Floundering Water Hyacinths

[sissy]

The turtle or the lily pond .The turtle is big as my pit bull and my sister and her hubby bought it at Kmart for my birthday .The lily pond is 3 ft by 3 ft and 2 1/2 ft deep .

 

[MitchM]

The roots look like they're either covered in algae or are rotting.
With the addition of bottled bacteria, algecides and defoaming products, I don't think the water hyacinths will survive.
The bottled bacteria and defoaming products (alcohol or oil based) will add more organic waste to the water, making the problem worse in the long run and without knowing which algecide was used, the pond water doesn't sound like it's the best environment for plants in general.
I would suggest a number of large water changes to flush out as much of the added convenience chemicals as possible.
Keep the mechanical filter cleaned weekly.

 

[sissy]

yep to many chemicals will kill them but you could try my method to see what happens

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Could be several factors, but they definitely don't like high PH. They prefer the water PH around 7.

 

[sissy]

my ph is 8 and every time I test it is 8 .i do have to protect them from the koi ripping them to pieces

 

[flareyflan]

I have the same problem. From what I have read they don't like high on levels. My levels are the same as yours.

They don't like high which levels?

 

[flareyflan]

The roots look like they're either covered in algae or are rotting.
With the addition of bottled bacteria, algecides and defoaming products, I don't think the water hyacinths will survive.
The bottled bacteria and defoaming products (alcohol or oil based) will add more organic waste to the water, making the problem worse in the long run and without knowing which algecide was used, the pond water doesn't sound like it's the best environment for plants in general.
I would suggest a number of large water changes to flush out as much of the added convenience chemicals as possible.
Keep the mechanical filter cleaned weekly.

Yes, the roots are covered with something. It might be algae. I have brown algae in my pond. It goes through cycles, but right now it is high.

I have thoguht about changing out the water, but I hear that it causes new algae blooms and throws the chemistry of your pond off kilter. So I'm hesitant. Any advice on that?

 

[Marshall]

I started out this year with 5 plants and they have now became this that you see in the picture. The roots get chopped off by the turtles who like eating them but it seems that it is actually good for the plants.

 

[sissy]

I only bought 2 but over wintered some years ago but hubby had a heart attack and afraid they got neglected that winter .I over wintered them and the water lettuce for 5 years in my basement in a concrete mixing tub with an aerator on a timer to come on at night and also an LED light at night .Also added miracle grow and had so many i ended up put a little water in the stock tanks in the basement the first year after that I bought a larger short snapset pool for them .

 

[MitchM]

Yes, the roots are covered with something. It might be algae. I have brown algae in my pond. It goes through cycles, but right now it is high.

I have thoguht about changing out the water, but I hear that it causes new algae blooms and throws the chemistry of your pond off kilter. So I'm hesitant. Any advice on that?

Water changes do not cause algae blooms unless there is something wrong with your source water.
Do the same water tests on your tap water that you did on your pond water.

Algae actually will stabilize your water. By killing it off you are releasing the nutrients back into the water column only for new algae growth to occur. The brown buildup you see may be excess dead organic matter that has been accumulating from all the stuff you have been adding to your pond.

You could try sissy's method of putting your healthiest water hyacinths in a separate container for now with some Miracle Grow so they don't all die off and you wind up having to buy some new ones.

 

[flareyflan]

I started out this year with 5 plants and they have now became this that you see in the picture. The roots get chopped off by the turtles who like eating them but it seems that it is actually good for the plants.


View attachment 85004 View attachment 85005

Wow, those are amazing!! Some of them have huge leaves! Mine were quite green and big when I got them, much like your first picture, but instead of flourishing like yours, they've gotten smaller and smaller until there are only 2-3 leaves per plant, none bigger than a clementine. The other leaves/bulbs are brown and rotting. So I can tell that mine are not reacting as they could/should. Thanks for the pics. This confirms that something is off!

 

[Lisak1]

I can grow beautiful hyacinths in my pondless waterfall, but they will not grow in my pond even though it's the exact same water.

Two things that I THINK contribute to the difference - the pondless is shallow, so they have a chance to root into the bottom and collect lots of dirt and, because it is shallow, the water is much warmer and stays much warmer, which they seem to prefer. They are also clumped closely together in my pondless, which many people say they prefer as well.

In my pond, they look much like yours do (although, not so much rotting but maybe I pull mine out before they can get to that point). So I'm not sure if there really is anything you can do. Although I will second all the others who have suggested you stop chasing after solutions that come in a bottle. Just let your pond mature on it's own and see what happens naturally.

 

[bfull1478]

They don't like high which levels?

Sorry, I meant to say they don't like high PH levels.

 

[Marshall]

Wow, those are amazing!! Some of them have huge leaves! Mine were quite green and big when I got them, much like your first picture, but instead of flourishing like yours, they've gotten smaller and smaller until there are only 2-3 leaves per plant, none bigger than a clementine. The other leaves/bulbs are brown and rotting. So I can tell that mine are not reacting as they could/should. Thanks for the pics. This confirms that something is off!

I wish I knew what made mine grow but I did nothing more than put them in the water so I assume it may be just a good chemistry in my pond. I hope you can get yours to recover some.

 

[Lisak1]

I don't know if it's "good" chemistry necessarily. Good conditions for that particular plant though for sure. I grow a dozen or more plants in my pond with no trouble - hyacinths are just not happy there. Whether it's the pH or the fish or the amount of sunlight, or... Who knows. I don't fret about it. Lots of other things to grow!