A friend told me that barley straw in my pond can help keep the water
clear....any comments,thoughts or experiences with this?
thanks
Gene

A friend told me that barley straw in my pond can help keep the water
clear....any comments,thoughts or experiences with this?

When barley straw decomposes, it releases a gas that kills out the
algae.

I have seen numerous farmers, including my uncle, toss bales of straw
into their livestock ponds in the spring to keep algae blooms from
forming when the pond does its annual spring turn over.

Here is a site of barley straw links that you might be interested in
looking at.
http://loricase.com/ponds/barley.html

HI
Ref the below:

I have been using it in my pond's now going on 3 years, and am a firm
be liver in its working. not sure what the real reason is, but it
seems to do the job.

I made a small cage out of hardware cloth and put in a large handfull
of barley straw and rock and put in my pond where the water comes out
of my filter.

the barley straw is surprisingly messy, a lot of little pieces float
on top of the water for a day or two, but then it worth it as it keeps
the water clear

try it you will like it

tom A


On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 23:18:17 -0500, "Gene" wrote:

A friend told me that barley straw in my pond can help keep the water
clear....any comments,thoughts or experiences with this?
thanks
Gene


tom A.
Please check my WeB SiTe: www.kinetickites.com
or call me @ 405-722-KITE (5483)
or E-mail @

We have been using barley straw for several years now. I buy a whole farm
bale (not one of those little $12.00 bales) for $1.50 from a farmer who
grows barley straw. I asked him if there would have been any pesticide used
on this. He said that barley is such a cheap crop that farmers can't afford
to use anything on it since it sells so cheap. I get some landscape fabric
and sew a small bag, or several bags if your pond is large. Put a rock in
the bag to sink it. You should get this in your pond very early in the
Spring, as it takes a while to start working. We change the straw after
about 3 months, as it usually all decomposed by then. It works for us.
"Gene" wrote in message
...
A friend told me that barley straw in my pond can help keep the water
clear....any comments,thoughts or experiences with this?
thanks
Gene