This photo was taken 5 days ago and all these plants would have easily floated in a five gallon bucket when they arrived. They are floating in an approximate 2 foot square in the pic. I'd say they expand rather quickly and the South Africa-type weather is not upon us yet.
The above article says that they used the WH to cover about 1% to 7.5% of the water's surface in multiple Large BOW's and recorded very good results. Some of the results were argued, but it's all I have found to base my little pond ramblings on.
At any rate, 7.5% coverage on my 1/4 acre pond amounts to about 1100 square feet. That equates to 11 of my 10 foot square corrals. I don't think I have it in me to spend the additional $400 for the corrals, sacrifice the surface area of my pond, dedicate a boat for maintenance, spend the time culling plants, etc, etc.
But 1% of my surface are is just a bit larger than one of my corrals. So, I will stick with my original plan and count on making a second corral should this one fill up quickly and reap arguable results all the while enjoying the flowers. If this one corral does not fill up quickly, I will throw and extra $20 at plants at the beginning of next season.
On a side note: dlowrance (fellow PB member) has stated that his WH (located in central Illinois) come back every year from seed (some years more so than others). By my estimations, him and I are in the same plant hardy zone (or very close). Next year will will be interesting at my pond to say the least to see if these crazy plants make me crazy (er). And, anthropic can tell me "he told me so".
Here's the thread where Dale talks about his WH...
I have added some as well, they are growing and multiplying. I just put some foam floaties around a hulahoop I had laying around and it is currently just floating around the pond. I will keep watch on them. Dave
Wow, that's some impressive growth! I'll be following your story, as I'd love to get rid of our GC and try something similar. I'm very curious to see if they'll come back next year, because I think I'm only a little North of you.
I'd estimate they've at least doubled in 10 days. I hope you can take some more update pics as we go, because now I'm also wondering if they'll keep growing linearly at roughly the same rate, or if they'll keep doubling (exponentially) for a while. My naive intuition thinks they might grow in more of a logarithmic fashion, with growth flattening out as the nutrient levels drop, but we'll see.
I had never given this idea much thought but I have a buddy down the street with a water garden/green house that I found out today he throws about 50 lbs of these a month in the dumpster. Needless to say, I'm trying to figure out what type of containment will work best for me. I don't have a protected dock area-yet-so not sure how well I can contain them with the winds I'm subjected to fairly frequently. We shall see. Edit: I asked him if I could come get a few and when I got there he had 5-5gal buckets full.. %-))
Drew - I think the logarithmic growth pattern will likely happen due to the plants running out of summer weather long before they run out of nutrients, but that's what this exercise is all about...we'll see! I'll continue posting photos as they progress and I may not be very happy if they return year after year, I bet I would consider the experiment a bust as I might have to apply herbicide to keep them under control - I'm not into that.
Mike - I believe I will have to make another corral soon.
Snipe - You'll be my new best friend if I can talk you into sending me a bunch of your neighbors throw away plants next spring, my cost, of course. That way I start out a little ahead of the growth curve and the corrals fill up sooner. My pvc corral seems to be doing it's job so far. I get little wind action at the pond, but heavier storms have come through and no rouge plants. You might be able to section off a corner of your pond with a straight section of PVC pipe or make a corral and just tie it off to the shore in a couple of places. You would want to make sure it's out far enough so that water level fluctuations do not strand it on shore and create an escape route.
Foe deciding to try this this am.. some things happen quicker than others.. Pool noodles, 1/4" rope and 8 1-1/4" nuts.
Got a start anyway. Looks like about 7-8 big plants in each 5 gal bucket so 35-40 put in total before I left. He says come get whatever I want so probably can send a few if you want some QA, happy to help.
That looks promising! You have gone from zero to hundred in one day. I'll be remembering you next spring for a lesson in going from 0 - 100. Thanks Snipe!
You guys have me so jealous. If I could figure out how to keep their seeds from falling into the pond, I would love to have them. In this subtropical environment, just as soon as I did, next year I'd be able to walk across my pond on top of them.
I did receive 5 hybrid lilies from Texas today and they are now permanently residing on its banks. Tomorrow I'll be looking at placing some fencing around them to keep the turtles off of them until they get better established. That or start shooting turtles!!
.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
I don't really know much about the varieties of hyacinth, but mine are supposed to be Eichornia Crassipies and it would seem that they have not been hybrid/domesticated (or whatever) into many varieties like most common garden plants.
I can presume that my pond has high nutrient levels and warm surface temps that these plants really like.
Well, I made another 10 x 10 corral...This photo was taken July 3rd right before I split the plants between the two corrals. I'll be posting another photo soon as both corrals are almost full to the point of needing to be culled.
Holy... Those things have really blown up. Mine haven't even doubled yet.
They are really liking the surface temps of upper 80's and my muddy looking water. What's your surface temps in NW Kansas? What about your turbidity? Your more than welcome to some of these if you think it's a variety difference. I'll be culling in a week or so.
Holy... Those things have really blown up. Mine haven't even doubled yet.
They are really liking the surface temps of upper 80's and my muddy looking water. What's your surface temps in NW Kansas? What about your turbidity? Your more than welcome to some of these if you think it's a variety difference. I'll be culling in a week or so.
I barely make low 80's here on the surface.. in a long hot spell we might see 85 but we have 58-64 deg nights so it just doesn't heat up and stay there very long. Last week we had 2 nights in a row below 50..47 and 49 I believe.
I barely make low 80's here on the surface.. in a long hot spell we might see 85 but we have 58-64 deg nights so it just doesn't heat up and stay there very long. Last week we had 2 nights in a row below 50..47 and 49 I believe.
I bet that is what is holding them back. I put the plants in my pond as the surface temps got above 70 and they really did not show strong growth until the mid 80's. Now that it's upwards of 90F, they are exploding.
According to Wiki...
"The temperature tolerance of the water hyacinth is the following; its minimum growth temperature is 12 °C (54 °F); its optimum growth temperature is 25–30 °C (77–86 °F); its maximum growth temperature is 33–35 °C (91–95 °F), and its pH tolerance is estimated at 5.0–7.5."
This seems to be matching my observations. I do envy your nighttime lows, we have been seeing low 70's at night and muggy humidity...Stymie first thing in the morning, then the sun comes out!