Water Hyacinth

[leet13]

My mom's best friend has 2 ponds at her house. One is pretty big but not very deep and the other is small but deep and built into a corner of their deck. Their son did everything for them and at a BBQ earlier in the year he was telling me about something that helps "clean the water". I had no idea what he meant at the time.

I took my mom to a celebration at a Thai temple in PA this past Sunday and my mom's best friend was there with a whole plastic shopping bag filled with water hyacinth so I could put them into my pond! I saw them at her house floating around the last time I was over but I could not see the roots and hairs that hung down from them. I was very happy to receive these because I know they help with algae.

She must have given me about 15 of them, all different sizes... I saw almost immediately how they attracted all the icky stuff floating around... the fish were a little freaked out but soon got used to it.

I know they can become a nuisance but I also have another big pond that I can throw them into if they multiply too fast in mine. I just rinsed them out today and they seemed to do well in catching whatever stuff is in there. They also provide some shade against the one problem area I have in my pond that gets the most sun exposure (its a sloped curve with a sharp drop and I can sort of push all of them together and have them cover that area).

I know a lot of people probably hate these things but I was at my wit's end with the algae. I did use a chemical 2 and a half weeks ago but did not feel comfortable using it... I will stick to these and wash them regularly. They are pretty cool.

sorry for typeos

 

[cajunmeme]

I also have water hyacinths in my pond. My fish nibble at them all the time. I am lucky enough that when I have too many I have pond friends to share with. When I have too many I pull them from the pond and let them dry out. Then chop them up a little and place in my compost bin.

 

[addy1]

The wh just does not like my pond, it grew but poorly last year. The wh in my small stream ponds did the best, in the big pond it struggled.

 

[sissy]

Yep does not grow good in my pond either as the fish eat the roots off faster than they can grow but the grow ok in my filters

 

[JoaniePA]

grows like crazy in my pond. It has never bloomed, but it adds to the top layer and helps with keeping the fish shaded. I float it between the lilies, because otherwise it ends up in the skimmer. No worries about it taking over. just toss it on the compost pile if it gets out of hand. Otherwise it will die out in the winter. Just make sure to skim it out before it rots!

 

[j.w]

Doesn't like my pond either so done w/ it!

 

[CometKeith]

They do great in my pond. Some of them have some purple flowers now.

 

[cajunmeme]

Mine bloom about one a week.

 

[leet13]

Oh wow, I was thinking I would get a ton of posts saying how these things are a pain because they grow so fast and take over ponds! I hope i can see some blooms soon!

 

[addy1]

I think with mine, I have too much competition for the nutrients between the lilies and the bog, they leave very little for the wh.

 

[JohnHuff]

Mine has grown well as well. My fish don't eat them. And in the 2 months or so that I've had them, they've multiplied by splitting into twos. I like them so much that I've put a small one in my indoor aquarium.

 

[j.w]

Well now how come you can grow them John and I can't. Actually I only had one really small one one year and that's all I bought at the grocery store so maybe if I gave them another chance..................I don't know.

 

[sissy]

You need to sneak over to hi :razz: s house and snatch some jw he will never know there missing

 

[sissy]

My water lettuce doing good in the concrete mixing tub ,but put them in the pond thats another story.They even had babies in there and have spread to 6 of them now and are around 6 inches wide

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Oh wow, I was thinking I would get a ton of posts saying how these things are a pain because they grow so fast and take over ponds! I hope i can see some blooms soon!

They are pretty easy to take out of the pond and throw in the compost pile if and when there ever gets to be too many.
I've thrown lots away this year aready, but still have enough growing around the shorelines to fill in all the empty spaces, which is just what I grow them for. All the pond critters like to have that cover in the shallow areas.
Sadly, no blooms yet either in my pond.