Winterizing tropical water plants

[CanadianCowboy©]

I know it is too early to be thinking of this but this will help me on
how much to invest in tropical plants vs hardy lilies for this year.

Can these tropical plants such as water lettuce, hyacinth, etc be
brought inside
and put in large buckets with artificial
lighting and expect them to live until spring ?

[~ janj]

On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 15:28:45 -0400, CanadianCowboy© >
wrote:

>Can these tropical plants such as water lettuce, hyacinth, etc be
>brought inside

Yes, though, imo, they're more work than worth the savings. Put about half
the root in dirt (or contact with dirt), as they can't get enough food out
of water alone inside (I assume) with enough water to still float. You must
debug them before they come in, and again about 3 months later. Very bright
light, plus being next to a window and getting real sun, seems to do it.
~ jan

-----------------
(Do you know where your water quality is?)

[G Pearce]

I was thinking about the same thing myself, but after reading about all the
problems about saving them, I decided, as Jan said, it is not worth the
hassle and just buy new each spring
Gale - Another Canadian Cowboy
:~))))))))))))))))))))))0

>>Can these tropical plants such as water lettuce, hyacinth, etc be
>>brought inside
>
> Yes, though, imo, they're more work than worth the savings. Put about half
> the root in dirt (or contact with dirt), as they can't get enough food out
> of water alone inside (I assume) with enough water to still float. You
> must
> debug them before they come in, and again about 3 months later. Very
> bright
> light, plus being next to a window and getting real sun, seems to do it.
> ~ jan
>
> -----------------
> (Do you know where your water quality is?)

[Koi-Lo]

"CanadianCowboy©" > wrote in message
...
>I know it is too early to be thinking of this but this will help me on how
>much to invest in tropical plants vs hardy lilies for this year.
>
> Can these tropical plants such as water lettuce, hyacinth, etc be brought
> inside
> and put in large buckets with artificial
> lighting and expect them to live until spring ?
==================
I only got water hyacinth to live through one winter in my sunroom. They're
more work than they're worth.Water lettuce will survive nicely in moving
water and some fertilizer. I keep them over in several aquariums. I don't
buy tropical pond plants any more. I'd rather the hardy ones so I can leave
them outside all year 'round.
--
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
*Note: There are several *Koi-Lo's* on rec.ponds.
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Bill Stock]

"CanadianCowboy©" > wrote in message
...
>I know it is too early to be thinking of this but this will help me on how
>much to invest in tropical plants vs hardy lilies for this year.
>
> Can these tropical plants such as water lettuce, hyacinth, etc be brought
> inside
> and put in large buckets with artificial
> lighting and expect them to live until spring ?

I pretty much agree with what everyone else said. I kept some Water Hyacinth
and Water Lettuce inside this year and the WH grew very well. I'm not sure
if there is any WL left, as the WH has outgrown it by leaps and bounds. I've
had to throw out a bunch of the WH and there are still too many. It cost me
about $20 a month for the lighting and the Hydro is scheduled to go up big
time next year. At $5.00 a plant for new ones the cost is a toss up. I
probably have a 100 plants now, but many are plantlets and not the full
fledged ones with roots.

The bugs are also an issue as Jan mentioned. I've had several outbreaks of
those small flys and I even had a Damsel fly a few weeks ago.

[CanadianCowboy©]

Koi-Lo wrote:
> I don't buy tropical pond plants any more. I'd rather the
> hardy ones so I can leave them outside all year 'round.

Do you recommend any other hardy water plants other than the classic
lilies ?

[Koi-Lo]

"CanadianCowboy©" > wrote in message
...
> Koi-Lo wrote:
>> I don't buy tropical pond plants any more. I'd rather the hardy ones so
>> I can leave them outside all year 'round.
>
> Do you recommend any other hardy water plants other than the classic
> lilies ?
=====================
I've liked just about all of them that I've tried. My favorites are the
parrots feather, the pickerel weed, hardly water plantain, yellow and other
colored water iris, water bamboo, mini and striped cat's tail. Sweet flag
is too flimsy. The frogs keep it broken and hanging over. Lizards tail is
almost indestructible and very attractive when well grown in full sun. I
also have a Lotus in a 100g pool of it's own. Lotus will take over a pond
if they can. These are their common names. I would have to look up their
latan names if you need them.
--
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
*Note: There are several *Koi-Lo's* on rec.ponds.
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Mike C]

Here in Chicago a water lettuce or hyacinth costs around $4. I buy one
of each at the beginning of the season and literally have to throw them
out all summer because they multiply so much. Not worth saving for $8
investment in my opinion.


