Common horsetail or Equisetum arvense 508 is one of the nine preparations used in Biodynamics, and is also referred to as Preparation 508 or simply 508.

One of three Biodynamic field or vineyard sprays, this preparation is made from a wild plant called Common horsetail or, Equisetum arvense. It is one of the seven wild plants used in Biodynamics.

Equisetum arvense 508 is applied to the vines land as a field pray, and is said to have a caustic effect.

The spray is made either by macerating the plant’s stems for a short time in warm water as a freshly made tea; or as a liquid manure if macerated in water over several or more days. Only two other of the nine Biodynamic preparations are applied to the land as field sprays: Horn manure 500 and Horn silica 501. 

Somewhat unusually. Common Horsetail  grows from fungal spores, rather than sexually produced seeds. This is what makes Common horsetail of special interest. It’s a green plant that has overcome its fungal origins, and remains disease-free despite inhabiting fungal-dominated places like marshes.

See also: Equisetum Plus. | Urticae 500. 

Also known as: 508; Equisetum arvense, Equisetaceae family; la prêle de champs (French); Das Schachtelhalm-Präparat 508 (German); l’equiseto or la coda di cavallo (Italian); Preparación de Cola de Caballo or Preparado 508 (Spanish); cavalinho dos campos or cavalinha (Brazilian/Portuguese).

Bibliography

Rudolf Steiner, Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture by Rudolf Steiner (Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, Inc. USA, 1993), trans. by C. Creeger and M. Gardner.