How to Grow a Water Hyacinth Fast

Water hyacinth can become invasive.

Ask any botanist, horticulturalist or aquaponics grower about water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), and you'll likely get one common response -- nuisance. Although the flowers are beautiful, this perennial plant grows rapidly and can take over lakes, ponds or any body of water where just a few bits of the plant are placed. Although it can be hard to believe they can be so troublesome when looking at a gorgeous array of floating blossoms, these plants are quite invasive and very difficult to control in large bodies of water. When it comes to growing water hyacinths, you would be wise to keep them in a container.

Things You'll Need

• Large, wide-mouthed pots or containers
• Miniature, self-contained plastic pond or pool
• Water hyacinth starter plant
• Soil (optional)
• Water
• Garden shears

Instructions

1. Choose your starter plant from a reputable aquatic grower or nursery that carries them. When not blooming, water hyacinth may be confused with frog's-bit (Limnobium spongia) so talk to the grower to ensure you are getting the right plant.

2. Fill your container with fresh water. An ideal way to grow water hyacinth rapidly at home is to get either a small, child-sized swimming pool or an artificial pond that is 3- to 5-feet wide. Alternatively, just place a few cuttings in large vases or deep bowls. The size of the container dictates how much the plant can spread.

3. Add 2 to 2 inches of soil to the bottom of your container if you want to provide an anchorage for the plants. Most will just float and do not need any soil whatsoever. "Daughter" plants extend from floating stolons, or shoots.

4. Let the contained plants stand in a sunny, warm area. They will not survive in a deep freeze, so if you want to keep them alive in winter, pluck a plant or two and move them until the following season. They bloom from spring to summer. Pluck off dead blooms after the lavender flowers have completed their cycles.

5. Clip plants back once they fill the container. Pull out entire sections periodically or just cut them out to thin the overall display. These plants can get beyond control, so keep the shears handy. Toss unwanted clippings into the compost pile where they can fully decompose.

Tips & Warnings

• In scientific studies about aquatic plants performed by the University of Florida, water hyacinth was found to grow faster than any other tested plant. Populations can double in as little as six days. The saying, "Just add water" applies for rapid growing.

• Do not throw unwanted plants into any nearby river, stream, pond, lake or body of water. Know the laws in your state, as in some places these plants are not permitted at all.

References

• United States Department of Agriculture: Eichhornia crassipes
• University of Florida Extension -- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants: Water Hyacinth