Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Is brown corkscrew normal in the winter?

Corkscrew ell grass(Vallisneria americana) question. I planted this short spiral ell grass last spring and it spread well the first season. But the older plants seem to get a brownish fuzzy look later on. Especially when FA was on top of the water over them for a month and then the decay I think sifted down to the bottom of the pond. But the plants continued to produce new green plants. Now through the winter they are almost in a decay state it seems. Does anyone know if this is normal for this plant? I guess I will know if they are all right in a couple of months. In comparison to the Corkscrew there is what I believe a narrow leaf pondweed plant in my pond that so far has never grown on top of the water and has stayed bright green through the winter. This may be a nice plant to transplant to other parts of the pond after some more observation this summer.

Lots of pond plants die back during the colder months and re-appear when the water warms up. Time will tell, but I'd say it was normal.

In our region and growing zones of 4-5, Vallisneria is a warm season plant. It is normal for standard V. americana and many varieties of eelgrass especially those of more southern forms to go dormant in winter conditions. If plants have not died, regrowth will be noticable when water reaches 68-70F. Look for regrowth in our area in June, a similar growth pattern of the warm season grasses.

Thanks for that info. The corkscrew is a beautiful plant so I hope it does well and is only dormant. The plant that stayed green this winter and never grew up to the water surface (that looks similar to a narrow leaf pondweed) looks like it would be a valuable oxygenator in the winter and a desirable plant to have. As the water level dropped in my pond last summer this plant always stayed below the surface so I want to double check to see if this happens this summer then I will take pictures and try to make a true identification of it.

Update. I planted Vals, Corkscrew (Vallisneria americana) last spring and it spread quite well the first year. My pond this year has had a pea green bloom that limits my view to about 1 ½ feet, so I was in my waders today and reached down and pulled some up and it is doing OK. It was about 5 inches long and very green, so this looks like it will do alright here in e. central IN for those that were wondering about this plant.

I had a square foot of aluminum soffit laying on the bottom of the pond, and on the bottom of it were three circles of hundreds of very small eggs. Surely FHM couldn’t get underneath this to lay eggs so I have no idea what they might be. I put it back in the water so what ever it is can hatch.

Why do you think FHM wouldn't go underneath it to lay eggs? Sounds like normal behavior to me... If you take a photo of the eggs, we can confirm this.

The thread that has been shared with all of us is good and i really liked it.

I will take a picture of it this morning when I go to the pond. The reason I didn't think it was FHM is the metal was laying flat on the bottom and I couldn't see how they could get under it to lay their eggs. If the eggs are identified as FHM's then one could just lay sheets of aluminum on the bottom without any kind of suspension for FHM spawning.

Also I saw a new plant growing in the pond yesterday and was very happy to have it since I have tried to find it when kayaking in other waters. It is American Elodea.

Almost all the eggs wash away when I put the aluminum back into the water but this is what they look like. The actual size is smaller then a pin head. Does this look like FHM eggs?

Assuming some of the eggs were washed away, it looks very similar to FHM eggs to me. FHM will very often excavate a cavity for egg laying under "stuff" with flat surfaces lying on the bottom. FHM spawning can begin at 60F and your water in central IN now has the correct temperature.

BE watchful of the Elodea in your pond. It can spread fast and tends to be invasive. If it was in my pond I would be very unhappy.

Yup, sure looks like FHM eggs to me...

Well, that's great news knowing that the FHM can actually get under something lying flat on the bottom of the pond to spawn under. Perhaps large roofing panels could just be laid on the pond bottom to really enhance the spawning numbers of FHM's. Yesterday I saw quite a lot of very small surface water disturbances that I thought might be new spawns but I couldn't see for sure because of the light glare off the water.

My pond has evolved over the years from a groomed fishing pond to a natural nature pond where something exciting is constantly taking place from day to day. So I do want plants like American Elodea and my main submerged plant is curly leaf pond weed. I want them controlled somewhat so I am putting in 6 GC this Friday.

American waterweed (American Elodea) is an important part of lake ecosystems. It provides good habitat for many aquatic invertebrates and cover for young fish and amphibians. Waterfowl, especially ducks, eat this plant. The plant is narrow and a dime would cover the leaves from side to side.

John, Elodea is considered to be an invasive species in some states, and is illegal to sell there so be careful what you wish for............... It's listed as an invasive species for a reason.

I'll be careful esshup. I went through this years ago with Eurasian Milfoil that I planted on purpose as an experiment. 18 GC took it completely out, but the wildlife loved it.

John, do you have an update on this plant? It sounds quite interesting...

John - Also how is your corkscrew eel grass doing this year. It should be green with some 4"-8" leaves in late June.

What plant is this? I have some in a tank and wondered what it was.

Should it be stocked in a pond?





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Don't put it in the pond unless you want problems.

If you want to know what type of plant it is, it's listed here.

The plant is likely Elodea of some species. It can be problematic in a pond and there are a lot better plants for a pond than Elodea and probably the same one as pictured above. American waterweed.

I just posted this but I will do it here also.
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We are in a drought in east central Indiana and the water in my pond has dropped more at this time of year then it ever has in the last 15 years. My spiral ell grass is starting to come out of the water on bare ground as the water retreats. Since it cost a dollar a plant with shipping last year I hate to see any of it die even though it has spread well. So I transplant it by taking a long handled spade and take a shallow shovel full of ell grass and place it out in deeper water by setting the spade on the bottom and scooting the shovel back and forth. The grass slips off the shovel and settles on the bottom with no transplant shock. Thought I would mention this if anyone else has spiral ell grass in these drought conditions.
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MOHELLO I'm pretty sure the plant is American Elodea. Place a dime next to it and if the dime is as wide as the outside leaves, that is most likely what it is. I had some show up in my pond and I though I would like it, but now I don't. It is too thick and layes on top of the pond. esshup said I wouldn't like it and he is right. Right now I have a 10 foot dia. of it but some spatterdock is growing up through it so it will be interesting to see which plant can out compete each other. My frogs and turtles love it. They set in and on top if it everyday. If my GC don't control it in the long run I will have to do some spot control.

Bill, FULLCIRCLE, the spiral ell grass is doing great. It is green and thick and the orginal 100 plants has become tens of thousands. It looks like a perfect pond plant.

How tall are the leaves of your spiral eel grass and is it sending up flower heads yet? Could you take a picture of some plants that you are transplanting?

I have to ponds void of plants but they are turbid. Are there any I can try to stock on them and have success? Please list some food plants to add to ponds that should not cause too much of a problem. Thanks

Bill I will take some pictures today. Usually the first plants to be exposed to dry land are little tiny ones as these are the new plants expanding outward but I also scoop up full sized ones also.

This section of spiral ell grass was planted from 4 plants and is now about 6 feet deep and 12 foot wide that was planted a year ago last spring. Some of it isn't in the picture.


This is one spot of the above section.


This is one shovel full of transplanting. Probably has as many plants as my $100 worth in this one shovel as I paid for all the plants last year.


The two bottom pictures are along the shore around the pond. I planted one plant every 8 feet or so and they have mostly connected together around the pond. These plants had a blanket of FA shading the top of them half of last year but it didn't seem to stop their growth.

Excellent information John. I ordered some corkscrew from your source at the end of last week. I ordered 140 plants. I hope mine does as well as yours!