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Blanket Weed and Water Soldiers

hartleyharehartleyhare Posts: 81
in Wildlife gardening

I have had blanket weed in my raised pond since the winter and cannot get rid of it. I bought 2 different products to add to the water and neither has had any impact on it. I have been thinking about trying a product that contains barley straw extract ( think its made by Algofin ). Has anyone tried it or can offer any advice how to get rid of blanketweed please? I have recently put some watercress into the pond hoping this might help. Have also replaced the worst of my plants that were clogged up with weed. The pond is in shade for at least half the day and is around 18 inches - 2ft deep. Its filled with rainwater.

I recently bought some Water Soldiers. They were healthy looking when they arrived but since going into the pond they look decidedly the worse of wear. The outer leaves are turning brown, decaying and breaking off. And they've sunk to about halfway. Any thoughts on this please?

Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 26,995

    Water soldiers come to the surface in their own time



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • hartleyharehartleyhare Posts: 81
    nutcutlet wrote (see)

    Water soldiers come to the surface in their own time

    yes, I know this but the brown decaying leaves cannot be normal  can they ?

     

    nutcutlet wrote (see)

    Water soldiers come to the surface in their own time

     

    philippa smith2 wrote (see)

    The Barley straw extract can be a good thing but will take time to work...........also depends on just how bad the blanket weed is initially.  It proliferates in the sun so planting things like water lillies which cover the surface of your pond will help.

    You can remove a lot of the weed by using a stick (preferably twisted if you have ) and winding the blanket weed around it before you pull it out. Dump the weed close to the edge of the pond so any little things can find their way back into the water.  Watch out for Newts if you have them......they congregate in the weed/algae.

     

    I have a dwarf lily but it doesn't seem to be growing very fast. It looks the same as when I bought it last summer. Have Frogbit, Fairy Moss as well as the watercress.I don't think their are any Newts in there as its a raised pond but I am hopeful for my sink pond image

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 26,995

    Water soldiers look brown and unexciting a lot of the time. Mine haven't greened up and risen yet.

    Maybe they won'timage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • flowering roseflowering rose Posts: 1,632

    I have to pick the duck weed  out by hand  or with  a net ,the thing is to keep some shade over the pond and I run water from the water  butt so fresh water gets in and grow irises in  a pot to filter the water.

  • hartleyharehartleyhare Posts: 81
    flowering rose wrote (see)

    I have to pick the duck weed  out by hand  or with  a net ,the thing is to keep some shade over the pond and I run water from the water  butt so fresh water gets in and grow irises in  a pot to filter the water.

    I didn't know about the Irises so will get some. There is a pump running all the time, except when its really windy. It rains a lot on Anglesey image so there is always fresh rainfall going into both ponds.

  • The Bird LadyThe Bird Lady Posts: 192

    I've got blanket weed wrapped around the stems of the little water lily that I have - it's a real nightmare to remove!  image

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