Picture of Chara, a form of algae.

Q: I have a weed growing off the bottom of my pond. After looking at your catalog I think it is naiad. I treated my pond with WhiteCap and nothing seems to happen. I have followed the instructions on the label. What am I doing wrong? – Barbara of Indiana

A: This isn’t the first time I have had this question. To answer this we must first be sure what you are treating is naiad. After reviewing the pictures you have sent me I can see why the WhiteCap is not working…

The plant you are trying to treat is not naiad it actually is Chara which is an algae. WhiteCap is excellent for pondweeds although it will not touch chara. To your defense many people mistake naiad for chara. The good news is chara is much less expensive to get rid of! Algae Defense is very effective on chara or any species of algae.

For those of you identifying pondweeds and think you may have chara too. Chara is sometimes also referred to musk grass due to its distinctive musky odor. Chara also has a gritty feel and can become almost crispy due to calcium buildup, especially when growing in hard water. Chara also does not have a true root system allowing it to me removed fairly easily in clumps.

Indentifying Naiad:
Naiad is very leafy. Leafs are arranged oppositely of one another or in whorls of three on the plant’s stem. If you determine you have Naiad use
PondWeed Defense or WhiteCap.

Please Note: If your pond contains koi or trout with a hardness level less then 50 (hardness test kit link) we highly suggest using Hydrothol 191 instead of Algae Defense or Pondweed Defense. Koi and trout are very sensitive to any copper based products.