Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Help identifying vegetation...

We think this is some form of milfoil, but we are not absolute. We treated it a few weeks ago with Navigate and some of it seems to have gone away, but it also seems to be coming right back. I suppose we need to treat it again, but want to make more certain of what it is. These are the best pictures I could manage.

Sonnie, can you take a single strand of it (with leaves if present) and lay it out on a white background like a paper plate? Lay something along side of the single strand of weed so we can get an idea of scale. Take a picture of it as close as the camera will focus. That will help us identify it.

Yes... thanks. I can do that. It will be Wednesday before I will have a chance to do it, but will certainly do it then.

I was able to get those photos today. This was the first time that I was able to get a good view of the underwater bloom (stalk - whatever you call it) that actually looks very much like milfoil. I got a couple of shots of those and then took my rake and raked up a pile of it... and then laid it next to a quarter and a penny with a couple of very close up shots. Some of these are rather large files, but it gives a good shot of them.

Photos 7, 8, 9 and 10 are the close-ups.

The first few pics look like Eurasian Water Milfoil. But, Pic 10 looks like a few different plant species in it.

I think the bulk of what we are dealing with is the Milfoil, but there could be some other plants there as well.

This stuff is all up in our canal, which is about 50' wide by 3,000'. It does not seem to be all that much of an issue in the big water area. As stated, one treatment of Navigate seems to have helped, but from the appearance of it now, we did not nearly cover all the area that needed to be covered... and apparently it will need more than the one or two treatments. The first go around we mainly hit the edges of the canal, up and down each side, but it is clearly in the deeper areas (5-6' water) too.

With most of this being submerged, it is better to use a granular type weed killer, so that it is sure to get down to the roots of the plant?

Thanks!

I wish Kelly Duffie would chime in, or another herbacide guru. I've been dealing with EUM in my pond for a few years now, and want to kill it, but not some of the other plants in there. It was suggested that I use RENOVATE OTF, and possibly conduct a split-treatment; one day after another. But, that would all depend on how static the water-column is on the initial day of treatment in my pond. 48-hrs of contact-time, at a lethal/labeled concentration, is the optimum scenario for RENOVATE OTF. If such can be accomplished with one dosing, then so be it.

It depends on how static your water is. I think if you could drop a dye pack in there, it might give you an idea if the water is static or moving (and which way it was moving if it wasn't apparent).

I can tell at times that it is moving, but then there are times when it is dead still.

Renovate OTF sounds like a pretty good product, although a bit more expensive than Navigate. I just purchased a 50lb bag of Navigate at a coop for $135. They don't carry Renovate, but I did find a 40lb bag online for $150. Does that sound reasonable?

Sonnie just saw this might be fanwort but either way the navigate wil work it just takes repeat applications. Apply at the higher rate of 150 lbs/weeded acre. It takes longer for the navigate to work. If you have some left over hit it again. Also if goal is to rid of all vegetation in the pond grass carp way to go longterm.

Looks like some slender spikerush mixed in as well, I second Greg's grass carp recommendation as the spikerush will be a constant challenge regardless of the herbicide you use.

Sonny: Greg nailed the ID with fanwort (aka cabomba). But, I'm a little puzzled by photos 10 & 11. The only discernible specie in #10 appears to be Nitella (a higher form of algae). I can't tell if the other plant-fragments are cabomba or some other submerged specie. I also couldn't verify the presence of slender spikerush; but it is possible that I just couldn't isolate it amongst the mass of stems.
There are reports out of FL that CLIPPER is doing a good job on Fanwort. Otherwise, RENOVATE, HARDBALL, NAVIGATE or fluridone should all prove effective - although one product might be better suited than the other under different circumstances, or depending on the overall objectives.

Let's try this one more time. We treated it heavy with Navigate and that seems to have gotten rid of most of everything except the following, which has now taken over like crazy. It is covering the entire bottom now. We have rake out several wheelbarrows full of this stuff. Has a pretty nasty smell to it too. Almost looks like Chara, but then I looked at some close ups of Chara and it is slightly different looking than this. Then we thought Coontail, but again, it looks slightly different.

This is all completely submerged and reaches up to within a foot of the surface in most places. The Navigate did not seem to phase it.

It appears to be chara to me, especially since you mentioned the smell (kind of like a skunk?). Navigate will not control it. You will need to apply a copper based algaecide for control.

Yeah... perhaps some similarity to the skunk smell... definitely very musky.

I found some varying pics of Chara... a few look similar to what we have... the more I look at it, the more it seems this is what we have. At least it will be much less expensive to treat.

My pic:

Other pic:

Other pic:

I should also mention this is a canal in our lake, not a small pond, although it is limited to the upper two thirds of the canal and about 3-4 acres with an average depth of about 2 feet. The canal is about 50-60 feet wide and 5-6 feet deep in the center, shallowing up to the sides.

Would it be better to treat it with liquid Cutrine or granular?

Thanks!

Either will work, I think the choice is whatever is easier for you to apply.

The liquid would be easier to mix up in my 15 gallon sprayer and troll up and down the canal and spray it out, but I am wondering how effective that would be and if it would get to all the bottom growth that is a couple feet under the water.

We applied the granular with a rotary seed spreader. One guy drove and another cranked the handle. It whacked his Chara pretty good, some was in about 4' of water.

I can't confirm that your photos depict Chara. I'm thinking it might be Nitella (they're "cousins" in the higher order of algae).
But, in either case, I agree that CUTRINE GRANULAR is preferable for targeting suspended and bottom-growths.
Not sure, but it now sounds like we're talking about canal with a public water-body. If so, it is advisable to consult with the lake's governing water authority (a river authority?) before conducting any private treatments. Unlike other scenarios, it is best to secure permission rather than seek forgiveness when dealing with public water treatments.

Thanks ... and yes... it is a canal in a public lake.

We have no issues treating it. We have been dealing with some form of vegetation for several years, although we just came into the picture this year.