TO: Christopher Robbins
FROM: Eric Koperek =
erickoperek@gmail.com
SUBJECT: "Pond Scum" as Fertilizer
DATE: PM 6:55 Tuesday 21 June 2016
TEXT:
(1) All aquatic plants (even "pond scum" = algae) are good organic
mulch and fertilizer.
(2) Apply "aquatic weeds" to crops and soils like you would any other green plant materials.
(3) Aquatic algae and other aquatic weeds may be composted if desired but this is NOT essential.
(4) Aquatic plants used as mulch rot quickly releasing nutrients for crops.
(5) Using aquatic plants for fertilizer is a very old agricultural technology dating back to Egyptian times.
(6) There are many examples of agronomic and horticultural use of aquatic weeds around the world. A good example is the use of aquatic weeds as mulch and fertilizer for
chinampas = raised fields in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
(7) Pond water, by itself, may contain substantial quantities of plant nutrients. Irrigation with "green pond water" is a common horticultural practice employed by farmers throughout Southeast Asia. Gardens and orchards are planted around fish ponds to take advantage of nutrient-rich water, aquatic weed mulches, and fertile mud.
(

A well managed = well fertilized fish pond will be "pea soup green". Insert your arm down to your elbow in pond water. If you CANNOT see your hand then the water has sufficient nutrients. If you can see your hand then pond needs more fertilizer. Most small farmers raise ducks on their ponds. The ducks eat both broad leaf aquatic weeds and broad leaf land weeds. Duck manure fertilizes pond causing enormous "blooms" of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Stock ponds with various species of carp. For example, silver carp eat plankton, and grass carp eat any kind of plant material (aquatic or land plants). Well managed tropical fish ponds (3 feet deep) produce 5,000 pounds of edible fish per
acre each year.
(9) In China and Southeast Asia where most pigs are raised in pens, it is common practice to build pig sheds over shallow fish ponds so pig manure can fertilize water = feed plankton that provide food for edible fish.
(10) Kelp and other marine "seaweeds" also make good fertilizer for fields and raised beds. Farmers in Ireland, Scotland, and the North Sea Islands have been harvesting seaweeds for hundreds of years, mostly to make "lazy beds" for growing potatoes.
(11) In some areas of Northern Scotland & nearby islands there is insufficient land to provide enough forage for sheep. The animals graze on kelp and other seaweeds along the rocky beaches.
(12) Pond scum and pond water are good for plants but NOT good for people. If you must drink pond water, filter the liquid through fine cloth then boil before drinking. "Raw" pond water can make you VERY SICK!
ERIC KOPEREK =
erickoperek@gmail.com
end comment