I finally got around to starting a project I have been thinking about for a while. I like water hyacinth in my pond, I like the looks and feel they make good little water cleaners if you have enough of them. S0, the purpose of this hyacinth greenhouse is to grow them as fast as possible so that I can have an abundance of they as early as possible.
Some might say, they grow so fast anyway, why do you need to grow them faster? My answer is yes they do grow fast under the right conditions, one of those conditions is water temperature. Right now, in my area with a short Summer season (Southern BC), it is still possible for night time temperatures to drop down to -10 C (14 F). Not likely but it can, and does, happen every few years. Certainly if it did and I had any water hyacinth in my pond they would likely get damaged or die back, but even if I don't get any freezing temps, I still have the problem with cold water, and water hyacinth only grow well in warm water. It will likely be June before I have water warm enough for good growth, I can put them in the water long before that, but how ever many I put in there, they will just sit there till the water really starts to warm up. My plan is to get them growing and multiplying now. if I have too many later, that's fine, I have no problem throwing them in the compost or giving them away, but I want to get to that point sooner than later.
So I decided to build a little heated mini greenhouse for the water hyacinth to get them growing as fast as possible early in the season while the pond is still cold
Here's how I built it.
The basic box is about 4 ft x 2 ft
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1809-basic-box/
The outside is covered with metal and has some styro insulation inside.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1812-metalskininsulation/
The liner was fitted inside and metal edging and the A-frame installed over the liner and the excess liner was trimmed off.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1811-linertrimaframe/
Inside I have a small pump to circulate the fertilizer enriched water and two small 100 watt aquarium heaters that have been keeping the water between 25 C (77 F) and 29 C (84 F)
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1810-greenhouse6-hyacinth/
April 24th I started with 6 plants, each with one small offshoot, we'll see how they do.
For sure I know if put those 6 plants in my pond they would likely do nothing until the end of May. I am hoping that with this little greenhouse that by the end of May it will be full of water hyacinth and I'll already have taken some out and started to propagate the pond.
Do you think it will work?
Some might say, they grow so fast anyway, why do you need to grow them faster? My answer is yes they do grow fast under the right conditions, one of those conditions is water temperature. Right now, in my area with a short Summer season (Southern BC), it is still possible for night time temperatures to drop down to -10 C (14 F). