What Are Your Aquatic Plant Control Options?
There is very little people enjoy more than a bit of plant killing, especially in their pond, or even their fishpond where it would cause huge problems for both the fish, and for you. Fish don’t relish moving through a huge underwater forest just like any other creature, so it’s best to keep a handle on the plants at the bottom of your pond, before some of them turn into the man-eating plant from Jumanji.
An excess of aquatic plant life may cause problems all the way from watercraft motors being jammed, to undesirable results while fishing, to kids experiencing a horrible time attempting to swim in your pond. None of those are things you desire, therefore it’s better to eradicate the source of this problem before it even begins if you can.
You have a couple choices at your disposal, options that go from biological control, meaning the use of fish that simply control the plant populous, to lining the whole pond with plastic…that seems a rather drastic measure, but you know, whatever floats your boat.
So let us go over a few of the choices, and then you can choose the one that is suited for you, but remember that these are only a very small selection of options, and you must speak with other pond owners, or professionals to learn about every single method at your disposal.
Harvesting – Ridding yourself of the plants through manual labor, is definitely a good choice. Of course, if this plant life is not situated on the shore, or isn’t|is not on the surface of the pond, you might find yourself buying some diving equipment to swim down there without drowning. If you don’t have knowledge of the ins and outs of scuba diving, or can’t hold your breath for an incredibly long time, it’s advisable for you to consult the experts. Believe it or not, there’s businesses that work to clean the bottom of bodies of water, so you’ll be in pretty good hands in that regard.
Chemicals – There are a lot of chemicals available for you to use in order to rid yourself of the annoying plant life. A few chemicals are Fluridone,2,4-D, Glyphosate, Diquat, Endothall. Naturally though, it is not encouraged that you use any sort of herbicide or chemical to kill off your the plants, which is not unlike the reason it’s never advised for you to throw a live wire into a pond to capture your prize fish. Using chemicals may be deadly to fish, in addition to any other life you may have residing within your pond. Use such things with care, or even better, don’t use them period unless you have no other choice.
Dye – You could buy a wide range of chemical dye which would tint the color of your water, and therefore lower the amount of sunlight for any sort of water plant life. It’s best to do such at the beginning of spring for a better turnout.
Lining – Lining the bottom of the body of water with a type of plastic is also a viable option, as that would stunt the development of any sort of aquatic plant life. Remember that this may become expensive, therefore take into account the volume of the pond, as well as the amount of plastic you’ll need. Of course that is a viable choice for compact fish ponds, though maybe not quite so much for an entire lake in your yard.
Keep in mind that there are plenty of methods to halt aquatic life from infiltrating the pond, and to discover the technique which is right for you, talk to an expert or get together with a number of other pond owners.
