because it pulls all the nitrates from the water and soil and can be very toxic.

you can use diatomateous food grade earth internally longer and it will alo help with teeth bones internal parasites you didn't know you had,🤔and helps the liver which is where it seems alot of psoriasis and skin rashes start from just be carefull its cant be inhaled either

also if you grow it and then dry it use a mask when powdering it for its very high in silica and once that gets in your lungs it does damage

silvertipgrizz

@desireet02

Here is more info:

https://thegrownetwork.com/equisetum-hyemale-horsetail/

LaurieLovesLearning

Scouring rush & horsetail are similar genus, but not the same species. Horsetail is branched, scouring rush is not.

So, does this difference in species change cautions & change effectiveness?

http://www.ediblewildfood.com/horsetail.aspx

http://www.ediblewildfood.com/scouring-rush.aspx

Torey

Equisetum hymale is very easy to distinguish from other Equisetum species because there are only two species that are not branched. E. laevigatum is the other. But amongst the branched species is E. palustre or Marsh Horsetail which contains toxic compounds, including palustrine. It should be avoided. Horses have been poisoned by it. I am not very good at telling the branched species apart. Some are quite different but some are very similar. So know your species before you use one of the branched Horsetails. 14 species of Equisetum in my part of the world.

herbantherapy

My goodness. The gardeners around here are at war with this wonder herb. If the tiniest piece is left on the ground it grows. The roots reach up to 9 feet or more and have a very complex system so they come up everywhere.

i only learned how beneficial they are last Summer (after we had been weeding them out for months). Like the precious Dandelions I’m letting mine grow now. I only pull the ones crowding other plants I want. They are about 2” tall right now and I’m excited to dry them myself this spring to make medicine.

solarnoon.aspen

OMG torey.

I went to pictures of the varieties and can 't tell the hyemale from the laevigatum . One of them is growing in our community and I was thinking it was hyemale, but now not sure.

Torey

@solarnoon.aspen Unfortunately, the interactive maps are still not working on the E-flora BC website. When it comes back online you can check to see which species grows in your area, however, I'm pretty sure you would have both species as E. laevigatum is more common in Southern BC and south of the border. (not generally found north of 54°). E. hymale is widespread and very common. The difference is that E. laevigatum has a more elongated, narrower and less rounded cone top than E. hymale, also without any black segments. If you check the pics on E-flora you should be able to notice the difference in the cones. Hybrids between the two species are common. The hybrid cross is called E. ferrissii. Because the species' hybridise so readily, I would suggest that they can be used interchangeably. E. palustre is the only one I have come across in reference material that had the toxic compounds.

SuperC

can you use wild horsetail that grows on prairies?

Torey

@teachercaryn The only species that I know of that is not for use is E. palustre. Not sure what species you might have in your area. If you go to this page, http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/DB_Query/QueryForm.aspx?hfl=1&f=1&Genus=Equisetum&lifeform=0&Thumbs=Y , there are pics and you can click on each one to get descriptions and sometimes more pics. The maps are not working right now but when they are you can click on them to see where there are locations of that species.

LaurieLovesLearning

I know some Hutterites that say that they pick & use it here in my part of the prairies, but I am unsure of their source (clean/not). I also am not sure if they are picking the scouring rush or any other variety. I haven't asked enough to know how knowledgable they are about it.

What I found close by is most likely scouring rush, but it is in the ditch where it is sprayed numerous times throughout the warmer seasons.

SuperC

A forest ranger once told me thta you can use horsetail to wash dishes as it makes for a good scourer.

LaurieLovesLearning

@teachercaryn That's why the one got the name, scouring rush.

Torey

@teachercaryn I have used it many times for that purpose while camping and it works just as well as any soap-steel wool pads.

nksunshine27

@silvertipgrizz currently homegrownherbalist is selling it in tincture form. also check out this website it has some interesting info on the two geneses, naturalmedicinalherbs.net

@Laurie please look up thses two geneses on naturalmedicinalherbs.net sorry i didnt know how to import them her for the info that they have

@kbmbillups1 please look up the precautions of taking this on naturalmedicinalherbs.net