Was wondering what a good herbicide would be for controlling cattails? Heard roundup is good and won't hurt the fish.

You really should use a herbicide thatis approved for aquatic use that also has a surfactant mixed in. I use one called Shorekill.

Catt Plex Herbicide Cattail Control with an added surfactant works well. It killed the cattails and then we pulled them out roots and all. I'm not saying it wasn't labor intensive, but it did the job.

Dredging this topic up as I now have a patch of unwanted cattails. Went to do some manual labor on them, and my lower back quickly realized spraying would be much more advantageous. Most are out of water right now as my pond is down a good 6 feet with a couple more feet to go before the rainy season.

So my question is:
Whats the best way to attack the problem?

Can you simply spray the base of them, or do you need to treat the entire plant (mine are over 10 feet tall). That would use alot of spray and drift might be an issue.

Would it be better to cut them down near the base with a machete or something, and treat the freshly wounded bases?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mine were about 6 feet. I mixed in a surfactant in some round-up and sprayed as much of the plan as I could. It worked well and I only had a few come up this year (had them around half the pond last year). I did not pull any. I would think that cutting down their size and then spraying would work, but I have never tried it.

A track hoe solved our cat tail problems.
Our CTs grow mostly in sandy loam and we dug the pond edges down to clay and never had a problem since - been 6-8 years and got more water.
Don't like chemicals but that's just me...

Actually Coach cutting them down and spraying is not recommended if the herbicide works systemically (goes down to the roots). They say the more surface area sprayed the better.

i dont really want to use chemicals either george, but cant justify the expense of yellow iron for such a small patch.

so what i am hearing is dont bother cutting and treating, and to spray as much of the plant as possible.

the patch is probably ~30 feet long, 10 to 15 feet wide, and 10+ feet tall - they are the tallest cattails i've ever seen. i've seen tules as big or bigger, but not cattails.

my goal is control, not complete removal. to reduce the patch in length on both sides. my wife loves the red wing black birds and the host of other critters that have called it home for 2 years, but its fast taking over one of my "easy pond access" shorelines.

When you spray, just try and spray as much as you can around the cattail, not just from one side but at least 3. I've done that for years, it kills them.

died, PM sent.

"loves the red wing black birds ..." ??

Ahhh! They are one reason we're trying to get rid of the cattails. RWBB's are super aggressive and chase any other birds away from the feeders. They just arrived last week and I bet we have 20+ just swarming the feeders and the other birds just give up and leave.

IME - cattails and other non-floating aquatic plants will only grow where the water is shallow enough and clear enough for sunlight to get to the bottom. Once established though, they almost build their own habitat through built up decaying material and such as well as trapping sediment around the root base. And then the march is on. Last fall when our pond was down a bit, I started removing cattails (well over 6 feet tall) first with a mini excavator then with my tractor loader. The muck and water they're in weigh so much I was tipping the excavator pretty often (not all the way over but close).

The quandary I find myself in is that I need to draw down the pond and let it dry out enough to get in and do some remedial dirt work BUT the time I need it empty is during the height of our need for it to be full (fire season, summer irrigation etc). Just have to gamble one of the summers I guess.

If it makes you feel any better I whack any cattail that shows up and I still have red wing blackbirds.

BTW cutting cattails only ticks off the cat owner neighbors:

Oh come on! Nobody found that funny!

A little

I spray a lot of weeds with Roundup around our place but I don't like to spray around the pond. Here's how I control unwanted cattails. A couple times a year I mix up roundup in an old jar and use one of those disposable foam paintbrushes to paint it on the leaves. Just one swipe on 2 or 3 leaves of each plant always kills them. A lot less chemical and it avoids overspray going into the pond. Too time consuming for a large patch but an easy way to kill small patches that show up every year.

The problem with using Round-up or other generic "look a likes" it is that it is not labeled for use around water. So, it's illegal to use it that way. It's not the Glyphosate that is bad, it's the surfactant that hasn't been tested. So, there's no way to know for sure if the surfactant will or won't harm fish or any other aquatic life. The label is the law. As a licensed applicator, I can get in a lotta trouble if I use a herbicide in a manner that isn't listed on the label.

There are herbicides that are specifically labeled for aquatic use, and they do very well when trying to control cattails. I have better control on cattails when I use a bit more surfactant in the mix. I'm not talking about something that you think will work or home brews, I'm talking about surfactants that are specifically blended and tested and proven safe to be used around ponds.

In otherwards the ones that are labeled for aquatic use had their manfacturers do the expensive testing.

Actually, most of the surfactants that are safe in aquatic environments are more costly than those used in formulations designed for terrestrial environments. Use pesticides and herbicides off-label at your own peril and with the knowledge that you are breaking the law (which in this case is a good law).

Yep, AND they passed the testing process. We'll probably never know how many tests were failed first.

Probably none but the cost was the same.

BTW Scott what's the deal with Aquashade and the other pond shade dyes? Aquashade is approved but the others aren't, but the others still sell their product?

Huh??? I haven't heard that. If I remember, I'll look into it this week.

Aquashade is one of our best selling and the industries highest quality lake and pond dye! It is made by Applied Biochemists and is the only lake dye on the market registered with the EPA.

Registered with the EPA and "approved" might mean different things.

I think you're right. But what's the big deal with registered? Just something said as a marketing edge?

That'd be my guess. Where's that Duffy fella?

If you can burn them, do so, it will also kill any seeds.
A propane weeder works well and has shown good results.
I don't like chemicals unless absolutely necessary.

Back in the day when Roundup was very expensive, this was the method first used in crops that were not Roundup resistant technology. Called the rope wick bars or various variations. A PVC tube was filled with RUP with wicking ropes extending along the tube. The ropes would wick the roundup up, then by driving over weeds taller than the crop (Johnfongrass mostly) the Roundup would be "wiped" onto the plant. Being systemic, only a small portion of the plant needs contact as long as the solution is strong.

Pictures probably say it better than words.
weed wiper pics
hand versions

My point is, the way you are doing it with the foam paint brush is actually a very effective way of using the chemicla. 100% on target.