Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Cutrine Plus Mixing Question

I think I am going to spray the FA in my 2 ponds. It is not as bad as previous years but I am tired of looking at it. I have toyed with 3 options:

1. Do Nothing
2. Dye the water
3. Spray cutrine

I sprayed the pond about 3 to 4 years ago with good results. Someone gave me a rule of thumb mixing ratio and I wonder if any one can give that to me again. The label on the Cutrine is like a chemistry problem which I suck in.

1st pond is 2.16 acres with an average depth of 7-8 feet. Of course the FA is only in the 4' and less areas. the 2nd pond is about 3/4 acre with an average depth of 3'.

I am just looking for a mixture formula to knock some of it back. Suggestions are much apprciated.

Is most of the algae around the perimeter on the surface or is a lot of it still on the bottom, or stringy somewhere in between?

Hi Bill,

It's all the above. Lot's on the bottom, in between and some on the surface with the little green leaves. When we renovated the pond the upper shallow end was left alone. Alot of plants grew up in the moist open enviroment and we never ran a grader over it, I thought flooding it back with weeds and plants would be good for the ecosystem. maybe it is I don't know.

There is actually less FA now than 5 years ago but it looks like it makes it harder for the BG to have adaequate spawing areas. Kinda of a conundrum whether to try to kill the FA or leave it alone. Thanks for the response.

I had good results by mixing on jug (1 gallon maybe?) of cutrine to a 25 gallon sprayer.. Prolly not the suggested ratio but worked fairly well.. Although that was quite awhile ago my FA is coming back and it didn't effect my primrose at all..

Mark:

Can you take a picture or 2 of it? I don't think it's all algae, none that I know of have "little green leaves". There's only a few plants that aren't algae that Cutrine plus will work on, so it (Cutrine Plus) may be only part of the solution for your pond.

Good catch Scott!

I can take a few pics next week. I tried to ID the emergent plant with the website Aquaplant but the closest match seemed to be duckweed. The plant in my pond has long stems with the little tiny leaves. I'm not sure it is a problem. Some plants are good for oxygen.

Would anyone advise planting water liily in the shallows to provide shade and cover? The small shallow pond looks like it would be an excellent candidate to plant them for aesthetics and controlling FA>

I did have a pic on my phone of the overflow. Enlarge it and you can see the plant with the little green leaves on the bottom. it is much more prevalent in the shallows.

Mark, I tried enlarging it but it got pretty grainy and I lost detail. Does the plant with the long stem have 2 or 3 leaves growing out from the same center point, and is maybe 1/4" (at the most) wide? Is the stem 1" to 2" long and the plant is free floating on the surface (not rooted to the bottom)?

I think planting hardy lilies will help, but I don't known how many you'd have to plant to utilize enough nutrients to counteract the FA. Every pond is different.

esshup,

thanks for the reply. the ponds are on some property i own and i can't get there until next week to take better pics with a camera. the plants don't concern me as much as the FA. i think i remeber reading that liilies are invasive and to be avoided but they sure look good in a pond and seem like they would provide good habitat, oxygen and shade to help control FA in the shallows.

i will try to pm the pic to see if that works better.

Some lilies are, the hardy varieties aren't.

Mark sent me the picture. Here it is. I tried cropping and enlarging it, but I don't think Virgin Wireless is fast enough for cropping in Photobucket. I'll try it again from home tomorrow. Here's what I have for now:


To me, the plant looks like young American Pondweed. Experts??

Mark:

How deep is the water right at the overflow pipe?

I have that same thing. Or what looks to be that. It's kind of hard to tell from your pic, but mine has been classified as AP. Mainly in the shore. 3 leaves on top of the water, mine ranged from a 1/4 inch wide to 1/2 inch. It too can get out of control if your not careful, my grass carp seem to love mine, now if I could just get rid of some of the chara I would be good to go. Having some AP in the shore isn't a bad thing though unless your swiming in that area I guess that would not be so fun.

About 4 feet.

This is a pic of the overflow before it refilled.

So the water IS pretty clear!

Mark, Do you recall mixing anything else with the Cutrine besides water?

The water is pretty clear. The pic of the overflow and the water way below it was as it was filling last fall. I have not sprayed anything yet. I was looking for a general rule of thumb mixing ratio for Cutrine Plus. I have a 2.5 gallon hand sprayer i was going to use. Esshup has been very kind-and patient explaining mixing suggestions to me.

I was thinking of starting with 1 qt. of Cutrine per gallon of water.

F-30 Algae Control is a double chelated copper algaecide and the label can be found at www.dwiwater.com

I just sprayed Cutrine Plus last Sunday. I mixed a littile over 2 qts with 2 gal of water. I also added a little surfactant. As of this past Thursday a lot of the FA was turning brown. I will check it next weekend and give a report as i am out of town all this week.

Mark all water is different for us with low alkalinity 6 ounces/gal water will kill most psecies of FA. Higher alk. might require more.