Hello all, haven't posted in a while. I need some advice. Since about a year ago my pond started growing these plants and/or weeds. Now after winter its even more abundant taking over the banks and moving closer inside the pond. I have plenty of fish in there and don't want to harm them but I need to get this under control. What options do I have to help minimize the growth. Thanks for your insight. [img]http://[/img]

If I'm right, that's the biggest patch of arrowhead I've ever seen. Also called catniss or duck potato.

That plant does not appear to be propagating into any water more than a few inches deep.

It might be a net benefit to your pond. It certainly appears that it would be quite effective at stopping wave erosion on your shoreline. It will also take up some of the nutrients in your pond water and make less nutrients available to grow undesirable vegetation like filamentous algae.

Here is the link from TAMU for controlling arrowhead. (I am not enough of a plant guy to confirm Theo's identification.)

How to Control Arrowhead

If it only propagates as a very narrow band around your pond, then you might consider just treating it in a few spots where it interferes with your enjoyment of the pond. However, since it spreads via rhizomes and seeds it will fill back into these spots over time. You can probably develop a long-term treatment plan that will be seasonal or annual?

Good luck with your beautiful pond!

Love my duck potatoes. Maybe offer them to other pond owners in your area if they dig them up?

RAH, my thoughts also. 3950robert, if I may ask, what part of TX is your pond at?

Heck, I'd love some more duck potatoes! Beautiful & well behaved plant.

We dug up some from our local seasonal creek. My wife liked to raise them in a ceramic tub up by our house. They did well and would seed out. I stripped the ripened seeds off and would sprinkle aournd the pond.

Then later the bunch she had growing up around the house she decided to quit doing it so we divided it up and planted it in the pond in numerous plaes around the perimiter. A couple places got started but never did very well.

Now a couple years later I'm starting to see various plaes are finally taking hold. Where it does well in the creek is where it dries out part of the year, then floods later. I think the pond has too constant of water level for it to flourish, but that is just a guess. At any rate I have got it started on parts of the bank of the pond. But nothing anywhere near like Robert above has it. Mine are spindly and not agressive spreaders at all............at least so far, LOL.

The pond continues to surprise me though over they years, so who knows.

Edit: Funny thing is, I have several places of it started in my one acre RES/SMB pond and we never put seeds nor planted sets there. Had to be brought in by wildlife and started on its own. Where we purposely planted it was in our main 3 acre pond.

I would love to have that growth in my pond. Great habitat for young fish and insects to feed the fish.

It looks more like a larger variety of Water Plantain. I don't know much about it, but positively identifying what you have is key. I am leaning more towards it being a benefit rather than something to be worried about. These type of plants (arrowhead, plantain, pickerel weed, water canna, etc - emergents in general) do not grow in very deep water and make nice shoreline greenery among other benefits.

If it is Plantain...I would welcome it in my pond, but I have a more natural goal for my pond compared to some who strive for a more mowed and manicured pond. Figure out exactly what it is and we'll go from there.