Natural Algae Control in a Farm Pond: Floaters and Barley Straw

Plant-Based Control

Fish will eat most floaters, but in a large pond, establish:

• Duckweed: Fish love it, but it reproduces fast enough to persist.
• Water hyacinth/lettuce: Where legal; protect in cages initially.
• Submerged oxygenators: Coontail, elodea—fish nibble but they grow fast.

Barley Straw

1 bale per acre, loosely caged, replaced every 6 months. Inhibits algae without harming fish/frogs.

Resource

Algae control details: fishpondinfo.com/plants/algae2.htm (site may be intermittently down).