Growing water hyacinth indoors

Bill Stock wrote:
"Mike C" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have moved a water hyacinth indoors from my pond into a large glass
bowl. I like the way it looks and am wondering what kind of
fertizilizer I should add to the water. I know I need ot makje sure it
gets plenty of light. Can I throw standard Mircale Grow in the water
and at what concentration?


I brought some in last year and put them in a large stock tank with a Metal
Halide for light. Since I had fish, I couldn't use Miracle Grow. I added
Nitrates (Stump Remover), Phosphates, Potassium and Iron. The tops did
extremely well, I had all kinds of runners on top of runners. They
eventually started losing their roots though, the melting effect that KL
mentioned. I really can't explain this, it must be a missing nutrient, as
the stalks were beautiful. Perhaps it was a carbonate problem, but the PH
never dropped. I kept them in the aquarium the year before and almost none
survived, but I had to throw out buckets of them this year.

The good news, is that they are HUGE in the pond this year. Since I had them
early in the season and they were fully grown they look like bean stalks. No
flowers this year though. They also cured my String Algae, I have none,
except for the waterfall.

This is a very timely thread for me. I was encouraging a friend to
bring his water hyacinth in and keep them in a 14" deep plastic barrel
(circumference about 62"). He had heard that they would turn to mush
but I have volunteered to give it a try. Is that a large enough
container? And what size Halide light would be needed? I suppose it
would be important not to crowd the hyacinths? And in the end would it
be worth it?
Thank you,
Esme