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Blanket weed in a small patio pond.

Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
in Problem solving
We have a patio pond,  basically a big fibreglass bowl.  I was looking earlier & decided there was so much blanket weed that no amount of barely straw extract was going to work.  So I have emptied it completely and cleaned it out. The 2 plants that were supposed to be oxygenators, have disappeared.  There's a miniature lily and irises I want to keep.  My question is,  is there any sensible way of getting rid of the blanket weed that's in those plants.? I fear if I put them back they'll just contaminate the water again & I will be back to square one. 🤔
AB Still learning

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  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Once you get lots of oxygenating plants growing in there it will disappear, in the meantime, use a cane to twiddle it out, it won’t  be there for long,  don’t worry about it in your plants. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Try Nishikoi Clear Waters. I have found it excellent at eradicating blanket weed in my pond (5 metres x4 metres) as, like you, oxygenators have just disappeared. Barley straw had little impact too.
    Rutland, England
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I am in the same boat as @Allotment Boy . No amount of Nishikoi  or oxygenating plants seem to help. My micropond was fine for some years until I got some hortwort from a neighbour and - bingo - from the moment, the pond has been clogged. I clear it out and use the barley straw extract but it seems to do nothing.

    My question is,  is there any sensible way of getting rid of the blanket weed that's in those plants.? I fear if I put them back they'll just contaminate the water again & I will be back to square one.
    It's a good question.
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Hmm yes like @Fire, my pond was fine for the first few years . @Lyn we have done endless cane twiddling,  what oxygenators would you use? 
    AB Still learning

  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    I have a pond and until this year have never had blanket weed, there are plenty of oxygenating plants in there, I was wondering why it has suddenly appeared this spring.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    We use the eco pond products, they seem to work very well. If you’re confident that you’ve got as much off the plants as possible, I would set the pins backup and them immediately start using the treatment. That way the blanket weed, if still there, won’t have chance to take hold.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    No chemicals here,used barley straw found that was ok with our bigger ponds,stick and roll.we have UV filter,the mesh filter things get blocked up very quickly, hubby cleans them out at least weekly,12 fish(we bought 3 about 5 years ago) oxygenating plants, rather lovely water lily,reeds,tried watercress,that didn't survive
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    "I would set the pins backup and them immediately start using the treatment. That way the blanket weed, if still there, won’t have chance to take hold."

    I didn't understand that.


  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Water dye?  There are some available that darken the water safely and prevent blanket weed by cutting the light they need.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • GreenbirdGreenbird Posts: 237
    edited April 2021
    I've only ever had the one pond (building a micro one this weekend) but I've kept tropical and marine aquariums for 15+ years and the basics should be the same.

    There's a saying in the marine aquarium hobby - your not looking after fish, your looking after water. 

    Excess algae would an indication the your nitrogen cycle isn't balanced and there's (usually) too much nutrients in the water.



    If you limit the nitrates in the water, the algae won't be able to grow. You either need to reduce nutrients entering and decomposing in the water (including plant matter/dead leaves), increase surface area where bacteria can inhabit (pebbles, filter sponges) and plant as many pond plants as possible (roots in water, not soil) to outcompete algae for nitrate. 

    The algae still present will win for a while, so you need to keep fishing it out daily whilst plants establish and perform weekly water changes to help keep nitrate down.

    Eventually it'll balance.

    At least, that's what works in aquariums, and ponds are surely just large aquariums outside. :#
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