Well, I went on an "illegal" harvest this weekend and grabbed a bag of water
hyacinth. I took them home, hosed them off, then put them in a stock tank
and treated them with PP. I couldn't sink them, so I poured the treatment
water over them. Then I drained the tub and repeated. Each treatment took
about 6-8 hours for the PP to neutralize.

Now that I have my ill-gotten gains, how do I care for them? Like, some of
the "bulbs" had broken/dead leaves; if I cut them off, do they grow new
leaves, or should I cut back to the main body of the plant? Similarly, there
are tubers that appear to be the way they multiply: they have small plants
at the end. But some of them are empty, where the plant was broken off.
Should I just cut these back, too? Will the plants survive in "still" water?
Or should I put an air stone in there with them? Do I really need fish, or
can I feed them with Miracle Grow (or some such stuff)? It appears that the
fish treat this stuff like a cat does catnip, i.e., look what Mom bought us
to eat!!!! For something that doesn't have teeth (OK, pharyngeal don't
count), how do they take out those big bites???

Any pointers appreciated.

Lee

When mine arrive I just toss them
in my filter and it is a race to see if
they can take over the world before
the first good frost comes...


k30a

To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.

Steve in 236 wrote:
To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.



And I'll add that if the koi eat the roots, that is when you
remove them to a bucket with Miracle Grow. This gives them
a chance to regrow the roots - then rinse well and put back
in the pond. I keep some in the veggie filter and when they
get to thick I put them in the pond for a fish treat.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

When mine arrive I just toss them
in my filter and it is a race to see if
they can take over the world before
the first good frost comes...


i do the same.
I beg people to come over and take a few (hundred!)

To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.

Steve in 236 wrote:
To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.



And I'll add that if the koi eat the roots, that is when you
remove them to a bucket with Miracle Grow. This gives them
a chance to regrow the roots - then rinse well and put back
in the pond. I keep some in the veggie filter and when they
get to thick I put them in the pond for a fish treat.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

When mine arrive I just toss them
in my filter and it is a race to see if
they can take over the world before
the first good frost comes...


i do the same.
I beg people to come over and take a few (hundred!)

To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.

Steve in 236 wrote:
To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.



And I'll add that if the koi eat the roots, that is when you
remove them to a bucket with Miracle Grow. This gives them
a chance to regrow the roots - then rinse well and put back
in the pond. I keep some in the veggie filter and when they
get to thick I put them in the pond for a fish treat.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.

When mine arrive I just toss them
in my filter and it is a race to see if
they can take over the world before
the first good frost comes...


i do the same.
I beg people to come over and take a few (hundred!)

Steve in 236 wrote:
To back up K30a, step one is to place the hyacynth in water and step two is
to run before they catch you. Step three is to harvest them every so often
so they don't choke your lillies (they make great compost). The only caveat
to this is the presence of koi. Some koi relish the bushy roots of these
things and they will suffer where the koi can get at them.



And I'll add that if the koi eat the roots, that is when you
remove them to a bucket with Miracle Grow. This gives them
a chance to regrow the roots - then rinse well and put back
in the pond. I keep some in the veggie filter and when they
get to thick I put them in the pond for a fish treat.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

When mine arrive I just toss them
in my filter and it is a race to see if
they can take over the world before
the first good frost comes...


i do the same.
I beg people to come over and take a few (hundred!)

Lee, I've also wondered how the koi decimated the water hyacinth, and
how they managed to take such large, round bites out of the bulbous part
of the plant. Then I saw the koi either pinning the plant against the
edge of the pond or with a koi on either side, then they just "slurp"
out a chunk and munch away. When I first saw this damage, I thought it
was caused by raccoons, except there where no teeth marks. Pretty
ingenious fish, eh?
--
Kathy B, zookeeper (OR)
3500gal pond

Lee Brouillet wrote:
Well, I went on an "illegal" harvest this weekend and grabbed a bag of water
hyacinth ...

Now that I have my ill-gotten gains, how do I care for them?

... For something that doesn't have teeth (OK, pharyngeal
don't count), how do they take out those big bites???