G Pearce wrote:
> I was thinking about the same thing myself, but after reading about all the
> problems about saving them, I decided, as Jan said, it is not worth the
> hassle and just buy new each spring
> Gale - Another Canadian Cowboy
> :~))))))))))))))))))))))0
>
> >>Can these tropical plants such as water lettuce, hyacinth, etc be
> >>brought inside
> >
> > Yes, though, imo, they're more work than worth the savings. Put about half
> > the root in dirt (or contact with dirt), as they can't get enough food out
> > of water alone inside (I assume) with enough water to still float. You
> > must
> > debug them before they come in, and again about 3 months later. Very
> > bright
> > light, plus being next to a window and getting real sun, seems to do it.
> > ~ jan
> >
> > -----------------
> > (Do you know where your water quality is?)

[Marco Schwarz]

Hi..

> water lettuce,

Well, have kept offshots indoors for three winters now.
Never had any problem with them in open unheated tanks and
in a small half-open tropical tank without filter.

In winter its small leafs (as big as coins) look like
"hairy" European frog-bit. At the moment mine beside the
Souterrain window start growing and raising its leafs in
its typical manner.

> hyacinth,

Well had no good experience with them in the house. They
didn't like condensation, got mould..

No tropicals but good in summer ponds:

Egeria densa,
Parrot feather,
Water cress,
Ludwigia
Rotala rotundifolia

--
cu
Marco

[Mike C]

I have had luck with some tropicals that normally wouldn't survive by
putting them in the deepest part of my pond before winter. I am in
Zone 5 (Chicago) and use a heater to keep the water from freezing.
You'd be surprised how many tropicals/sub-tropicals can survive in the
30s. Freezing is what will kill most. With my cover and heater and the
ground as an insulator, the bottom of the pond is probably always at
least 38 degrees.

[Koi-Lo]

Moments before taking that leap of faith into the pond <Mike C>
at > was heard opining:

> I have had luck with some tropicals that normally wouldn't survive by
> putting them in the deepest part of my pond before winter. I am in
> Zone 5 (Chicago) and use a heater to keep the water from freezing.
> You'd be surprised how many tropicals/sub-tropicals can survive in the
> 30s. Freezing is what will kill most. With my cover and heater and
> the ground as an insulator, the bottom of the pond is probably always
> at least 38 degrees.
=====================
Which tropicals were you able to keep over this way? I don't buy
them anymore because I don't have room in my sunroom for any more
plants in the winter. Some tropicals get BIG. I'm in zone 6 central TN.
--
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Mike C]

It's a little early to tell what made it this year. I know my Spider
Lily made it. It is not really a troppical, but it definitely is not
rated to survive a zone 5 winter. I am hoping my Taro comes back up
too.

[Koi-Lo]

Moments before taking that leap of faith into the pond <Mike C> at
> was heard opining:

> It's a little early to tell what made it this year. I know my Spider
> Lily made it. It is not really a troppical, but it definitely is not
> rated to survive a zone 5 winter. I am hoping my Taro comes back up
> too.
=============================
*Note: There are TWO "Koi-Lo's" on this NG*

Is your spider lily white or red? I have the red one the woman called a red
swamp lily. It almost looks like an Amaryllis they sell at Christmas time.
I'm not sure what it is but she said it was tropical. I do bring both in
for the winter but they don't do well inside, getting spindly and pale. I
bring my Taro in as well and it always manages to have a spider-mite
infestation before Thanksgiving. These tropicals are barely worth the work
they take to keep them over......

Please let me know if your Taro comes back. I'd love to leave mine out this
coming winter.
--
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>