Horsetail (508) for plant vitality & resilience
The contribution, measured
Time horizon: 1 season
How it contributes
It is the plant preparation used to reinforce resilience and disfavour fungi, supporting vine health.
What to measure for this pairing
Why this goal matters
Biodynamics seeks balanced, resilient vines through the silica preparations, medicinal plants (horsetail, nettle) and calendar work. The aim is a vine that ripens well and better withstands stress and disease.
Resilience comes mostly from the system as a whole — living soil, vigour balance, biodiversity — complemented by the preparations. Documenting the programme lets you assess the effect over seasons.
Goal indicators
Market & certification: Plant resilience underpins the reduction in interventions that biodynamics values.
How to apply the practice
- 1Prepare the horsetail decoction/tea.
- 2Spray over the vine and soil in humid periods.
- 3Fit into the preventive programme, not as a copper replacement.
- 4Log the applications.
Frequently asked
Does horsetail replace copper?
No. It is a preventive reinforcement within the programme; downy-mildew control still rests on copper and good preventive practice.
When should it be applied?
Mostly in humid, higher-fungal-risk periods, often in combination with the rest of the preventive programme.
Same practice, other goals
Same goal, other practices — Plant
How GrapeFlow helps
The proof Demeter certification demands — logged by plot and date.
Preparations & application log
Every application of 500, 501 and the other preparations logged by plot, date and rate — the history the Demeter audit asks for.
Electronic field notebook
All operations — compost, cover, animals, dynamisation — logged by plot, ready for certification.
Biodynamic calendar
Root, leaf, flower and fruit days and the lunar phases in GrapeFlow, to plan preparation applications and work in step with the calendar.