Every year many seem to forget about algae control in their ponds until mid-summer when algae mats and blooms start consuming ponds. A recent article in Aquatics Magazine, Volume 33/ Number 2, Fall 2011 addresses this problem. In the article, "The Importance of Nutrient Management in Ponds," Cullen Danner, a Lakes Technician with Aquatic Eco-Systems, Inc., talks about the role of nutrients in algae growth.

Article Highlights

• • Weed and algae control are often the most substantial part of managing a pond.
  • Nutrients (carbon, nitrogen & phosphorus) are ever present in pond systems and are the food source for plants and algae.
  • Nutrients naturally occur in ponds from the first day they are filled with water.
  • Internal contributors to phosphorus in your ponds include fish and waterfowl waste, decomposing vegetation and decaying aquatic organisms, such as algae.
  • External sources of phosphorus include leaf litter, grass clippings, fertilizer runoff, and even well water and rain.
  • Alum (aluminum sulfate) has a strong chemical affinity for phosphorus.
  • Algal cells can no longer use nutrients when they are bound to alum.

A copy of the article, "The Importance of Nutrient Management in Ponds," is available to provide more background information on ways to reduce algae in your golf course ponds.

Reward® Landscape and Aquatic Herbicide can be used as a component of a comprehensive nutrient management program which is designed to reduce the nutrient load of a pond from all sources.  

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