Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Where to go from here

Pond visibility has cleared to 8' after this last cold spell and this is what happened last year. Last year the pond cleared and the bushy pondweed took off as the water warmed. Not wanting this to happen again this year, I would like to have your thoughts on how to approach it this year and reduce the bushy pondweed growth. I thought of dyeing the water but concerned about the reduced photo and zooplankton that will feed my new upcoming fry. I also spoke with someone about the chemical treatment of the pond using Sonar when they told me if we treated the whole pond there would be no plant growth for two or three years. That is not what I am looking for. My plans are to chemical treat some of the pond using Sonar granular so my question is would you fertilize the pond to get some green water before or after the sonar treatment. Or, I was also thinking of using alfla as a way to get some green water instead of chemical fertilizer. The alfla has worked before at the pond. How would you approach this

Thanks

Wow, Tracy. I got my bushy pondweed treated last summer and it was ninety percent eliminated, but I was told it would come back so grass carp were recommended. I'd hate to go several years without pondweeds.

Me too Frank. I went several years without plants in the pond. I finally got some APW that I really like for the fish. But the bushy pondweed choked out the APW leaving BPW i don't like. Frank how did you treat your BPW, spray or granular, and how much of the BPW did you kill back? And after killing off the BPW did that cause a bloom? I do have GCP but they were not able to handle all of the BPW last year.

Did the Sonar thing a few years ago at ice-out, to treat an explosion of Eurasian Milfoil. The american-pondweed somehow made it through and is doing fine. Wouldn't say nothing will grow for years. Using Sonar when water is still cold is the best time because there is less mass to treat.

Visibility of 8' will keep that deep stuff dormant and ready to thrive as soon as temps resume to warm. I've been using the dye heavily to keep the bottom a cold dark place from fall to winter for years now, with aeration. In spring as the water warms, I let the dye dissipate and nature thrive, to keep the visibility in check. Seems like it's working well this way, for the fish and the weeds.

Using Sonar at a reduced rate (10 PPB) will kill Eurasian Water Milfoil and Curly Leaf Pondweed but it won't affect the native plants like American Pondweed.

I did get a welcome bloom after the BPW was eradicated, Tracy. Unfortunately, most of my good APW was also wiped out. Not sure what was used, to be honest. I thought they would just target some of it, but in the end the whole pond was 90 percent cleared.

Wonder what all this extreme cold will do to pondweeds. Maybe they will get a later start this year & be less of an issue.

Esshup thanks for the info. And Frank. that 90% kill of the weeds is not what concerned me it was that I was told nothing would grow for the next two or three years and I would like to have some desired plants to help reduce nutrients due to feeding. I can get more APW as it grows around the lakes here and is pretty easy to get it but won't do any good if it will not take hold and grow. Journeyman, i thought water temps needed to be in the 60's for treatment, is that what you saw?

Tracy, I was told that grass carp would be necessary to control the BPW in 2021, so the herbicide only expected to work one year.

I shot myself in the foot a bit by fertilizing too much later in the season when temps warmed. Every year is different!

Not for me, as soon as ice melted I tossed it in. Worked well.
The thinking on the timing was, after a long cold darkness (winter + dye treatment) and just before the warming kicks in, the Biomass is at it's absolute lowest point. By then, the weeds had slowly dyeing back for months, the impact to fish of a total kill-off is lessened and less chemicals should be needed to get the job done.

If I recall correctly, there was also a related article on using Sonar in cold temperature while back in "Ask the Boss'. The writer talked about using Sonar before the winter and ice, because it dissipates slower then, he seemed to be relaying info he learned from a study done by a Biology pro on the subject.

JM, Thanks for the info on your treatment in colder water.