Aquatic Weeds: Chop Em, Haul Em, Spray Em!
“Chop Em, Haul Em, Spray Em!” This sounds a lot like my hashbrown order at Waffle House. Approaching an aquatic weed/aquatic vegetation issue, including filamentous algae can be tricky. There are a lot of different species and a lot of different responses to the approach that you take. Sometimes leaving a small amount behind can be acceptable, but sometimes complete eradication is the answer for species that will regrow fast and take over a pond or lake. There are three categories of controlling aquatic vegetation and Louisiana Pond Management employs all three. This is the final entry in our three part blog series covering this topic, so be sure to check out the previous two if you haven’t already.
Part 3:
Herbicides | We have an App for that!
Aquatic herbicides are great tools to control vegetation. We only use and recommend EPA approved aquatic herbicides and these herbicides go through additional layers of scrutiny during approval to make sure that aquatic environments are protected.
These chemicals are formulated to control specific species and leave other species alone. Some are broad spectrum, and some are specific. Want to get rid of algae and keep your water lilies? Just like a smartphone… there is an App for that!
Some are fast acting, some slow acting. Want to get fast action to address a new infestation that can be a real danger of taking over… or do you have a significant amount of vegetation that needs to be killed slowly to avoid an oxygen depletion? There’s an App for that too!
Some are processed in 24 hours and some are persistent. Do you need to treat a pond that is used for irrigation? You may not have more than three days between irrigation cycles, so you will need something affecting the treatment and then gone. Do you have a high chance of reinfestation? Your pond is by a swamp, stream, or other infested pond or lakes. Animals travel back and forth and bring new vegetation seeds and fragments with each visit. A persistent herbicide with broad spectrum affects will be a good choice to protect your pond for a full season.
So between identifying the single or multiple species for treatment, avoiding good citizen plants that you want to keep, and selecting the best herbicides or mixture of herbicides to approach the project, the application can be tricky. This is in addition to accessing flushing, measuring the volume of water or surface area and noting any water usage for irrigation or watering livestock. Consultation or hiring a professional applicator to make sure you get results and the best value, can be the right decision.
LPM has over 35 years of collective experience treating ponds for aquatic vegetation. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to improve your pond or lake.
(225) 308-4145 info@louisianapondmanagement.com
