Water Hyacinths

[Rick40]

 I purchased 4 clumps of Hyacinths from a local pet shop last month for my ponds. He said"That by the end of the summer I will be cleaning them out of the ponds by the handfuls". They have not grown at all. I started my ponds up in late May. Does anybody have any suggestions on why they won't grow. Please see my post under the topic "My first pond" for some pics of my ponds.The ponds are located in the north part of my backyard. The ponds get between 6 and 8 hours of sunlight. Or should I try Lilly Pads next year. I have lots of questions to ask about pond plants

    Thank you

     Rick 

[miguynmkoi]

Are the roots long or very short?  If your fish have chewed all the roots off they won't multiply much.  If the roots are long they should be growing like fire in CA    I purposely do not grow them any more because they really grow in multiples overnight and they make a mess during the winter months in my pond.  Keep finding baby plants here and there that grow too quickly if I don't remove them.

[crazyfishlady]

I understand your pain with the hyacinths, last year mine looked like they burned up. I tried again this year and had them confined to a 12 inch ring anchored to the side of the pond. They now cover a 6x6 foot area, are really tall and I pull out a milk crate full every week.

I think they like to be crowded. Hardy lilies are my staple; they multiply and come back each year. Someday they will save the expense of buying the hyacinths.

[miguynmkoi]

Dianne is correct!  Hyacinths do like crowding!

[purplepshn2004]

Rick,

Hi!  I don't post much, but I have had water hyacinths before and mine always did the best when they were overcrowded (like the others said).  I found they grew best when I had them confined from the fish and kept closely together (I used hoola hoops with the laundry nets (bags) hooked over the edges, then I tied the bottoms of the nets in knots so that they didn't hang down to much to get in the way of the fish.  (The kids swimming noodles also worked, but the hoola hoops looked better and were easier to hook the laundry nets too (I got them for $1 at the dollar store when I was buying them.)  Sorry I can't find any pic's right now, and I haven't had for a few years as I have moved so much, but I hope this helps.

Beware though, you will have to lift the whole thing out of the water every once in a while and cut off the roots growing through, I made the mistake once and the roots took over and unfortunately many of my fish got tangled in them and died. 

Good luck and don't give up, the purple flowers are so pretty and so are the greens!  And I really think they help the water quality (as long as the fish don't make a mess out of the roots)! 

And this is only my opinion, there are many people on here that are so knowlegeable!  But this has been my experience.

[Rick40]

 Thank you all. The roots on the Hyacinths used to be long. I think my fish are eating them for lunch. They also look like they are burnt up.

  Are Hardy Lilies easy to grow?

   Rick

[CT]

Is it really hot there and in full sun? If so, then in my experience they will do better in partial shade with lower fish load. The ones I have in 98 degree full sun, yellow out and die quicker unless I fish them out and fertilize them in miracle grow water and return them. Too much work! Fish do like to muck about in the roots. The thing I don't like about hyacinths is that they rot eventually and make a mess in the pond. The good thing about hyacinths are the pretty flowers and they make the best spawning plant for fish.  Hardy lily's are extremely easy to grow and they are pretty. I would go for the lily's. The old pads and flowers have to be pruned off but I like playing in the ponds.
Kay

[MikeW]

Rick - I am clearing them out by the armful - they are pretty much a weed, and when crowded, they bloom.

Now, I have no proof of this, and have not read it anywhere, but in my pond, and two others I know of, hyacinth did not do well in a new pond. For my first two seasons, Mikey of this forum gave me four bulging black trash can bags full, and they pretty much all just seemed to melt away. By year three, they prospered and multiplied.

My neighbours are installing a pond as we speak, water in any day now. I am urging them to hurry - rather give them the hyacinth than toss it out - but I have already warned them that I would not be surprised if it did not do well this year.

Maybe they just need really old, seasoned water?

Cheers,

Mike

[Julles]

Make sure you do not have salt in your water, as salt kills water plants.

I have hyacinths in several places.  All those in unfiltered tubs are doing great.  But those in my pond die, even in baskets protecting them from the fish.

I have heard that, since hyacinths' job is to clean impurities out of water - that's what they live on for nutrition - they will not do so well in ponds with clean water.  Now, I know folks here DO have clean water, and they keep hyacinths with no problem.  But in my yard, at least, that theory seems to hold true.  Tub gardens with no filter that don't get cleaned ever = hyacinths growing and crowding and blooming.  Pond with bio filter and good oxygenation = hyacinths that die.

Go figure.

[Rick40]

Thank you all again. My ponds are in full sun. My lower pond water is also very clean. Most of the muck that goes though my biofilter ends up in the upper pond. The upper pond gets more shade than the lower pond. I put the hyacinths in a bucket of water with miracle grow. I think in a couple of days I am going to place them in the upper pond and see how they do.

   Is it still early enough to try hardy water lilies in my pond and enjoy them this year? Or should I wait until next year?

    Rick

[crazyfishlady]

This late in the season I would only go with potted growing lilies. They will have a jump start on root development. However they are more expensive. I put a dry tuber in my pond this time last year, and it is pretty much still an infant this year. I put a potted one in at about the same time last year and it has tripled in size from last year.