Using Barley Straw As A Blanket Weed Treatment

Everyone is looking for ways to accomplish jobs once handled by chemicals or physical labor in a more environmentally favorable, and less labor intensive way. One such treatment for filamentous algae (also known as pond scum, blanket weed, pond slime and other names) problems is the use of barley straw. Barley straw has been shown to prevent "blanket weed" or filamentous algae when used properly in ponds. It is thought that the decaying barley straw produces an enzyme that prohibits algae growth, but most experts will tell you that they honestly don't know exactly why.

What are the good and bad points of using barley straw?

The good side of barley straw treatment is that it is organic, and no chemicals are involved in the process, so there are no toxicity issues for fish or human beings, and that it seems to work fairly well.

The bad thing about barley straw is that it is organic, and adding organic material to ponds is not always a good thing. To much decomposition can rob the water of oxygen, and add too much nitrogen. Both of these are bad for a pond. There are a few other issues.

Barley straw may help to prevent pond scum, but it will not kill what is already there, and it may cause problems with the ponds natural life cycle if it destroys plankton. Plankton feeds the tiny creatures that feed fish, and without it, the fish go hungry. Furthermore, the destruction of the suspended plankton in the water will clear the water, something which unknowing pond owners desire, but which will allow light to reach the bottom where the pond scum starts, encouraging a new round of invasions from filamentous algae and lake weeds! The only way to keep pond scum from the top of your lake is to prevent sunlight from reaching the bottom of your lake, and that is accomplished best by healthy algae bloom.

The same is true for most blanket weed treatments. An algaecide will kill algae indiscriminately, leaving no suspended plankton in the water profile. If the water is not more than 3 feet deep, and no follow up is done to produce algae bloom, the problem may come back with a vengeance! If barley straw is successful in preventing all forms of algae, there will be no algae bloom, or plankton to feed the small invertebrates that provide food for the fish.

When would barley straw be a good option?

The use of barley straw may be just the ticket if you want a clear pond with few fish, or if you want a clear pond, and you regularly feed your fish. The barley will need to be replaced periodically, and you may have problems with some aquatic weeds as a result of the water clarity issue, so be prepared to deal with them.

More natural methods

There are other ways to approach the problem of blanket weed. It can be prevented with algae bloom, which will further the life cycle. I know that it seems a little odd to use one type of algae to prevent another, but it is the best preventive method, and is perfectly natural.

Most of the ponds and small lakes throughout the country are man made, and do not have the native fertility of natural lakes. In most natural lakes, the natural fertility allows a pretty constant algae bloom, coloring the water with a green tint, preventing light penetration to the bottom where the blanket weed and other aquatic weeds starts, and keeping the life cycle of the lake in operation. With man made ponds, in some areas, that native fertility may not exist. In such cases fertilizer may need to be added on a regular basis to acheive the same result. A good pond fertility program may be the most environmentally friendly and effective way of dealing with blanket weed.

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