Rock salt and algae

16 years ago

I recently saw a Gardening by the Yard program where Paul James touted rock salt as being a "cure" for algae. Any thoughts or experience?

Anna

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Comments (4)

loma_ponder
16 years ago
Salt is a wonder tonic. But like most items, with moderation. The general feeling I'm hearing in the pond community I have contact with is the two main concerns of salting are: damage to plants and maintaining salt levels (usually low levels .10%), you are possibly contributing to salt-resistant bugs.

Kind of like always taking a certain level of medicine, after a while, bug becomes resistant to it. You need to up the dose.

Some guys swear they never have salted their ponds.
You'll hear both sides of the issue. Take it with a grain of "salt" ( I had to do it). read the article by Doc Johnson linked below.

LP

Here is a link that might be useful: Salt - by Doc Johnson
garyfla_gw
16 years ago
Hi
I've heard that before but what about the ocean?? lol.
Most of the plant life in it is algae lol So why would a small dose in FW water keep it out lol
Salt may help control some types of parasites and lower bacterial levels for a short time but it certainly won't stop algae . gary
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If you could add a pic of the trouble area, suggestions could be much more accurate. Cracks in sidewalk may just need to be spackled with concrete. I don't understand the crack between the lawn and sidewalk either. If there's an actual gap, you could get some dirt & grass seed. My dad used to scalp those edges too close with weed trimmer, which would kill the grass and what took its' place was Oxalis stricta. Maybe you've inadvertently created a situation where the grass can't survive at the edge? Many weeds tolerate salt just fine, I would want to know what the weeds are first, to see if they are sensitive to salt. If not, salt won't kill them. As a long-term solution, this isn't practical, as said above. Rain will move the salt in the direction of the flow of water when it rains, which could affect the lawn and/or large landscape plants like trees and shrubs.
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Gypsum will provide the chemistry needed to allow all traces of sodium to leach away from the root zone. The molecular composition of the gypsum particles, calcium sulfate dihydrate, grabs onto the sodium chloride molucules, preventing uptake by the plant and enabling leaching. This will occur both in real soil in situ and in containers. When I lived and worked in the coastal regions of S. Carolina, I observed that the golf courses in the region, hundreds of them, would order tractor trailer loads of bagged gypsum to spread over the expensive real estate of the golf course when the water table levels introduced sodium into the soils. I also saved my small (11 acres) container nursery when, during a three year drought, my well water turned salty. On the advice of my consultant, my staff and I top dressed every container with gypsum. I observed a complete recovery of my seriously damaged nursery stock. Gypsum can be found where fertilizers and agricultural supplies are sold. I like pelletized gypsum the best. Anyone who has soils exposed to rock salt over the winter shoud be using gypsum to mitigate the damage that the sodium can do to soils and plants.
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I have done both with salt pools. If you use granite or other similarly hard rocks you will not have a problem. It is normally cheaper to use real rock than the prefab types and similar problems exist such as the white calcium line that builds up under hard water conditions. On prefab stone I've seen the color come off trying to remove the hard water deposits. Keep good water chemistry and you shouldn't have a problem. Your PB should be able to guide you to an acceptable rock if he is marginally experienced.
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bradarmi
16 years ago
Thats because there are parasites and algae and worms and fish in the ocean that are all dependent (not tolerant) of salt. A freshwater dip works wonders for saltwater fish infected with parasites and a salt dip works for freshwater fish infected with a freshwater parasite. It has to do with changes in osmolarity, something with kidneys and mutliple organs can accomadate (fish). Parasites/algae/bacteria cannot accomodate to abrupt changes in salt content and either burst or die to the new water chemistry.
horton
16 years ago
A very interesting and informative post Brad.
"Horton"

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Rock salt and algae

Comments (4)

loma_ponder

garyfla_gw

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