Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Unwanted plants-help!

Hi everyone! New to the forum. I have unwanted plants and would love for someone to tell me how to get rid of the stuff growing in the pond without hurting the fish- catfish and perch. Also how to beat back the cat tails. I was told I could spray round up on them and then burn them.

Try this site for id and control info.

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/

CMR, by looking at the edges, it looks coontailish to me. Better pics would sure help with an ID.

Here's a good thread on plant pics.

If it does turn out to be coontail, a Reward/Cutrine-Plus mix works great. Hope this helps.

When you take a look at that site, take a look at American Pondweed.

Be careful using herbicides around ponds that aren't rated for pond use.

Scott, I had originally thought AP too. But the lighter green section in the interior part looks like it's been, or is, out of the water.

I'd be curious after better pics what it turns out to be.

What pushed me to APW is that there isn't much visible under the water, and the water looks pretty durn clear. I'll be interested to see better pictures, or if the OP was able to ID it from the TAMU website.

Sorry everyone, I've been away. Thanks for the responses.
Here is a pic of some I pulled out.

Al, we were both way off in our guesses.

CaveManRancher, go to this website: http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/visual-index/

Look at Egeria, Eloda and Hydrilla and tell us which one it is.

Ain't that the truth!

My water clarity looks the same as yours and that's what lots of plants can do. Bering in mind that there are chemicals made for water use, but these are experiences of mine and pond friends of mine killing cattails. Two farmer pond friends use Roundup to kill cattails with no fish kills they were aware of. In the middle of last summer I used a the small bottle of Eliminator (about 16 oz $10 Walmart) mixing the whole bottle with 2 1/2 gal., or 4 oz. to a gal. to kill a cattail area of about 10 x 30 feet and not one cattail has come up in this area so far. I had bubbles from the spray form on the top of the water that my minnows were gulping at like trying to eat so I closely watched for dead minnows the next couple of weeks and didn't see any. I use about a gallon of the spray for this area and the rest on my driveway. I don't recommend this.

I also had nasty Eurasian Millfoil in my one acre pond in which I added 18 grass carp and in 4 years the pond was almost nude of any plants.

Hydrilla

If it IS Hydrilla, you really, really should report it to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Here's the contact person's e-mail. howard.elder@tpwd.state.tx.us Now retired.

Hydrilla has teeth on the mid-rib that you can feel when you pull it thru your hand from base to end. The other 2 don't.

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/management-options/hydrilla/

Aquathol K at 1.9 gals/acre foot and treat half. Wait about 7-10 days and treat the other half. Put the product on the occupied areas and allow to equilibrate.
BTW, Howard Elder no longer works TPWD. He retired.

Thanks for the retirement notice. I got that info from the TAMU website. I'll send them a note.

I'm sceptical that the imaged specimen is Hydrilla . It could easily be Egeria densa or Elodea canadensis .
All three share close similarities and are often confused; yet the accurate assessment of identity is very important when determining an appropriate control-measure - especially herbicide-selections.
I'm curious if anybody can explain what keys shown in the OP's photo allow an absolute identification as Hydrilla.
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BTW: John, your comments sure read like a recommendation to me.
Acute mortality to fish isn't the only adverse affect that can accompany "off-labeled" uses of certain herbicides (or their surfactant components) in aquatic habitits.
IF you insist on using off-labeled products in your pond, that's your business - although I certainly can't understand the rationale for doing so; but posting off-labeled "experiences" on a public forum is pushing the envelope.
What happens if a reader acts on your suggestive prose but encounters far different results?
I'm sure the product's manufacturer will be thankful that they're not liable for such off-labeled uses.

Kelly I stated there are chemicals for water use. What I said are real world experiences. Why are these chemicals used by these three farmer friends is because they have Roundup in large barrel drums and for them it's very cheap. Two have had their ponds for over 20 years and one for 30 using Round up on cattails with no effects they are aware of. They also use copper sulfate, die for submerged weeds control that they pick up at the farm store. And grass carp. One of the ponds produce huge bluegills. I used what I use for my driveway, and after careful testing the dosage I saw no problems at all. After Glyphosate the rest of the ingredients on the product were listed as inert. Inert materials are usually not listed and any problems probably are in this area. So at first I added a dishwater surfactant (what could be safer then that) but later found out I didn't even need that. In my product, most likely a surfactant would cause a problem if one can be seen. I'm going to a pond seminar next week and perhaps I'll ask the question (can you use Roundup, and if he says no, I'll ask what is the damage you've seen.) Let's just say I ask this question from an expert once before and you wouldn't like the answer.

I see more life taking place in and around my pond area then any pond I have seen. That's because plants are the source of life and is food for bugs on up the chain. If I still had muskrats I wouldn't even be spraying a few cattails. I don't represent any chemical companies and I try to present a different view on the forum. I hope a contrary view isn't pushing the envelope and out of the box too much.