Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

Does anyone have any easy control for blanet weed / string weed in a
pond.

It is that time of year when it seems to be taking hold.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation.

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

In message .com,
writes
Does anyone have any easy control for blanet weed / string weed in a
pond.

It is that time of year when it seems to be taking hold.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation.

Barley straw. It is also very satisfying to poke the end of your
pond-net into it and twist it, so that it forms a lump on the stick.
All you have to do then is slide it off - it provides very good
nutrients for your plants.
--
June Hughes

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

June Hughes writes
In message .com,
writes
Does anyone have any easy control for blanet weed / string weed in a
pond.

It is that time of year when it seems to be taking hold.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation.

Barley straw. It is also very satisfying to poke the end of your
pond-net into it and twist it, so that it forms a lump on the stick.
All you have to do then is slide it off - it provides very good
nutrients for your plants.

But be careful you havn't caught any tadpoles, or even frogs, in it.

Blanket weed likes light and a high nutrient level - you need to reduce
both. You can reduce light by growing plants with floating leaves over
about half the surface of the pond. You can reduce nutrient by planting
something fast growing and harvesting it - watercress is one possibility
(don't eat it). Barley straw is another way of reducing nutrient level.
--
Kay

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

In message , K
writes
June Hughes writes
In message .com,
writes
Does anyone have any easy control for blanet weed / string weed in a
pond.

It is that time of year when it seems to be taking hold.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation.

Barley straw. It is also very satisfying to poke the end of your
pond-net into it and twist it, so that it forms a lump on the stick.
All you have to do then is slide it off - it provides very good
nutrients for your plants.

But be careful you havn't caught any tadpoles, or even frogs, in it.

It would have to be very dense for that to happen. If there were so
much of it, you would have a huge problem.
Blanket weed likes light and a high nutrient level - you need to reduce
both. You can reduce light by growing plants with floating leaves over
about half the surface of the pond. You can reduce nutrient by planting
something fast growing and harvesting it - watercress is one
possibility (don't eat it). Barley straw is another way of reducing
nutrient level.

Yes I agree about the barley straw. We use it. See my post. However,
if you have plants growing in the pond, the fish are likely to eat them,
as I have found to my cost.

--
June Hughes

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

Have to agree that improved surface cover helps reduce blaket weed.
However, I have a little wildlife pond at the top of the garden that is
packed full with iris, water hawthorn, acornus, typha australis,
brooklime, yet in the margins there it is!
I was told you can only control it, not eliminate blanket weed. There
is another algae, which produces long fillaments - spirogyra, which is
unaffected by barley. It doesn't grip when twirled with a stick. It
is a much brighter green than blanket weed; trying to pick it out of
the pond is like trying to pick up runny porrage.

I was intregued to learn last year that the barley straw works by
producing hydrogen peroxide which inturn bleaches the algae. That
suprised me, because I thought that once exposed to air hydrogen
peroxide broke down. However, that was the claim made which led to the
approval last year of the barley straw extracts.
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

June Hughes writes
In message , K
writes
June Hughes writes
In message .com,
writes
Does anyone have any easy control for blanet weed / string weed in a
pond.

It is that time of year when it seems to be taking hold.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation.

Barley straw. It is also very satisfying to poke the end of your
pond-net into it and twist it, so that it forms a lump on the stick.
All you have to do then is slide it off - it provides very good
nutrients for your plants.

But be careful you havn't caught any tadpoles, or even frogs, in it.

It would have to be very dense for that to happen. If there were so
much of it, you would have a huge problem.

It can very easily build up to that level early in the season before the
water lilies and other surface plants have developed full leaf cover.
It's not that the animals are caught to begin with, but the process of
pulling sheets of weed across the pond and wrapping around the stick can
catch them.

Blanket weed likes light and a high nutrient level - you need to
reduce both. You can reduce light by growing plants with floating
leaves over about half the surface of the pond. You can reduce
nutrient by planting something fast growing and harvesting it -
watercress is one possibility (don't eat it). Barley straw is another
way of reducing nutrient level.

Yes I agree about the barley straw. We use it. See my post.

Yes, that's why I quoted it ;-)

--
Kay

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

Hi,
If you mean filamentous algae, then this is better controlled than
iradicated.
Filamentous algae can be a nuisance but also beneficial to ponds.
This has the effect of taking nutrients out of the water and by filtering,
or cleaning the water as it flows over the fil. algae., it can assist in
halting the algal bloom known as , "pea soup" it can also be a haven for
aquatic insects which as they lossen their grip can provide food for fish.
So you see nature has a good side and a bad side.
work with nature, not against.
As another example, cow dung dropped on fields, is messy when dogs roll in
it during walkies, but it provides food for plants when it breaks down, it
provides a host for insect life, and the insects provide food for birds,
whose droppings provide food for plants, whose leaves provide food for cows,
whose dung provides food for plants, insect habitat, which ....... etc....
you get jiust by now...
I know i am ramnbling iots our 40th wedding anniversayr today and 40 years
ago today it snowed.... back to celebrations
night all.
regards
Cineman

wrote in message
oups.com...
Does anyone have any easy control for blanet weed / string weed in a
pond.

It is that time of year when it seems to be taking hold.

Any suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation.

Blanket Weed in Ponds
 

"cineman" wrote in message
.uk...
Hi,
If you mean filamentous algae, then this is better controlled than
iradicated.

The simplest way of controlling it, without going to the unnecessary expense
of filters, is to plant as much water plants such as lilies as you can
manage, which will screen off the light from the invasive weed and in time
will kill it off.

Alan