Water Hyacinth
Water hyacinth plants have a tremendous growth and reproductive rate and the free-floating mats cause substantial problems. Millions of dollars are spent each year in the United States for its management. Water hyacinth has been widely distributed because of the beauty of its large, purple to violet flowers.
Water hyacinth can form impenetrable mats of floating vegetation. It reproduces by seeds and by daughter plants which form on rhizomes and produce dense plant beds. In one study, two plants produced 1,200 daughter plants in four months. Individual plants break off the mat and can be dispersed by wind and water currents. As many as 5,000 seeds can be produced by a single plant and these seeds are eaten and transported by waterfowl. Seedlings are common on mud banks exposed by low water levels.
Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is a member of the pickerelweed family (Pontederiaceae). The plants vary in size from a few centimeters to over a meter in height. The glossy green, leathery leaf blades are up to 20 cm long and 5-15 cm wide and are attached to petioles that are often spongy-inflated. Numerous dark, branched, fibrous roots dangle in the water from the underside of the plant. The inflorescence is a loose terminal spike with showy light-blue to violet flowers (flowers occasionally white). Each flower has 6 bluish-purple petals joined at the base to form a short tube. One petal bears a yellow spot. The fruit is a three-celled capsule containing many minute, ribbed seeds.
Water hyacinth reproduces sexually by seeds and vegetatively by budding and stolen production. Daughter plants sprout from the stolons and doubling times have been reported of 6-18 days. The seeds can germinate in a few days or remain dormant for 15-20 years. They usually sink and remain dormant until periods of stress (droughts). Upon reflooding, the seeds often germinate and renew the growth cycle.
Close-up of one of our
Water Hyacinth blooming in mid-October 2003
about 3 weeks after being brought indoors
Here you can see our
little "green house". Notice at the very top
of the picture, I have a "shop light" containing two fluorescent
"grow lamps" and notice on the floor is the pot of Water Hyacinth
that is in the picture to the left. The fluorescent lamps probed to be far
too weak. The incandescent grow lamps that we added later were much brighter
and better.
Notice the extreme over growth of our water hyacinth this summer (Aug 31, 2004) Many of the plants are over 2 feet tall!! We have pulled out and thrown away DOZENS of plants in an effort to thin them out a bit, and still they keep growing. I suspect that the reason for the extreme growth (and by the way, EVERYTHING in the pond has grown WILD this summer as opposed to previous years!!) is the 0.8% of salt that I added to the water in the early spring. I measured the salt content earlier today (8/31/04) and it is down to 0.4%... meaning that all that salt had to go somewhere, and I suspect it went into the plants... as a sort of fertilizer. We have not had ANY salt in the water in previous years, and have not had anything like this kind of plant growth. We like the water hyacinth plant since it develops such large root structures which act a scrubbers to help keep the water healthy for the fish. It also provides lots of "shelter" for the fish to hide under and get away from heron attack.
If you want to hold water hyacinth over the winter, put the plants in plastic containers of water and use a very bright grow lamp about 12 hours per day. If the lamp is too bright, or too close to the leaves, the leaves will "burn" and turn brown. The leaves will also turn brown and die if the light is not bright enough. But, it is difficult to give these plants too much light. The water does not have to be heated... just room temperature... above 50 degrees F. Room air temperature should be above 60 degrees F. the plants tolerate stale, stagnant water, but changing it occasionally won't hurt. you can also use a small air pump and bubble air through it to help keep it fresher.
CLICK HERE to see a live video "feed" from The BAT Pond