Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Pond weed control

My pond has been over run with I believe sago pond weed. I used my weed razor and cut it all out, took all day. I know to some extent it is beneficial to the pond ecosystem, but it is all the way around the pond and also seems to harbor the FA. I hate using chemicals. I already use Aquashade, but it still seems to grow everywhere. My thought was to try and kill some of it while it is cut off so I won't have to rake it out. What is the safest and best chemical to use? Cutrine plus only works on algae right?

First of all, confirm IF it is indeed sago pondweed. Battling a weed problem without first positively identifying the culprit is often a losing proposition.

"Chemicals" (herbicides) are simply another tool in the box for managing unwanted vegetation, and like most tools, each type of herbicide possesses attributes or drawbacks for varying scenarios.

In other words, many more details about your pond are needed before considering which (if any) herbicide will serve your objective. It's somewhat like asking what caliber is best for deer hunting. Lots of variables to consider.

Pond size? Depth (max & overall avg)? Water-uses (irrigation, livestock, etc)? Flow-through or static water? If water transitions through the pond, how often and to what degree does the water transition? What is your objective? Partial or total control? Duration? Are any desirable plants currently present (if so, identify them)? Do you have (own or access to) any type of application equipment - or knowledge of its use.

Those are the basic questions for determining if or which herbicide might suit your circumstance.

KenZ,

Hey you just heard it from the plant man himself. When Kelly speaks people listen! If you could get a pic of your weed out here for him or others to look at that may confirm a few things for sure! And get you down the right path.

RC

Here are some pics. Pond is about 1/3 acre and 8'-10' deep with pretty steep sides. If I walk in the water about 6' it's about 5' deep. The water that feeds it comes from ground water, a spring that I found when I dug my house and we piped to the pond, two drainage tiles, and in the middle of summer I pump well water that is set up on a timer and runs for about 2 hrs each night. I have an outlet that basically is the other side of the drain tile that was cut off when digging the pond. I have used some cutrine to help the algae that get out of control occasionally and have added beneficial bacteria. I have marginals planted around the pond and some lilies. I am not after completely eliminating the pond weed just controlling it so we can fish and the kids aren't afraid to swim in it.

Hey Ken hopefully someone else Bill or Kelly will see this and be able to identify for sure what that is. I have no idea... Looks like grass to me.. It would not be fun to fish or swim in that tho that's for sure!

RC

Your pictures are not adequate to see enough necessary details of the plant to give a good identification. Guesses yes, specific name no. Read through this thread and see examples from the archives on how to get good pictures for use to provide a better name of you problem plant.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=371748#Post371748

An important thing to see if it is Sago pondweed is to see closely the arrangement of and type of the leaves at the top end or the top stem or plant.

Here are some better pictures hopefully. The stems don't really have any leaves. When fully grown they form almost a mat at the surface and seem to have some sort of seeds on them. Before I cut them I had about a 15'-20' ring around the pond with smaller clusters in the deepest part of the pond.

In the last post, the last 2 pictures are what I believe is Sago. The top picture I believe is of a different plant. I defer to Kelly and Bill.

I agree. The last two pictures do now look like Sago. The first picture is probably just picture of the lower portion of the Sago stem. Let's see if Kelly agrees.

In my opinion Grass Carp might be the answer. I had an eel grass that I had planted in my pond and found it coming up in bunches and finally eliminated. Sago might be something Grass Carp like being similar to grass and easy to eat. It dawned on me one day that there is a reason that Grass Carp are called Grass Carp.

You pond being a third of an acre I'm not sure you would want more then three GC in it as they might take out more then the sago. Around my area you usually have to buy six GC. I suppose you could do that and then try to kill some if they were too many.

Grass carp are illegal in WI. I would have to sneak them in. (HAHA). I am not after completely getting rid of the Sago just controlling it if that is possible. I would like to keep an area clear for the kids to swim and instead of a 15'-20' area around the pond maybe 5' from shore to help with erosion and give smaller fish a place to hide. Earlier this year I had a FA problem that seems to come every year. It is hard to treat because it seems the FA attaches itself to the Sago and forms a very ugly mat all the way around the pond. The FA died back with some heavy rains we had, so I took that chance to cut and remove the Sago. Now my thought is to treat for FA before that gets fired up and try to control some of the Sago when everything is small so when it dies I won't have to rake the dead stuff out. I had the water tested at one point a couple of years ago and everything looked good so I don't know why I have the big FA problem every year.

You have FA because of the nutrients in the water. FA gets started before the Sago or other vascular plants get going. There are many different species of algae, some grow in cooler water, but die back when water warms up. That might correspond to the water temp where Sago grows in the early season. Then another type grows on the left over nutrients that the vascular plants don't use.

You can treat the FA with copper based products, such as Cutrine plus and it won't affect the Sago. Mix Cutrine Plus, Clearcast and an aquatically registered surfactant to whack them both at the same time when you spot treat an area.

Thanks for the advice. You are correct on the FA. The odd thing was when I took a water sample to send in I waited until the FA was in full swing so I could see what was causing it. When I got the results back everything was normal. Either bad sample collection or water chemistry must have changed before I pulled the water sample. I know I tried to kill the FA before I cut all the Sago out with Cutrine Plus, but it didn't seem to work. I mixed 2 parts Cutrine to 1 part water. Granular has seemed to work best in the past. My biggest hang up with granular is inconsistent application. I have tried a hand spreader but that doesn't seem to work very well (hard to dial it down far enough). I end up hand spreading it and that is real hard to spread evenly. I hate adding copper to start with and only use it when the FA starts to win the battle. Thought maybe the Sago would use up enough nutrients to choke out the FA, but they seem to grow good together. I would gladly take Sago over FA any day of the week.

It's not how much Cutrine plus to water you use, it's how much Cutrine Plus per acre foot of water you use. There is a chart in the label that tells you how to measure the volume of water and how much Cutrine to apply.

If you wait until the FA is floating on top of the water, you have waited too long to start to control it. You have to get it while its still growing on the bottom or on the plants.

Playing catch-up is 10x harder than keeping it controlled before it floats up.

For FA I used to use a combo of 20 KOI and 6 Israeli Carp for my one acre. But then I had Large Mouth Bass to control their babies. I have to say that worked well for me, but it always is a balancing act isn't it.

I have a different kind of pond today without an FA problem but it is controlled by excessive vegetation and lots of tadpoles. But my pond purpose now is for photographing wildlife.
WOOD DUCK