Anyone tried AquaHydrotechLtd 'Duckweed Control'?

[anke]

I have tried Aquahydrotech Duckweed control, as we had a few bits of duckweed come into our pond, goodness knows how it got there, but the control did the trick and there was no other problems with plants or fish or frogs.
So I would recommend it to anyone with the problem, because if the duckweed grows to completely cover the pond, then the wildlife mentioned above would just not survive anyway eventually.
Good luck everyone with the problem, I was horrified, when I first saw the duckweed.
Would not hesitate to use again if it was to come back, but fortunately, the Duckweed has gone completely.
I have trouble with Blanket weed, tried everything I think, but would welcome some advice on that problem for my pond.
Thanks.
Ken.

[vole-woman]

I haul it out by hand, a hank at a time to avoid too much disruption, but ours is only a smallish pond. You do have to check for tadpoles, newts etc and free them if they're caught, and always leave the pulled weed on the bank for an hour or two to let little creatures crawl back into the water.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

No, I haven't heard of AH, Ltd. I wouldn't use anything with chemicals, even if it says it IS safe.

Have you tried this RHS page, Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Algae in Pools It suggests raking (I do this, I wouldn't use chemicals at all), or Barley Straw.

As you say, there's a lot of life in there and if the chemicals kill off even one species (which may or may not happen, it's hard to know without the active ingredient's name!), the delicate eco-balance could come crashing down.

Ultimately it's your choice, I am only suggesting what I would do in your situation!

Good luck.

Take care,

Jason

UPDATE: It does seem organic, but it's hard to know. Here is the product from their site: AquaHydrotech

But barley straw is for algae. Duckweed is a flowering plant so unlikely to be effected by this treatment!

[Dave H]

I have blanket weed in my which thrives where there are reasonable phosphate levels. My pond is 5m x 8m & is a wildlife pond started 3 years ago half 1m deep half 200mm deep intended to be a bog area, it is unlined & has fluctuating water levels. I’m hoping that as plants such as Bogbean, Marsh Cinquefoil, Starwort, Brooklime, Watercress, Broad leaved Pond Weed, Marsh Marigold, Marsh Pennywort Branched Burr Reed & various rushes get established the problem with blanket weed will go as the emergent water plants become more established & use up all the phosphates that leach in from the surrounding soil – 600mm clay topped with 300mm loamy soil.
I initially hauled out the blanket weed but discovered I was pulling out lots of fresh water clams, while some pond life may find their way back to the pond shellfish won’t so I’m hoping the problem will go as the pond becomes established over the coming years.
I have just seen a few leaf heads of Duckweed which I had been hoping to avoid but with ducks making the occasional visit I knew it was inevitable. At our last property we had a much smaller pond & I skimmed it daily. If the Duckweed does start to establish I will have to do the same here which will be a major task I don’t have time to do, but want to establish a vibrant wildlife pond. It will also be difficult with bits of Duckweed always remaining among Bogbean & all the other plants I am trying to establish.
I enjoyed watching large diving beetle lava hunting the other day & want to see the pond & surrounding wildflower area abounding with wildlife. The birds love the fluctuating water levels, though my family hate the changes in water level, considering the pond unsightly when half full or less.

[Billabong Karen]

Like everybody else I've been battling the duckweed and the blanket weed in my one-year-old wildlife pond... However, it seems to me that the problem seems to be getting less serious - a couple of weeks ago if I left the pond for even two days the whole weed situation seemed to be getting out of hand; now blanket weed growth seems to have slowed down considerably, and the duckweed seems almost to have come to a complete standstill. RESULT!!!

Is this due to the cooler weather, or simply because the sun is lower in the sky so not so much direct sunlight on the pond, I wonder? At any rate, I am very happy I wasnt seduced into using chemical / biological warfare against the blanket and duckweed, as the problem seems to be solving itself.

[tigertom]

Keeping duck weed out of my pond seems inpossible two years ago drained pond removed all the duck weed then relined pond planted new weeds and let it fill over few weeks put all pond life back I had kept in huge fish tank during work the on pond all done in winter, pond looked great no duckweed but 3weeks later it was back now have to net out daily wich takes a lot of time as I have check every net I take out for baby newts. mind you do no something worse than duck weed think it called azloa {spelling will be wrong} nasty stuff floating like duckweed pinky green and dos it spread had it on local lake the other year it covered half of it in a year floating up to 2in thick lucky very cold winter got rid of it dont what it would have done to lake but for this
MIKE

[Dave H]

I've skimmed the blanket weed to one corner to give other plants a chance & make some open water, neither it or the duck weed have spread over the rest of the pond, the duckweed remaining as a few dozen leaves in amongst some starwort. I think the standstill is due to the cooler weather & heavy rain - at least my pond is full.
I think I'll have to wait till next year to see what things are like, though I'm not going to use additives what ever happens

[Billabong Karen]

Yeah Dave agree completely; perhaps it is the rain. Good for something, after all!

[Gill Catton]

It will be the rain that's done it, duckweed usually dominates when there are lots of nutrients in the water (because its quicker at utilising the nutrients than other plants) and the rainwater will have diluted the nutrient load water in the pond effectively.

One of the best ways of dealing with a pond with a high nutrient load is to change some of the water (replaced with rain water not tap water).

Causes of nutrient enrichment can be complex and varied but typically include damage to the micro biology (killing off useful bacteria and tiny animals which would use up nutrients and/ or eat algae) through using chemicals or tap water, run off from lawns or flowerbeds/ veg plots (where any kind of fertiliser has been used), presence of fish (especially if you feed them) and also a build up of silt in the bottom - but I think it has to be quite a bit of silt to be a real problem.

Hope this helps.

[Dave H]

Our pond had a very solid clay base & solid clay to 600mm, unfortunately this has at some time been cut by a field drain which is no longer working but must allow water to soak away slowly & bring in some nutrients. Years ago the 4.3 acre plot that we have was a very intensive market garden so the top 300mm/450mm will be nutrient rich & as the water table rises water which isn’t picked up by the drainage system which takes water away from the pond, will naturally travel down to the pond as it is slightly lower than the rest of our land.
The clay base makes the establishment of plants such as Bogbean, Water Cress, Branched Bur-reed, Marsh Cinquefoil etc slow though Broad Leaved Pond Weed which is a fairly new introduction seems to be doing OK. Since pulling the blanket weed to one corner it is starting to build up in the rest of the deeper area of the pond again. The duck weed seems to be remaining static at present which is good. I’m very loath to pull out the blanket weed as I don’t want to pull out lots of snails & clams which would find it very difficult to find their way back to the pond & it’s so dense I find it hard to imagine any pond life working its way back to the pond if hauled out & left on the side.
Hopefully next year the plants will be more established & able to keep nitrate & phosphate levels down - if the weather isn’t to dry, last year we had just mud for 12 hrs. Flag Iris & lots more plants were high & dry. The pond is fed by rain water from part of the house roof & also one out building, with a 100mm overflow pipe to a ditch 20m away when it gets full.