Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Controlling Cattails

Has anyone had any success with Weedtrine-D and the surfactant, Cide-Kick for controlling cattails? Will this method work for spring control of cattails? Does anyone have any other recommeded chemicals for the control of these beasts!? Please help. Thanks.

I use a product known as Eagre mixed 2 oz. per gallon of water and another 3 oz. of an activator such as Cide Kick II. I mix well and spray in a manual pressurized tank.

It may require up to 2 applications, and I go one step further. Once the cattails turn yellow and start to wilt, (you should wait that long to make sure the chemical gets to the roots), I cut them down with a weed cutter as close to the bases as possible, allow them to float to shore, and remove them with a rake. This prevents decomposition of the plants adding to organic load.

I now have very few cattails sprouting and any that do, I either pull by the roots and all, or douse a rag with the preceding herbicide and rub it on the cattail. This is due to the fact that some more desirable plants i.e. bullrushs may be very close to the new cattail shoot and I don't want to kill them from overspray. I am seeing bullrush over take shallow areas once proliferated with cattails, but the bullrushes do not grow as deeply or as high.

Weedtrine is not indicated for cattails! I have not seen a toxic effects or any effects on my fish using Eagre. I believe Rodeo may be a similar product but don't quote me.

Very good advice from Cecil on using the Eagre & surfactant. The rag trick works great to eliminate individual cattails within desireable plants.

Rodeo is identical to Eagre, other than the cost...we sell Eagre because it's cheaper.

Weedtrine-D is labelled for cattails and is effective. It is a broad range herbicide that will knock out almost anything with no damage to fish, as long as you follow the label. Fish culturalists actually use the active ingredient of Weedtrine-D, diquat, to treat bacterial gill disease in fish (don't try this at home).

We generally recommend Eagre and Cide Kick II at the rates Cecil recommended. Be sure the plant is dead before you cut it down, because it is a systemic herbicide that needs to reach the roots to finish the job. Yes, you will have to retreat with cattails.

Mike Robinson
Keystone Hatcheries

Thank you for your help. Cecil, Weedtrine-D's label says it will treat cattails, but it seems that Eagre is the chemical of choice. I will try it. Is it best to cut down old growth from last year, wait for new shoots this spring, then treat the new shoots?

Besides Rodeo and Eagre there is a cheaper formulation of Glyphosate with the same concentration or percentage of the active herbicide. Another important consideration is to treat when the seed heads are formed in mid to late summer. This is the point when the plant begins to store energy in the root and is drawing it in instead of using the stored energy in the root for growth and reproduction. Like the others said use plenty of surfactant, coat the entire visible plant, and cut the stalks below the water line when entirely dead. fishmgr@hotmail.com

I use Aquastar same as other glyphos products. It too has an aquatic label. You ask about cheaper glypho products. I'm not telling you to do this b/c basically it is illegal but all glyphosate products will kill cattails. It is not legal unless it has an aquatic label. Monsanto that makes Roundup lost its patent rights on glyphosate a couple of years back and now there are several geneirc ones on the market and the price has fallen. Most have differing % of active glyph. and some have a surfactant already and some do not have one. I think it is funny when folks think that spraying Roundup around a pond will kill your fish and then I get hired to spray a legal product that contains the same chemical.

Rodeo, Eagre, Aquamaster, Glypro, Aquapro, Aquaneat, and several others, are all 53.8% glyphosate without a surfactant. Monsanto, whose patent expired on glyphosate, sold the brand-name "Rodeo" to Dow a couple of years ago and then immediately introduced "Aquamaster". Griffin (who formerly marketed Eagre) has now abandoned this market due to the declining prices - as will several of the others suppliers before the dust settles. So, your sources for Eagre will likely dry-up this season - but several very economical brands will remain. The concerns associated with using Roundup in ponds isn't fish mortality. Rather, the tallow-amine surfactant found in Roundup has shown to cause problems with aquatic invertebrates, clouding fish cornea and causing gill irritation (at what concentrations I do not know). Use one of the aquatic-labeled glyphosate formulations and sleep well. With the rapidly falling price tags, there is absolutely no reason to take any risks. The earlier comment suggesting to wait until the catkin (seed head) has begun to form is very good advice.

Greg and KMDuffie,

Thanks for your input. I guess once Eagre goes off the market, I will have to start using Aquastar! Thanks again for your help!