Controlling Floaters

[Melos]

I have a really healthy crop of water lettuce floating on my pond and it is almost taking over. I have actually had to scoop some out of my pond and throw it out.

A friend suggested this to keep it in check. Float a hula hoop on the pond surface and put the water lettuce inside of it. It will grow and spread inside the hula hoop (and hide it on the edges), but won't be able to grow outside of it.

I think I'll give it a try.

 

[chris]

Thats a great idea!

 

[Melos]

I just read another idea online. Some lady recommend using thin fishing line or waxed dental floss and making miniature leashes for your floating plants - actually tying them an appropriate distance from the side of your pond - or anchoring them to the bottom !

 

[dustydas]

My husband saw your post about using a hula hoop and immediately wanted me to find a hula hoop for him to use. I checked several places and found that hula hoops can be sorta expensive. I suggested that he get some plastic tubing that you can purchase in the plumbing aisle. It comes in different sizes but we chose 1/2" X 10' so that it would bend more easily and we could also cut it in half to make two small circles. The tubing is blue so he covered it in electrical tape to make it less visible in the water. He got 1/2" couplers for the tubing and used plastic pipe glue to keep them together.

 

[Mmathis]

Pool noodles work well, too.

 

[j.w]

I like using the black tubing they sell in hardware stores. They don't show up like all those brightly colored things. I just use a connector for the cut ends. One can add a net onto it also to keep fish from nibbling plants.
I would use bigger tubing next time tho as fish can jump easy over the short stuff. How come they can manage to jump in but then when they want out they can't do it?

This one had Azolla and Duckweed in it and I used fiberglass screen door material for the net and attached it w/fishing line around the sides:

Made a larger one w/a bit higher sides but still they jumped in:

If you just want to corral them w/no net then this fish jumping thing you don't need to worry about: