Barley balls, "what in the world are they?" I was asked.

Barley straw algae control has been around for several decades now. The straw was put into nets and  placed into ponds and water treatment plants in England. 

  There is no " secret activation" "preactivated" straw, thats all a bunch of mumbo jumbo, sounds good, and all, but let me explain how the barley works.

Barley has naturally occuring compounds within itself that when it undergos decomp it forms natural amounts of Hydrogen peroxide . This Chemical is not friendly to water born algae. It acts as a bleaching agent and kills and or prevent MOST algae. It will not kill and or prevent all algae. The common "Green Water" algae is the most common to ponds and when barley is used properly , it will killand or prevent  it.

There is a very specific ratio of straw by weight to area of surface water to insure that you get the proper mix.

A seller should tell you the weight of the barley ball or exactly how much straw you are getting or need for your size pond.  Many internet sellers that use plastic balls to stuff the straw into do not pay any attention to ratios. They call a large a large and a small ,a small and only change the amount of straw they stuff inside the same exact plastic ball they are calling both a large , and  a small at the same time.Some do not even change a thing, they are selling the exact same thing, be it large , small or jumbo.

What this does, is create a large or jumbo that is overstuffed and can not get water movement thru the straw when it is over stuffed , or it is extremely loosely packed and the straw actually will float out of the holes in the ball.

Barley straw works best with oxygenated water FLOWING thru the straw .  If you have a tightly packed over stuffed situation  such as a bale of straw is,then the straw is not effective. Net balls are very effective as they have 99% open areas to the water  as the water can travel thru a net easily and that is not the case with other products.

When you get the product that you order, simply place it in the pond in an area near a water fall or water movement area for the most effective control of algae! 

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Happy Ponding