Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Cork Screw eel grass

At my lake, and as most everyone else's in East TX, the drought lowered my water substantially, and allowed me to get some needed dirt work done.

So, I am considering adding new vegetation to the lake. I need forage cover, and erosion control as well. I know Cork Screw eel grass is a preferred plant, but with half of my lake being less than 4 feet deep, could it become a problem?

I usually have primrose, and limited areas of pennywart, which I keep chemically under control. I don't eradicate them, I just control them in 50' sections.

I plan to plant the eel grass along the dam, and check the spread rate before allowing it to the shallower areas of the lake.

My lake stays fairly clear, and hopefully a Spring bloom will get some color to it. My lake has been tested several times, and chemical levels are within recommended levels.

So, if the eel grass spread is to thick, will grass carp control it and, would the eel grass help keep the primrose "pinned" to the shallowest water, and keep it from spreading also?

AL, how many grass carp do you have, to control the grass? 4ft deep will induced plenty of sunlight, which enhance the eel grass to be prolific. Very prolific. When the water is clear, you'll have a greater chance of it invading other part of the pond very quickly. Natural method is best.

Chemicals induction is not the way to go to keep plants in check if you can help it. Best to stick with plants that can be controlled by active feeders. It's a pain when birds bring in invasive species that you don't want, and immediate attacks are needed. But once again, best to stick with plants that are beneficial and controlled by natural predation.

The nice thing about spiral eel grass as compared to other species is that it doesn't get very tall. Only about 3 feet height and that is huge for it while more common species can top out at over 6 feet. It is the reason it is so recommended. It is also not overly invasive.

Whether it will out compete primrose, I doubt it. The grass carp will eat it and help control it, perhaps too much. It will mostly stay in the 2 foot tall range in my experience with it so far. Doesn't get overly thick allow you to fish through it and predatory fish to hunt in it. Check with Bill Cody and see what he has to say.

Cork screw is not all that invasive compared to milfoil, Elodea, some small leaf potamogeton, etc. I've never seen corkscrew at 3 ft tall. There are a couple varieties of corkscrew / sprial eel grass. I suppose some are taller, some shorter at mature height. If you want a shorter plant than corkscrew try dwarf sagittaria (Sagittaria subulata).

Then Cork screw sounds perfect. Average price I've found is about a dollar per sprig, and that will get what I need started, then evaluate after that.

As always thanks, guys.

FirelsHot; Keep us posted as to how it is growing for you in terms of rate of spread and mature height. It would be good to know your source provider so the strain / variety can be documented. We don't have lots of data about its growth in ponds. Thanks from all.

Yes, do please update us on it. I will be suggesting it to the local 10 acres private pond development as a suggestion of underwater habitats for a variety of species.

Will do. I have access to acres of standard eel grass, but am very reluctant to add it to my lake. We've fished it often, and it's great, but it does require deeper water and grass carp to control. (That's just personal experience here in East TX)

I found the corkscrew at various aquarium stores, and $1 a plant seems to be the average price. My plan is to plant it on the dam where, 1) the water drops off quickly, and 2) I can make an end run on it if it spreads to quickly.

I'll plant early this Spring and repost.

This is where I got my Vallisneria, Corkscrew (Vallisneria americana var. biwaensis) (10 plants per order)
http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/va069.htm
And they arrived looking very healthy.

Mine grew very well the first year. We had a summer drought and as the water receded and exposed new young plants I found an easy way to transplant them into deeper water. I took a long handled spade and slipped just underneath a bunch, then laid the spade in deeper water and shook it back and forth so the clump settled on bottom. There was no transplant shock and the plants kept on growing as if nothing happened. I will report this summer on how the plants are getting along.

Hey, that is a great idea of planting a pond. Take a lot of bags to get it established, but Vallisneria is a great plant both in aquariums in in the wild. Not used to buying aquarium stuff for a large pond.

Bill,

Two years ago you told me about a red eelgrass. I tried some and it did not get established. I would like to try it again. where can I get some information about it. The corkscrew eelgrass looks great, but I worry about it being non-native. Maybe that is fine, but based on the fights I have with non-native plants in the field and woods around my pond, I get nervous planting things that didn't start here. The red might be non-native as well, I was unsure.

Liquidsquid I bought 10 packages, 100 plus plants that run just short of $100 with shipping. I planted about 8' apart around my 1 acre pond. It seems to take a month before the plants started to spread. If they were very invasive I don't think they would be too much of a problem since they are short and stay under water. I don't think they can grow in deeper water where the sun can't reach them but that's just a guess. We'll see what happens this summer.
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I'm not certain, but I think they are native, just a natural variant of something native. Look at the Greek name.

Spiral(corkscrew) eel grass, Vallisneria spiralis is native to Asia. There are a number of cultivars of American eel grass Vallisneria americana that have some twist or spiral to the leaf. However, unlike spiral eel grass, American eel grass can grow to lengths in excess of 6'.

The red tipped eel grass is very likely a strain, variety, or subspecies of V. americana. The small type of flowers are a very similar overall size to those on spiral (corkscrew) eelgrass and jungle eelgrass, if you are at all familiar with flowers of those types. I consider the sprial and red tipped Vallisneria more like dwarf versions of the V. americana and less invasive and create shorter height beds (total length) compared to native eel grass. As far as I know no technical information exists about the red tipped eel grass primarily because it does not have a scientific name that I know of. Red tipped is a name I have applied to it as I've seen it growing.

It is much like many species of plants that are cultivated by humans that can have a lot of variation. Usually by selective breeding, but sometimes by natural variation. Not enough to make it a subspecies or new species, just a "strain" or "cultivar".

John, how's the corkscrew doing, and would you do this again?

My corkscrew is growing in the warm water finally, but the leaf length is about 2-3". Great for an aquarium, not so hot for a pond. However if I could get it to coat the bottom, it would be great, but the pond level has dropped enough to start exposing some of my plantings. If only I could find the time to move them deeper. Darned jobs.

Some forms of corkscrew - spiral eelgrass are short in 2"-3" range for the smaller forms and around 12"-16" for the larger forms. The variety will determine mature height in the pond enviornment. As long as the plant crown does not dry out and freeze it should stay viable for transplanting.

I bought a hundred Vallisneria americana where John did, and I'm going to plant them and some lilies in my CNBG pond.

I got the same Lilies I had purchased before, and have had very good luck with them surviving last years drought, and having a very slow spread.

The great part for me, is I can keep the water level constant with a pump from the big lake, so I will be able to tell if they are a safe option for that too.

The drought has dropped my pond water level so low that the 6'x12' mat of ell grass in front of my deck has virtually disappeared. But my shovel transplants I put out in deeper water are looking good. I have 7 GC and I have never noticed them eating the spiral ell grass so I figure they eat other plants before they would feed on the spiral. I had worried they might eat it so I might never get the spiral ell grass established but that worry doesn't seem justified now.

Sorry the drought got your plants, but the GC thing is interesting. I thought the eel grass was a preferred plant to them. That's the main reason I have been avoiding putting GC in my lake.

Hope to have all my plants in the water by 10 this morning. It's supposed to be 103 to 105 here today, and I'd rather be inside this afternoon.

Thanks for the update.

Guys,

Any updates on your efforts with the various eel grass varieties? I'm looking to plant some this spring in my pond.

Thanks,

Bill D.

Bill, our fluctuating water level from periodic droughts eventually got all of ours. I may try some more in the brood pond this year since we can control that water level much easier.

I tried these in 2 ponds and a wetland with no luck getting them established.