sspig and others about control of wild rice - this is a copy of my post in another thread:
Why do you want to limit the growth of the rice? Generally it will not grow very deep in the water and rarely should cause a nuisance. The stems grow fairly far apart and would make VERY good habitat for small fish. In large stands the mature rice is harvestable and sellable at a good price. Farmers markets, internet, etc. Newly sprouted rice is easily visible and vulnerable to cuting or mechanical removal, pulling / damage. That should eliminate a majority of it in the most important or high traffic areas. The other areas I would allow it to grow. Geese can eat an whole lot of rice plants when it is just sprouted and while its leaves are still flat on the surface. Cutting off the flower heads before it forms seeds will eliminate plants in that area the next year because the plant is an annual that regrows from seeds. To grow it has to reseed every year. To chemically kill it, which I do not suggest, I would use an aquatic approved grass vulnerable herbicide.
There are probably those here that would buy young plants from you to try to get it started in their ponds. I got mine started from harvested plants that were about 2 ft-30" tall and trimmed to 12"-16" for shipping and transplanting.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 08/07/10 02:10 PM.
