Hyacinth Experiment

"Heather" wrote in message
...
After reading many ways to try and keep Water Hyacinth over winter I tried
the following:
Result. - They all died.
==============================
They're hard to keep over the winter but I have been successful. The best
way I found :

They need a very sunny window and algae kept off their roots by using
something the sun doesn't shine through. I wrapped aluminum foil around a
wide mouth old gallon pickle jar. This also keeps the water from getting
too warm. They need FERTILIZER all winter, but only enough to keep a
healthy green color. They need to be DEBUGGED constantly as they're mite
magnets. The mites suck the life out of them.

In my opinion... they're not worth the bother.
--
Carol....
"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are so right!

There was algae on the roots. I did not sheild the light there.

I did not give fertilizer.

The mites were all over the plants in the floating tub but missed the plant
in the other end of the house in the quart jar.

Maybe I will try again. After all there is a challenge there.....

Cheers,
Heather


"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
news

"Heather" wrote in message
...
After reading many ways to try and keep Water Hyacinth over winter I
tried
the following:
Result. - They all died.
==============================
They're hard to keep over the winter but I have been successful. The best
way I found :

They need a very sunny window and algae kept off their roots by using
something the sun doesn't shine through. I wrapped aluminum foil around a
wide mouth old gallon pickle jar. This also keeps the water from getting
too warm. They need FERTILIZER all winter, but only enough to keep a
healthy green color. They need to be DEBUGGED constantly as they're mite
magnets. The mites suck the life out of them.

In my opinion... they're not worth the bother.
--
Carol....
"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are so right!

There was algae on the roots. I did not sheild the light there.

I did not give fertilizer.

The mites were all over the plants in the floating tub but missed the plant
in the other end of the house in the quart jar.

Maybe I will try again. After all there is a challenge there.....

Cheers,
Heather


"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
news

"Heather" wrote in message
...
After reading many ways to try and keep Water Hyacinth over winter I
tried
the following:
Result. - They all died.
==============================
They're hard to keep over the winter but I have been successful. The best
way I found :

They need a very sunny window and algae kept off their roots by using
something the sun doesn't shine through. I wrapped aluminum foil around a
wide mouth old gallon pickle jar. This also keeps the water from getting
too warm. They need FERTILIZER all winter, but only enough to keep a
healthy green color. They need to be DEBUGGED constantly as they're mite
magnets. The mites suck the life out of them.

In my opinion... they're not worth the bother.
--
Carol....
"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are now in the 5th season with our hyacinths. All the indoor wintering
efforts failed. Here in MS, the pond does not deeply freeze. We get 1/2"
of ice once of twice. Our water, obviously, gets to 32. Mostly, however,
it is in the 30's or even 40's in the winter. We put a plastic sheet over
the hyacinth before the first real freeze. We leave the leaves on. In the
spring, the leaves are mostly dead from the cold, but the roots make it as
do a few leaves. Once the temp is reliably into the 40's, we strip off the
dead leaves and toss the mostly nude plant into the pond. They explode with
growth and babies when it gets warmer. Moral: if the core of the plant does
not freeze, it comes back.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Heather" wrote in message
...
After reading many ways to try and keep Water Hyacinth over winter I tried
the following:

1. Placed a plant in a quart jar in a sunny window. Kept water topped
up.

2. Placed a plant in a floating tub under grow lights from 7am to 11pm.

3. Placed a plant in a net bag and sunk to the bottom of the pond. 4
feet.

Result. - They all died.

Too bad.

Heather

We are now in the 5th season with our hyacinths. All the indoor wintering
efforts failed. Here in MS, the pond does not deeply freeze. We get 1/2"
of ice once of twice. Our water, obviously, gets to 32. Mostly, however,
it is in the 30's or even 40's in the winter. We put a plastic sheet over
the hyacinth before the first real freeze. We leave the leaves on. In the
spring, the leaves are mostly dead from the cold, but the roots make it as
do a few leaves. Once the temp is reliably into the 40's, we strip off the
dead leaves and toss the mostly nude plant into the pond. They explode with
growth and babies when it gets warmer. Moral: if the core of the plant does
not freeze, it comes back.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Heather" wrote in message
...
After reading many ways to try and keep Water Hyacinth over winter I tried
the following:

1. Placed a plant in a quart jar in a sunny window. Kept water topped
up.

2. Placed a plant in a floating tub under grow lights from 7am to 11pm.

3. Placed a plant in a net bag and sunk to the bottom of the pond. 4
feet.

Result. - They all died.

Too bad.

Heather

Yep!


On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:54:19 -0500, "Jim and Phyllis Hurley"
wrote:

We are now in the 5th season with our hyacinths. All the indoor
wintering
efforts failed. Here in MS, the pond does not deeply freeze. We get
1/2"
of ice once of twice. Our water, obviously, gets to 32. Mostly,
however,
it is in the 30's or even 40's in the winter. We put a plastic sheet
over
the hyacinth before the first real freeze. We leave the leaves on.
In the
spring, the leaves are mostly dead from the cold, but the roots make
it as
do a few leaves. Once the temp is reliably into the 40's, we strip
off the
dead leaves and toss the mostly nude plant into the pond. They
explode with
growth and babies when it gets warmer. Moral: if the core of the
plant does
not freeze, it comes back.

Jim

Yep!


On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:54:19 -0500, "Jim and Phyllis Hurley"
wrote:

We are now in the 5th season with our hyacinths. All the indoor
wintering
efforts failed. Here in MS, the pond does not deeply freeze. We get
1/2"
of ice once of twice. Our water, obviously, gets to 32. Mostly,
however,
it is in the 30's or even 40's in the winter. We put a plastic sheet
over
the hyacinth before the first real freeze. We leave the leaves on.
In the
spring, the leaves are mostly dead from the cold, but the roots make
it as
do a few leaves. Once the temp is reliably into the 40's, we strip
off the
dead leaves and toss the mostly nude plant into the pond. They
explode with
growth and babies when it gets warmer. Moral: if the core of the
plant does
not freeze, it comes back.

Jim

all of you want that hyacinth cause it has that one measly flower at a time and only
for one day. if you can give that ephemeral flower up, then you can forget hyacinths
AND water lettuce and get on with much friendlier, more useful and hardier plants for
veggie filters. properly fertilized water lilies in large pots will nearly cover the
entire surface of a pond. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

all of you want that hyacinth cause it has that one measly flower at a time and only
for one day. if you can give that ephemeral flower up, then you can forget hyacinths
AND water lettuce and get on with much friendlier, more useful and hardier plants for
veggie filters. properly fertilized water lilies in large pots will nearly cover the
entire surface of a pond. Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]
On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 17:47:36 -0400, "Heather"
wrote:

After reading many ways to try and keep Water Hyacinth over winter I tried
the following:

1. Placed a plant in a quart jar in a sunny window. Kept water topped up.

2. Placed a plant in a floating tub under grow lights from 7am to 11pm.

3. Placed a plant in a net bag and sunk to the bottom of the pond. 4 feet.

Result. - They all died.

Too bad.

After 3 years, I wintered them just fine! (MA Zone 5).

I put them under metal halide lights, lost all the first year

Last year only two sickly ones survived - took off fine.

This year I have dozens looking pretty good, if a tad small.

Secret was not temperature indoors, it was mo algae on the roots, cleaning
dead debris, aeration and a major dose of fertilizer in February.

gerry

--

Personal home page - http://gogood.com

gerry misspelled in my email address to confuse robots