I live on a small lake in central florida just north of tampa. We have large mats of floating vegetation in our lake they have a grass that is thin and wiry 2-3' tall. They are commonly called tussiks in our town. my question is there anyway to control these things. In the winter the wind blows out of the north and we own the south side of the lake and these islands prevent any lake acess from our property. Any help would be appreciated. -JW

flatscat411,

Welcome to the forum. Until one of the experts chime in to help, you might try this web site.
Texas A&M has 50 or so common weeds--- photos and descriptions--- at www.aquaplant.tamu.edu

Dan

Flat :

The first thing to do with any weed/plant problem is to Id the weed .Look for your plant type on this Florida link for aquatic weeds and their control methods. The pics. and descriptions are a few pages down in the link.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AA238

Flat, First off welcome...

I used to be an aquatic weed tech in your area and have a first-hand experence with the tussics. (Not to be confused with the tribbles on Star Trek).

They are essentially a floating bog with a combination of terrestrial and aquatic plants growing on them.

Depending on the size, they can hold your weight but I have found them to be very unstable. It can be un-nerving while standing on one and it begins to sink on one side and starts to capsize. Note to self: (don't do that again).

I did treat one that was approximately 50x50 with aquatic herbicides every other month, and it took over a year before it started to break up and sink to the bottom. The problem with this method of removal is that the tussic will decrease the depth of the area where it sinks at least until the benthic animals like slugs, snails, worms and bacteria start to break it down.

This same customer had another one in their lake and since this smaller one took so long to remove, we decided to anchor it in an area that would not inhibit any of the lake users. This can be done one of many ways, a simple cinder block with black poly rope anchored to rebar pounded into the tussic works well.

This has an added benefit of a fish habitat by providing shelter and hunting grounds for the game fish. (Don't tell your neighbors about your new found honey hole).

I would suggest the anchor method opposed to the treatment method.

Again welcome and if you need a person to meet you at your site, I have some friends who would love to help you out.