Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants sago pond weed

I lowered the water level of my pond last year 7ft to expose coontail to a freeze. It was a huge failure. The area that was exposed became seeded with many unwanted plants or weeds. Sago pondweed being the worst right now. The water is VERY fertal now.Ill be lucky to not have a fish kill.

Various extension services and other info-resources support the notion of winter time draw-downs for managing aquatic vegetation, but I suspect that this tactic is only marginally successful on a limited number of aquatic nuisance weed species; and mostly only on exotic aquatic species that originated from warmer climates - such as water hyacinth.
In short, the winter draw-down tactic "might" help reduce weed biomass - temporarily - especially in northern climates, but probably has very limited impact on established seed-banks.
It is feasible to "gradually" stem the growth and/or control both sago pondweed and coontail with fluridone, assuming the site-conditions are suitable for this chemistry. Although this option doesn't eliminate the possibilities of DO-issues, it might be better (safer) than allowing the weed-growth to continue unabated.

Mr. Duffie do you think it is too late in the year to use floridone. Fish kill. I built this pond in 1990 and it been easy to keep nice.It has very good bass and gills. I am in shock at what has happened.I wasnt prepaired and dinked around with it and its out of control.Ive been useing some diquat and copper each week on primrose and cattails and moss BUT this pond has went from easy to a monster in one season.Its 2.5 ac 8ft av. Steep banks to 3ft that drop fast. 20ft dam area. 12ac water shed but stays full.I need help

There's probably still time to treat with fluridone, but with an elevated risk of other consequences DEPENDING on the weed-density and other site conditions. Also, achieving "control" with fluridone will now take much longer in comparison to early-season treatments. Lastly, higher-concentrations & sustained exposure-times are much greater factors for fluridone performance as targeted weeds gain maturity.
There are other available treatments (chemistries) which enable localized (partial-area) control that are worth considering at this point in the season. More labor is generally involved in such treatment, and probably at a relatively higher cost "per treated-acre" compared to a whole-pond fluridone treatment, yet partial-pond treatments will generally provide much quicker relief (within targeted areas) and avoid a pond-wide crash of treated vegetation.

Mr. Duffie, Im not sure about % of weed biomass and open water to make a good judgement on floridone treatment and likleyhood of fish kill.The pond is 2.3 or 2.5 ac big dam area 20ft deep I guess av. depth 8ft. The sago is solid around banks out 6 to 10 ft toped with moss alge and primrose. The primrose is dead or dieing and Ive been spot treating moss weakly.Some of the sago may be dieing if the diquat is geting to it. I cant tell from looks because its not falling, been 2 weeks now. When I said 6 to 10 ft out from banks and guess 4 to 6 ft deep on in solid. Id guess 15 to 20% surface is covered not sure about that. Should I wait till spring ? How much floridone do I need to treat with?
And what procedure?

PM sent. I'll need to know several other variables to properly respond, and verbal discussion might be better at this point.

K Duffle...please, if you can, post the answer or some bullet points after your discussion with RRWJ. The last 2 years one of our ponds (1.6 acres) has developed a good amount of sago. Luckily much of the pond is deeper than 7 ft. so it can't overtake the whole thing. Tried some Hydrothol 191 (granular form)and that didn't work very well....that is when I thought it was coontail. Now properly identified as sago pondweed I am wondering what I can do....located in west central Illinois.....July and August are mighty hot and want to avoid a fish kill. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks. BM61

BM61 Im quirious if your sago is still growing. Mine has seemed to be disapearing. Im going to wait until next spring to go after it. Im sure it w ill be back. I did use some diquat but dont think it did much. So if yours sago is still going strong maybe it did help. Let us know it would be a help for me. Thanks and good luck

BTT

most of it is very green and appears to be growing...although not spreading as it pretty much surrounds the pond and can't make it any further. There are some areas that are brownish but this has been frustrating. It really got away from me this year. Used copper sulfate in the pond as soon as i saw growth and the water was 48-50 degrees.....everything looked great but during the month of June the sago just took off. that was the same story in that pond last year.
next year i need to keep a better eye on it and spot treat virtually every weekend i think for a while.....late May into June.
I have been traveling on biz and will not be able to actually look at it until the end of the month....i hope it is disappearing next time i am there (approx. July 29). Between my three BOW two have far more FA than i would like and then the other one is sago-ridden. Need a better strategy in 2017.....spent a decent amount of money on chemicals, things looked great until late May/early June and then it all went downhill from there. Annual guys Cast & Blast trip starts Sept. 14th so hopefully things will improve dramatically by then.....if not we will need to rely on my sunflower plots for dove hunting.....either way i am under the gun to give the gang something to catch and shoot.....pressure.

AQUATHOL K? Or HYDROTHOL 191 (liquid)? They're similar, yet very different products.
As for posting bullet-points on management options; that's sorta risky since each pond possesses different variables that factor into a customized management strategy.
I have a PDF form which helps reduce the time spent playing the "20-questions game". The completed form provides me with the basic/preliminary info that's needed for assessing the variables found within most types of ponds and lakes.
Shoot me an email (my address is on my profile) and I'll return the form to you for completion - no cost involved. THEN, we can either dialog by email or phone to determine the most plausible approach for managing the weed problem after considering your pond's specific circumstances.

Sorry Kelly......yes I meant to say Hydrothol 191 (I edited my above post, thanks)....in granular form. I will shoot you an email. thanks. BM61