Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Curly-leafed pond weed

Its in my signature ;-), 0.6 acres, average 9' when at full pool, 13' max.

my pond is probably very similar to yours the water in mine is cryatal clear and i can easily go swimming and see every thing with goggles. i too had clpw in my pond and it is its highest in june and it slowly dies and is almost all gone by august but it always comes back every year at the same time and will die at the same time. it doesnt really move to areas that its not alreday there. it is really nothing to worry about plus it looks cool underwater and offers great cover for little fish if there are bass or crappie in your lake.

Another update,
It seems that where I have sediment wash-in, the CLPW had gone berserk. Other areas of the pond have very little of it. The area with the sediment grows at a rate of ~3 inches PER DAY in 50-60 degree water.

I am going to drop in some grass carp to keep the bushes trim, I would like to keep some plants, just not an incredibly thick mat of the stuff.

So it looks like CLPW likes rich sediments to grow in. Other parts of the pond are basic clay, it it doesn't seem to take hold there.

Soo... two years later and I have NOT treated the CLPW at all, and it is not a problem whatsoever any more. Sure it is here and there, but for the most part it is tame in my nutrient poor pond.
Far less coverage than I expected, way better than I dare hoped! If it were going to go nuts, it would have been this cool summer. The Koi may be denting it also.

Sometimes it is best just to relax and not rush into fixing a "problem" when it really isn't one. Turns out the stuff makes excellent cover for fish fry, clarifies the water well for swimming, and is somewhat aesthetically pleasing. Better than nothing but chara and FA. The ducks keep devouring my eel grass, so no hope there.

Many years later (Wow, time marches on!) I still have not treated CLPW. This may be the first year where the swimming area to where the float raft goes is getting choked off. I wanted to get some paper shell crayfish in hopes they can convert some plant matter into usable food for the BCP and the lone bass, but they are not available until June, which is a bit late for this year to get a leg up on the plants.

I may finally pull out the big guns and spot-treat areas we like to swim in and leave the other areas alone. I like the plant in there as without it I don't have a heck of a lot of cover otherwise. But in contrast to this, I have never had a bloom, and my recruitment is pathetic for lack of phytoplankton to support the newborns. I blame that on the nutrient sucking ability of the CLPW.

https://smithcreekfishfarm.com/products/aquathol-super-k

The CLPW certainly is responsible for water clarity being absurdly drinking water clear. Each spring around now (April/May) I can see smack to the 12ft+ bottom where there aren't weeds. The fish all chill under the dock as they are quite uncomfortable being exposed in the clear water.

My biggest problem? My inflatable boat popped. I want to get a small hard-bottomed rowboat for pond work, so getting out on the water is a bit of a problem.

I'm the former manufacturer of the Jenson Lake Mower, invented by Mr Ben Jenson of MN. (I retired and sold the business to Elastec, Inc. in 2020, so I am thankful it will hopefully survive me.)

Feedback from our customers was very positive for CLPW. They said they saw a significant reduction in regrowth when they cut before the seeds formed. We found that to be true for many aquatic plants.

But if the CLPW can grow from fragments, won't cutting it actually make it spread faster?

I don't think CLPW spreads from stems nor leaf fragments. CLPW is an annual plant. However CLPW does spread from its seeds in the seed head and the turions that develop in the axils of some of the leaves. The turions grow and develop as the plant matures. I think there is a point in time of growth or development where the turion becomes viable to produce a sprout of a new CLPW plant; similar to any plant that produces seeds. IMO not all newly developing seeds nor turions are active for new growth and it takes a stage of maturity for regrowth ability of a new plant. If the CLPW can be cut or removed before the turions are viable or mature or start to develop then non-turion parts of the plant will not re-sprout into a new plant. This assumes the seed head of the CLPW also has not fully developed.

A turion is a resistant plant bud that is found in certain aquatic plants, and can allow the plant to survive winter in the vegetative state (i.e., without setting seeds). The word “turio” is latin for a shoot or sprout (shoot in the sense of a plant stem and leaves), and is used in this case because a bud can develop into a shoot, as might happen with the turion in the late fall or spring after the ice has melted.

Bill, that's exactly what I thought too, but then I see a lot of references saying that it can spread by parts of the plant too, not just the turions or the rhizomes.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/our-w...s-fact-sheets/plants/curlyleaf-pondweed/

esshup - That SeaGrant page does not even mention turions although it does show a turion. I think they consider the turion a plant fragment which technically it is a fragment of the plant. The wording on the page is general and it does not distinguish the growth activity or ability among stems, leaves, and turions. I defy anyone to show me how a leaf. stem or leaf & stem will sprout into a new plant for the specie CLPW. If we pin the author down to specific details I think they were referring to a turion as a plant fragment. I did not get an A+ in Aquatic Vascular Plants in grad school for being a dummy.

Lol on the last statement!

Having a heck of a time with the boat issue, then remembered I have a frikken fiberglass canoe unused hanging from the ceiling of my garage. May be a bit large for the purpose, but it will work. I am thinking I bonked my head on it one too many times, and that is why I forgot about it. I stopped using it as it was shedding fiberglass and my little guy has very sensitive skin. Went canoeing with him in that, and he became an itchy welt. It's been in the garage ever since.

Contacted a local pond service company, and it seems all they want to work on is wealthy people's ponds and water features. Outrageously expensive to treat paying someone else. Plus, they claimed you cannot get the herbicide in NY without a license while I was looking on a website for a pond supplier an hour drive from me with it for sale for NY residents. Trying to claim they were the only way to treat. Done with them.

If Bill Cody said it then I believe it!

Fingers crossed, but normally this time of year the CLPW is nearing the surface with cold and sunny days. I don’t see it yet at all. It was a very mild winter, so more sun than usual making it to the bottom. I would expect the CLPW to be going nuts… but it is not.
It is quite possible that the papershell crayfish are nipping the plants in the bud! Hopefully not too much as I would rather not have an algae bloom, but it sure is promising if they are turning plant into edible biomass and keeping the pond swimable.

What is your pond's water temperature? Keep watching for weed growth to show as the water gets above 55F. Then I think at least some stems with leaves will show up at they quickly 'reach' for the surface. I do hope your crayfish are reducing the growth of the CLPW however IMO crayfish are very vulnerable to predation on bottom areas to eat early growth of CLPW. I have seen with my Aqua-View CLPW 6"-12" tall on the bottom in mid winter under ice. Crayfish are still pretty dormant and not real active and do not eat very much when water temps are below 50F. Does the pond have bass 12"-16"? Then crays eating bottom weed growth away from dense structure are easy meals for hungry bass.

I currently have no bass, just the koi are the primary predators of the crayfish, then perhaps perch. Haven’t see a WE in a few years. I wanted to get the crayfish well established before LMB, but was waiting to see what happens with the CLPW.

It’s been a very screwy year. The water temps got up to about 50 at the surface in March before reality struck and it froze over two weeks later. It’s back to about 42 yesterday, but it was 78 today, so expecting temps to rise.

The water was clear enough to see the bottom before it rained a lot last week, and I could see a few CLPW plants coming up, but nowhere near the density the year prior.