Horsetail equisetum

[MikeC]

Where can I get horsetail?  Are there any websites where I can buy some?  

[not telling]

I can send you some next time I make it, or i can just send the plant. Been meaning to get some more and I'm about to get a week straight of rain days so I'll have time to hike to where I get it. You'll have to pm me your address again though.

[arglebargle]

Make it?

How do you use it? I've always just used the plant as it is.

[FiddleDoug]

28 minutes ago, arglebargle said:

Make it?

How do you use it? I've always just used the plant as it is.

I have played with it a little. The stems are hollow, so I slit it, open it up, and press it flat to dry. You may be able to find some growing around by yourself. I find it growing in sandy areas around a lake close to me.

[MikeC]

NT, I sent you a PM. 

I was wondering if any violin supply websites would have it but I can't seem to find any.   

[ernym]

Hi Mike,

I used to buy mine from Kremer but found a seller on Etsy that may or may not work for you.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4491125747/dried-horsetail-reeds-for-art-bundle?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_ps-b-craft_supplies_and_tools&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwz9_QBhD_ARIsADnSCfD_0Gj7YkwE65HbDTgCuWKQKJWwvGwa3hs5KuaMY9bbQLlV9fasWkoaAoc9EALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_22634398500_180193306749_756461321183_pla-295462056867_c__4491125747_12768591&utm_custom2=22634398500&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22634398500&gbraid=0AAAAADtcfRLRODMF4Tyf6F67Q6Knsigd6&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz9_QBhD_ARIsADnSCfD_0Gj7YkwE65HbDTgCuWKQKJWwvGwa3hs5KuaMY9bbQLlV9fasWkoaAoc9EALw_wcB

[MikeC]

56 minutes ago, ernym said:

Hi Mike,

I used to buy mine from Kremer but found a seller on Etsy that may or may not work for you.

 

Thanks E.  I looked on Etsy but must not have used the right search term,  didn't find any.  Your search skills are better than mine!   

[arglebargle]

3 hours ago, FiddleDoug said:

I have played with it a little. The stems are hollow, so I slit it, open it up, and press it flat to dry. You may be able to find some growing around by yourself. I find it growing in sandy areas around a lake close to me.

Yeah, that's how I use it. I back it with duct tape. Lasts for a while. And I got a spot that provides me with all I'll ever need.
It sounded like "not telling" was talking about some sort of processing method aside from just cutting and using it.

[Mike Atkins]

I bought a big batch of stalks from Etsy, I don't remember the exact seller, but I think I have enough for a lifetime now...and it was about $15.

[David Beard]

It's extremely common throughout most of the world.

Go to any place where there is shallow but flowing water and mucky mud.  River and stream banks are a good bet.

Pull at a bunch of the stuff. Let it dry.

You certainly can make it more complicated.  But, the earliest descriptions are very simple.  Grab a bunch and rub the wood.

I've often wondered if a messy version of this might have been an early way of putting some nitrates in the wood.

[MikeC]

I grew up in central Georgia rambling through the woods and hangin out in creeks and by the river but I never saw any.  I did find a small bit growing in north Georgia a few years ago but it was very small reeds, not big enough to use.  

[David Beard]

4 hours ago, MikeC said:

I grew up in central Georgia rambling through the woods and hangin out in creeks and by the river but I never saw any.  I did find a small bit growing in north Georgia a few years ago but it was very small reeds, not big enough to use.  

It has to some flow, but very little, and mucky.  If the water does flow, or flows too much, the horsetail won't grow.

[HoGo]

It likes moist sand, look for areas with sandy soil or downright sandy areas. Here it often finds its way into children sandpits when they are close to nature and water.

[lorenzo fossati]

I heard there are different species of the same plant, one that is good abrasive, the other no, and they look similar

[Andreas Preuss]

On 5/28/2026 at 12:34 PM, MikeC said:

Where can I get horsetail?  Are there any websites where I can buy some?  

Horsetail is easy to grow in a planter if you can find some seedlings. 
 

Therefore I would also search in gardening stores. Sometimes it is used as a dekorative low maintenance plant. 
 

 

[GerardM]

It’s a very invasive plant. So DON’T plant in your garden. 

[Will Turner]

18 hours ago, David Beard said:

I've often wondered if a messy version of this might have been an early way of putting some nitrates in the wood.

More of a silicate treatment.   Horsetails have a very high silica content.   Followed by tannins.   Also some compounds that might be beneficial at preventing insects.

[Will Turner]

2 hours ago, GerardM said:

It’s a very invasive plant. So DON’T plant in your garden. 

Worse than bamboo.   If you do, ensure it's a solid concrete or other durable container that won't allow it's traveling risome to infest your neighborhood and further.

[not telling]

On 5/28/2026 at 2:11 PM, arglebargle said:

Yeah, that's how I use it. I back it with duct tape. Lasts for a while. And I got a spot that provides me with all I'll ever need.
It sounded like "not telling" was talking about some sort of processing method aside from just cutting and using it.

That's essentially what I do. I let it dry completely before cutting and soaking sections and drying them flat, then usually the smooth side gets double backed with tape. If you don't back it with something it just kind of falls apart when you try to use it. 

[David Beard]

5 hours ago, Will Turner said:

More of a silicate treatment.   Horsetails have a very high silica content.   Followed by tannins.   Also some compounds that might be beneficial at preventing insects.

I meant from the muck it likes to grow in.  If you carelessly jank it out of the mucky, you get dirty roots that are covered in nitrate rich gunk.

 

[Will Turner]

1 hour ago, David Beard said:

I meant from the muck it likes to grow in.  If you carelessly jank it out of the mucky, you get dirty roots that are covered in nitrate rich gunk.

 

Good point.   Makes you wonder what the result would be to use tannin and nitrate rich bog water as a treatment.   No need to brew that manure and urine treatment some like to use.

[MikeC]

10 hours ago, Will Turner said:

Good point.   Makes you wonder what the result would be to use tannin and nitrate rich bog water as a treatment.   No need to brew that manure and urine treatment some like to use.

I had a sample of the manure stuff that someone sent me. It had strong ammonia smell. So that's a component.  Maybe add some ammonia to the swamp water.  

[FiddleDoug]

4 hours ago, MikeC said:

I had a sample of the manure stuff that someone sent me. It had strong ammonia smell. So that's a component.  Maybe add some ammonia to the swamp water.  

I find mine growing in the sand along a lake shore, so ammonia and swamp water aren’t necessary.

[LCF]

Interesting hobby, violin making 

I doubt whether anyone in Australia would be foolish enough to grow this stuff even if it was available as seeds or cuttings. It's extremely invasive + illegal. The roots travel up to 100 metres. 

 

"Horsetails are among the world's worst agricultural weeds because of their invasive capabilities. They are native to all continents except Australia and New Zealand.

Horsetails have the potential to become persistent weeds of wetlands and other low-lying areas in southern Australia.

All species are thought to contain chemicals that are toxic to livestock and small fragments of the roots or stems can produce new plants.

(Thiaminase)

The root system, combined with the plant's ability to fragment, makes horsetails highly invasive and difficult to eradicate once established."

 

[lorenzo fossati]

Here you can find them in certain spots, but they do not overgrow, at least from what I have seen. Bamboo on the countrary is relentless