barley straw required to save pond...can anyone send me some?

[eskymo]

Hey all

After sorting out my pond recently and successfully eliminating blanket weed, the water in the pond has decided to turn a dark shade of green over the past month. It's not blanket weed this time, but algea I think.

The oxygenating plants are obviously not working! Or the pond is getting too much sunlight as it is exposed.

From my previous post I found out that Barley Straw was a good thing to add to the pond to help eradicte blanket weed and algae. I only need a tiny bundle as it's a tiny pond and the garden centre sells a small block for £4.99 whihc I think is outrageously expensive.

Does anyone have any going spare that they wouldn't mind bunging in an envelope and posting to me?

If so let me know and I'll PM you my address.

Much appreciated.

E

[poultrychat]

I've got barley straw here eskymo, what sort of size envelope are we talking here as I haven't got a great selection but I'm more than willing to post you a bit

[WiZeR]

I'm after barley straw too, but in a larger quantity.... where would one obtain it? I can't think where to start looking.

[SueA]

You can sometimes get barley straw in large bags in pet stores but you have to check that it is barley not any other kind of straw or hay, I think it's sold as bedding & comes in large blocks wrapped in polythene.They used to sell it at a pet store near here attached to a World of Water & Wyevale Garden Centre & I think it was about £6 for a large pack.At specialist aquatic places the tiny mats are ridiculously expensive.

[eskymo]

I'm just after a small amount - so an A5 size jiffy envelope would be just fine. Can you send me some if I PM you my address?

Cheers

E

[blackkitty]

eskymo, Barleystraw is supposed to clear your pond but I've never found it that successful. I plant watercress in mine and the water is very clear (I can see the expressions on the tadpols' faces in three feet). Buy a bag from the shop and place a few stems in clean water, it roots in a few days, then transplant to a pot (any type will do) and place in the pond so that the leaves are out of the water but the top of the pot is covered. I use ordinary garden soil and cover it with a good layer of gravel to keep it in and to help the pot sink.

[Lesley Jay]

WiZer lots of places sell barley straw. Just google it and you can buy it mail order.

[eskymo]

blackkitty - we've just bought some water cress and have put some aside in a bowl full of water to root. Hopefully all will go to plan.

Because the pond is in direct sunlight for a lot of the day might be causing the algae to flourish and so I'm going to try and shade it a little with something.

[sewer rat]

WiZeR
You could try some local livestock farms or city farms as they may have some either for bedding or animal feed.

[WiZeR]

thanks all, i'll do a bit of research

[Looloobowers]

Barley Straw

Hi All,

I have a pond and I too never found barley straw to work that well. We invested in a bacterial filter system with UV lights, This works, however, The Range has just reduced all their willow, Bamboo and Reed screening to half price and I purchased the reed screening 1m x 4m for £4.99 to make a roof for part of the pond. This is a very cheap way and if you have fish as I do, it gives them some shade too. Other than that go for floating plants which eliminate the light, you need to cover at least a third of the surface area.

Good Luck.

[eskymo]

I'm putting up a trellis screen this week and going to plant climbing Jasmine up it. That should put the pond into shade for most of the day. I'm also trying out blackkitty's watercress idea and poultrychat is kindly sending me some barley straw, so I'm sure I'm going to get my clear water back sometime soon.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

E

[blackkitty]

WE went to a wyevale garden centre yesterday. I noticed that Barley straw in the aquatic section was £4.99 for a small bundle and £1.99 for a pillow sized bundle in the pet section labelled as bedding. Is there actually any difference?

[poultrychat]

I'm just after a small amount - so an A5 size jiffy envelope would be just fine. Can you send me some if I PM you my address?

Cheers

E

Tis in the post

[eskymo]

cheers!!! You're a star!