Allotments 4 All

Is anyone suffering from excessive algae this year?

My pond is still crystal clear but my friends pond is really bad, she has treated it 4 times this year already with the algae pond clearing product but after a couple of days it is just as bad.  She has the straw bags in it too.  Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated.

Hi Chloe.

Not a good idea to keep treating it with chemicals.The best answer is to make sure there are lots and lots of plants and oxygenating weed in any pond.If she has a waterfall,water cress is brilliant at gobbling up the nutrients in the water that feed blanketweed.Plenty of shade on the surface is also a must,as sun makes it grow very rapidly.Is it a fish or nature pond? if fish,then overfeeding is another culprit.Everyone suffers from the wretched stuff on and off,the secret is to try and reduce it,by hand and by these preventative methods.

Hi Margaret,

Thank you for that advice, I will pass it on to her.  She did speak to someone today about the problem and they told her she had too many fish in the pond for the size and water capacity.

I found it interesting about the water cress as my own pond suffers with blanket weed.  So do I just by a water cress plant and pop it in?

Hi Chloe.Just get some water cress that you would eat in a salad from the supermarket or greengrocers.Put the best pieces into glasses of water so that the stems are in the water.keep indoors in the shade.The cress will droop a bit but after about 3 days you will have some nice roots.Drop them into your waterfall,if you have one but anchor them down with stones or pebbles.Otherwise float them on top of your pond,if you have a flow of water they like to be in the flow.They will then carry on growing as they live on the excess nutrients from the filter or just in the water.

They will get leggy and you will need to trim them up,but if they get really manky,just repeat the process.you can even plant them round the edge of a pond.you will not believe the height they grow to!!

Oh, thank you for that Margaret, can't wait to go and buy my cress tomorrow.  I don't have a waterfall.  Will let you know how I get on.

Chloe

A quick update Margaret, my water cress hasn't grown any roots yet and is looking very yellow:)

Hi Chloe.You did put the stems only,upright, in glasses of water in the shade?Just floating them or submerged does not work the same.Sorry if i was not more specific!

Ummmmmm, kind of, Margaret.  They wouldn't stand up, as stand up straight, but the stems only in the water.

Oh dear chloe,that is a shame.i never have any trouble getting them to root.It was just ordinary,salad water cress you bought? i cannot explain why it did not root.Yes you lose some bits but generally there are plenty of stems that do root.Try with some fresh cold water if you think there is still a chance.

I wonder if duckweed might help, by intercepting at least some of the light (and I don't mind skimming it off because fewer of the invertebrates seem to live in it). The only other floating weed I can think of is Crassipes or Water Hyacinth - I know some koi breeders use it to receive the eggs, but it might well not be  hardy enough for our winters, though I suppose a few might overwinter in a suitable container in the greenhouse or conservatory.

I had to go to the allotment today, otherwise I would have told you earlier, Margaret, great excitement, I have roots:)))

Thank you gilgamesh, for your input but whilst down the pond, this morning, I skimmed loads of duckweed off.  No water hyacinth doesn't over winter, I have tried that.  Saying that though I had to leave it in a sheltered place outside as I don't have a greenhouse or a conservatory.

Have put the water cress in the pond, Margaret.  

Thank you.

Not sure if I'm too late with this reply or not but here goes :)  I've also been having similar problems with Blanket Weed over the past couple of months and have tried a number of different products in an attempt to get rid of it. A couple that I have used have had no impact at all and to be fair I had given up, resorting purely on the manual method i.e. large stick in pond, twist, pull out and throw over fence into next door's garden  ;)

As I was telling Margaret a couple of days ago, at a recent visit to a water garden shop I was asking about Blanket Weed treatments and they said that the most success they had had was with a product called "Nishikoi Goodbye Blanket Weed" - It is an eight week treatment and  basically entails putting a sachet of the "NGBW" into the filter every week.  After just 7 days there has been a noticeable reduction in the amount of blanket weed that has appeared in my pond and of the BW that is still in there most looks as though it is either dying or dead :)

I know it's only early days but I must admit that I'm impressed so far, and I completely take back a post I made earlier claiming no products work!! :-[  Anyway it cost me about £12 although I'm sure it'll prob be cheaper on-line somewhere.  If you do need more details try: http://www.nishikoi.co.uk/nishikoi-uk/main.html

hope this info helps

Tony

Has anyone tried hybrid grass carp? If so, did they do the job?

I've heard a similar thing about grass card but very few places actually stock them for some reason.  I know also that when I spoke with Margaret about this, she said they can grow very big, very quickly and so are probably not suitable for most garden ponds

Hi!!

I hate fishing with a vengeance ,so much as it grieves me to show you this,you might like to take a look.

www.carp-uk.net/gal/dirk/big-grass.jpg

Now that is one BIG fish!!!

They could have taken their 'photo and put the poor thing back in the water surely!!! I'm not a fan of fishing I'm afraid.  >:(


Eileen.

Hi Eileen.Nice to find someone who agrees with me.Just do not see the need to make them suffer,as they surely must do.How would fishermen like their heads held under water for ages ?

And before anyone asks,i am a vegetarian.And that includes fish of course.

I guess Margaret's picture illustrates just how big Grass Carp can get!!  Can you imagine just how big this 2 month old fry will get to when it's fully grown ;D

Sorry Maggie couldn't resist :)

tony

Carp - certainly Cyprinid carp, tend to grow only as large as the body of water they live in will allow them to. Take one from a small pool and put it into a larger one, and, despite its age, it will begin to grow again.