Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants question about Whitecap

I have a watermeal problem, again. I treated It with Whitecap 4 years ago and it worked great. Since then I've add aeration and wonder if I should use it during this dosing period? Also, I have 2 nice hybrid water lilies......will Whitecap kill them? thanks

I have a pond covered in water meal right now. I was going to treat it with whitecap this weekend. Any reason why this time of year isn't good?

I don't see anything in the product instructions regarding time of year for application.

http://www.fluridone.com/documents/whitecap-fluridone-label-instructions.pdf

I don't expect there to be any issue with WhiteCap this time of year because it stays in the water for a long time (assuming you can keep the same water) and acts slowly. I've applied it a few times, but never this time of year...

Someone with more knowledge will likely reply.

Jaymz, the only thing to watch for in this hot weather is decaying organic matter, which uses up O2 in the water.

When I dosed four years ago it was in July. It's the best time for me do to runoff waters in the spring and fall. It worked with no fish kill. I recently dug a ditch around this pond to slow down the nutrients entering. (fingers crossed)

Do you think aeration would have any negative effect?

I don't see any reason why aeration would cause problems during your treatment. I had mine on last year when I treated with Whitecap. You'll want as much oxygen as you can get in your water while the plants are decomposing.

I believe Whitecap is going to be most effective on watermeal if you hit it early in the season right as it's beginning to emerge. I hit it late last year - probably in early to mid July and it didn't die off for probably 60 - 80 days. This year, I hit it late winter/early spring and haven't had a bit of it show up yet. The watermeal is a lot more susceptible to the effect of the fluoridone when it's emergent, where it appears able to hold on a bit longer when it's fully emerged. You can use it now, but don't expect quick results.