Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Control slender spikerush

What is the best method of control for slender spikerush? Treatments with Diquat and Floridone are limited. Is there an other option that will have better results?

Why do you want to get rid of it? Slender spikerush rarely ever grows deeper than 16" and as far as I know never gets taller than 16"-20". FL may have a strain that grows taller and it could be another species of spikerush. One species usu gets only 5-6"" tall. Spikerush forms a dense shoreline root zone to stabilize the sediment along the shoreline to keep it from eroding and getting muddy. Spike rush that grows in the water creates very good habitat and cover for small fish, esp fry. Slender spikerush rarely causes any sort of problem. A lot more positives about it than negatives.

I am not looking to eradicate this plant, just control it. I have shallow littorals(max 20") that extend out about 10' around my lake. Slender spikerush covers 100% of my littoral shelf. As the Slender spikerush reaches the water surface it just seems to break off and form large mats of algae and floating Slender spikerush. At times more than 50% of my lake is covered with this. Any ideas of a more effective way of treatment?

BayouBlaster: What is the total surface-area of your pond, and what percentage of your pond is infested (submerged & surface-growth combined); and of the infested areas, how much do you wish to control?

As Bill mentioned, slender spikerush isn't always bad. However, I've seen many instances where excessive populations pose issues toward fishing-efforts and trolling motors.

Total surface area in acres is 67.5. More than 50% of lake is infested. I am looking to control the floating Slender spikerush and 50% of littoral shelf.

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Okay - I think we are talking about two different species or types of plants. Slender spikerush is Eleocharis tenuis. It has single small reed like stems that are emergent forms of aquatic plants. It does not normally break off and form mats. Single broken stems will float but not in mats, although if one had lots of broken or cut stems they would form windrows of floating stems. Those pictured by Kelly are not what I know as slender spikerush - E.tenuis. The plankts that I know as slender spikerush are pictured in the two links included below. To be more sure what you have can you post a picture of it or email it to Kelly or me?

http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/wetland/images/eleocharis_tenuis.gif

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ELTET&photoID=elca16_001_avd.tif

The picture below is linked from the IFAS website, where it is located under Eleocharis baldwinii (aka "road-grass"), but is labeled as "slender spikerush". Check out the VIDEO-ID segment from the IFAS website. The plant's dual types of growth-habit may partially explain the confusion.

Eleocharis baldwinii(slender spikerush)was determined to be the weed in my lake by UF extension office. I will email pictures.

[img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/53277551@N04/4921322018/[/img]

We have slender spikerush problems in some of the resedential lagoons that I manage. From what you described, most of them are similar to yours in that they all have littoral shelves around the edges that extend out well into the pond...and they all have pickerelweed and duck-potatoe planted around the edges of them, so we are some-what limited in what chemicals we can spray. The best(long-term) control for us has been with grass carp. We do spray Diquat/Chelated copper mixes and they work well, but we can't spray too often or too close to the shelves or we will burn back some of the other plants. If you don't have grass carp, look into them....they will do wonders on slender spikerush mats like you have.

AUF - you're very fortunate if diq/Cut+ controls slender spikerush in your geography. That specie drinks this tank-mix and asks for more here in TX (even with subsurface injections in crystal clear water). Water-chemistry difference?