Gentlemen,

Live in TX and since Labor Day, I had pumped out the last 1.4 million gallons of a 2 acre lake that had been dried from the TX Drought...Most of the lily pad "spinal-looking" roots were in dried soil and exposed to the sun for months. My question is, will those lily pad roots propagate again? I know they are extremely resilient. All the fish were taken to where there was nothing left: not one minnow.

Well, over the last 3 weeks, we had 9.2" of rain, more than the entire last yr, and I had 1.6ft x 25ft of water coming out of the spillway, so the pond is completely full now. If the lily pads start to come back, is there something I can use to kill them? They became completely invasive and covered the top. Some are in the center of the elongated part of the pond and are only accessible by boat & paddle.

If you have any questions, pls let me know?

Thank you very much,
Rain

I doubt the lily pads will come back, as once the crowns dry up, they die. If anything the amount of them will be seriously reduced.

IMHO I would rather have lily pads take over rather than most any other plants.

Around here, it is amazing how much the water lillies will take and still come back. Ours are domestic rather than wild, so they do not grow in water over 5 or 6 feet deep, and most stick to water under 4 feet deep. This keeps the center of the pond clear.

RAH,
What are the plants on the bank behind the lily pads in the second picture? They have a purple flower.And did you plant them? By the way, absolutely beautiful pond your have there.

Looks like pickerel weed, another great pond plant.

Beautiful pond! Is pickerel weed native there? I don't think I have seen it in this part of NC.

I believe pickerel weed is native to most of the U.S., all of the 8 plants I put in except 1 came from a lake near by, they all survived transplanting.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into this more. I really like those.

If the lilypad roots don't re-sprout again, I'll bet the 1,000's of seeds in the pond will.......

For treatment of the lilies, any glyphosate based herbicide that is labled for pond use, or for use around water, coupled with a good surfactant will work to kill them. It may take a couple of treatments to kill the ones that come back from seed, but if you keep at it, you will control them.

Pickerel weed is a great marginal plant. I will say that I have seen differences in flowering and hardiness, so it would be good to get plants off of one's that you like. They even have a white flowering variety, which has all but died out in my pond. They do spread by seed, but I do not mind this as I like a natural edge which helps with wildlife.

Agreed!
Each lotus pod usually contains 14-22 seeds - and once the seeds have matured, they'll delay germination until conducive conditions are present.
Yes, there is a lake hidden beneath the lotus in the top picture. They were so thick that aerial application was the only viable option.

Lotus and lilly pads are very different evolutionarily.

Whoa! And to think how many merchants recommend/sell lotus to the unaware... frightening.

Kelly - I've got to ask - how long did it take to get in this condition?

Esshup,

Do you have a recommendation on an aquatic herbicide? Are there any PondBoss vendors near the Houston area? What is the best bang for the buck on a volume purchase? Also, would an agricultural surfactant work too or are there aquatic-based ones that I need to use...I know the drill on seeds too, so I will stay vigilant on it this time...

Thank you,
Rain

PS - I selected the name "rain" because after our 1.5 yr drought, after we received so much rain, it was surreal to see any water standing anywhere, much less the lakes and ponds filled..also, sounds better than precipitation...

I'll defer those questions to Kelly, I think he's in the Houston area and he's in that line of business. There are aquatic surfactants, and that's one of the things that makes "round-up" "not for aquatic use" is the surfactant that's used. Cide-Kick is an aquatic labeled surfactant.

Do you know what type of Lily it is? If not, pictures would work. What color are the flowers, and what size are the leaves? Do they lay flat on the surface, stand up off of the surface, etc.?

You're right! For some reason, I jumped to the conclusion that this thread had referenced "lotus", and not simply "lily". My bad - and yes, they're different from each other in many ways.
In general, I rarely encounter issues with most "lilies" that justify control-measures. However, watershield (Brasenia) is a different story - since it can overtake many ponds and small lakes under ideal conditions.
It's just a guess, but I'd bet that watershield is the "lily" referenced in this particular case. Photos would help confirm my hunch.

In reference to the American lotus photos I posted; probably 4-5 years.

Hi Kelly, What would be your preferred chemistry on watershield.Have had success with Habitat but perhaps there is a better approach.

Hello Kelly,

Right now since winter is wrapping-up, most of the surface aquatic plants [lily or watershield (Brasenia)], are not present. Plus, since all my ponds [3/4 acre, 1 acre & 2 acres] were so low for so long, all the aquatic vegetation has perished from the normal water-line. Now that the ponds are full, nothing is around the water lines except non-aquatics like goat weed. Therefore, I have no pictures.

My question was one of proactiveness, in eradicating the "round-floating-pads" before they took off again. They became so thick they took-up the entire water surface, except in the very deep areas [6+ ft] of water.

Finally, the picture of the lotus being sprayed by plane, where is that? Is that in Sugarland? There is a lake fairly close [East of Hwy 6] to Kempner Highschool that was over-taken by a floating vegetation for yrs that looked like the lotus plant. When I went by there 4 weeks ago, I actually saw alot of the water...slim chance of the same place, but you never know.

Thank you for your help,
rain

In the wise words of Bill Cody, "it depends" - on the lake's design, degree of infestation, water-use restrictions, presence of any desirable plant species, ability to perform repetative treatments, etc.
HABITAT (imazapyr) will certainly control watershield whose pads have reached the surface (IE. subjected to direct spray-contact). However, any pads that are submerged at the time of application will be unaffected; thus requiring repetative treatments at regular intervals until the population is under control.

Positive identification is the first order of business - and necessary before determining an appropriate management plan. Google photos of watershield/Brasenia and see if it resembles your unwanted plant. If you recall that your plant had a slimy coating on its submerged stems and underside of the leaves, it was undoubtedly watershield.


The lake to which you referred is in a park, operated by the City of Houston - and the floating plant was/is waterhyacinth. I visited that lake with staff from Houston Parks Dept awhile back to suggest treatment options, but I'm guessing funds were an issue.