Any dis/advantage to cutting the runners on the Water Hyacinths

[Bill Stock]

I put a bunch of WH in the indoor pond when I brought the fish in from the
cold. I started out with about half a pond full of WH. A few weeks into the
experiment I checked the nutrients and everything was reading zero (N02,
N03, P04, etc.) The WH were doing OK,but not thriving. So I started dosing
N03, P04 and Iron every week. Now I've got more WH than pond, I have to pull
out a few WH each day to make a feeding hole. The WH are definitely
multiplying, although the roots could look a little better, proably the mid
60s water temps.

I've been dead heading the decaying leaves, trying to reduce the DOCs and
giving me a bit more room. I've also been breaking off the established
runners, allowing me to squeeze in a few more plants. So I was wondering
what purpose the runners serve, other than reproduction? Although it will be
a moot point very soon, as I will be forced to cull the herd.

[Koi-Lo]

"Bill Stock" > wrote in message
...
> I've been dead heading the decaying leaves, trying to reduce the DOCs and
> giving me a bit more room. I've also been breaking off the established
> runners, allowing me to squeeze in a few more plants. So I was wondering
> what purpose the runners serve, other than reproduction? Although it will
> be a moot point very soon, as I will be forced to cull the herd.
=====================
Just reproduction. If you break them off, the mother plant will grow larger.
It wont kill the plant. You say you have fish in your pond. You may want
to leave part of the surface clear to let sunlight in and have a better
oxygen/gas exchange.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Mr. Paul]

Reproduction, as the older plants fail after blooming, rather like a
bromeliad.

"Bill Stock" > wrote in message
...
> I put a bunch of WH in the indoor pond when I brought the fish in from the
> cold. I started out with about half a pond full of WH. A few weeks into
the
> experiment I checked the nutrients and everything was reading zero (N02,
> N03, P04, etc.) The WH were doing OK,but not thriving. So I started
dosing
> N03, P04 and Iron every week. Now I've got more WH than pond, I have to
pull
> out a few WH each day to make a feeding hole. The WH are definitely
> multiplying, although the roots could look a little better, proably the
mid
> 60s water temps.
>
> I've been dead heading the decaying leaves, trying to reduce the DOCs and
> giving me a bit more room. I've also been breaking off the established
> runners, allowing me to squeeze in a few more plants. So I was wondering
> what purpose the runners serve, other than reproduction? Although it will
be
> a moot point very soon, as I will be forced to cull the herd.
>
>
>