I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

Thus far Duckweed 3 Me 0
Any ideas???

In article , Robert Wallace gerbil@bo
bwallace.glowinternet.com writes
I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

It's not the duckweed that is causing your water to be dark and evil
smelling!! If anything, the duckweed will help it not to.

I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

It's true.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

Nope - you just don't do it often enough !!!!!!!!!

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

Sure - some little bird had a bath in someone else's pond, got a bit of
duckweed on its feet that was washed off its feet when it had a bath in
your pond !

Thus far Duckweed 3 Me 0

Accept that it is not something you *can* get rid of and scoop it out
regularly. If you can't accept that then get rid of the pond


--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see

"Robert Wallace" wrote in message
...
I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

Thus far Duckweed 3 Me 0
Any ideas???

There is nothing for it but to learn to scoop faster.

Franz

"Robert Wallace" wrote in message
...
I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

I'm surprised at that effect, my duckweed has no effect on the water.

I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

Don't be daft, of course it doesn't. I scoop ours out every three or four
weeks, I throw it on the surronding soil and the hens love it. It soon
becomes incorporated in the soil.

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

A new liner wouldn't help.

Thus far Duckweed 3 Me 0
Any ideas???

Keep pulling it out.

Mary

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:17:31 -0000, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:




"Robert Wallace" wrote in message
...
I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

I'm surprised at that effect, my duckweed has no effect on the water.

It starts to grow when the water gets warm and then turns nasty.

The whole IJsselmeer does it some years.


As soon as the water temperature drops it disappears.

--
Martin

The message
from "Robert Wallace" contains
these words:

I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

Thus far Duckweed 3 Me 0

It's not the duckweed that's making the pond smelly, it's rotting
vegetable matter - maybe the duckweed contributes a bit of that.

It's good cover for frogs, tadpoles and newts, and I wouldn't try to get
rid of it all, and a reasonable cover of duckweed will discourage the
herons.

You want something like a shrimp net with a finer mesh to scoop the
stuff out. You will never get rid of it completely as ducks, herons etc
which visit will bring a fresh batch.

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

"Robert wrote in message ...
I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

It is not the cause, that's something else, and I would think it may be a
thick layer of detritius that needs cleaning out. This is in effect over
fertilizing the water causing the Dw to grow fast and thick and the water to
go stagnant. It's a problem with wildlife ponds because the muck at the
bottom contains lots of living things you want.
I've never understood where it got it's name 'cause I've never seen a Duck
eat any. :-)


I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

Correct, there is nothing out there to touch this weed that will not kill
the pond too. Get a net and use it at least weekly, I use mine almost every
time I go out to my pond in the summer, yes, daily.
In the winter it sinks only to pop back up in the spring.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

Hmmm! I doubt that, but you will never get rid of it in a planted pond, 'tis
true.

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

Well if you put the same plants back they would have had DW on them and it
only takes one bit. Or one bit attached to a frog/bird/net/boot......

--
Regards
Bob

Use a useful Screen Saver...
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
and find intelligent life amongst the stars, there's bugger all down here.

"Robert Wallace" wrote in message
...
I have a small pond I keep for frogs and wildlife.
Each year it gets covered with a thick layer of duckweed that causes the
water to become dark and evil smelling.

I asked my local fish and pond centre for some magic powder, but they said
all you can do is scoop it out.

This is plainly ridiculous as it grows faster than I can scoop!

I have tried emptying the pond and fitting a new liner but blow me if it
didn't come back.

Thus far Duckweed 3 Me 0
Any ideas???

I sypathise. This has been raised several times, also on
free.uk.nature.ponds.

The only way to get rid of it is mechanical, and the only way to do that is
by making sure every single piece is removed. Very difficult. I managed it
by removing the old liner and also getting rid of the plants that had been
there before because they had bits of duckweed on them, and being *very*
meticulous that the water I used to transfer the fish didnt have any it it.
that was after 2 or 3 years of scooping with no effect.
I agree with the other posts, the smelly water has nothing to do with the
duckweed, that is too much rotting material. Possible causes, you are
feeding your fish too much, you have too many fish, too many leaves are
getting into the pond.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

I've never understood where it got it's name 'cause I've never seen a Duck
eat any. :-)

I never did either until I went to the Kennet and Avon multi-rise locks. The
holding pools there were like fields - green with duckweed. I realised it
was water because there were swans swimming in it and they were eating the
duckweed. It was an eye-opener.

As were the multitude (in number and variety) of dragonflies.

Recommended for a summer visit.

Mary

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 10:43:11 -0000, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:



I've never understood where it got it's name 'cause I've never seen a Duck
eat any. :-)

I never did either until I went to the Kennet and Avon multi-rise locks.

Devizes?

--
Martin

Mary Fisher wrote:
I've never understood where it got it's name 'cause I've never seen
a Duck eat any. :-)

I never did either until I went to the Kennet and Avon multi-rise
locks. The holding pools there were like fields - green with
duckweed. I realised it was water because there were swans swimming
in it and they were eating the duckweed. It was an eye-opener.

As were the multitude (in number and variety) of dragonflies.

............... eating duckweed?

:-))
That would be an eye-opener.

--
ned

"ned" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
I've never understood where it got it's name 'cause I've never seen
a Duck eat any. :-)

I never did either until I went to the Kennet and Avon multi-rise
locks. The holding pools there were like fields - green with
duckweed. I realised it was water because there were swans swimming
in it and they were eating the duckweed. It was an eye-opener.

As were the multitude (in number and variety) of dragonflies.

.............. eating duckweed?

:-))
That would be an eye-opener.

It would indeed. They're not equipped.

Mary

--
ned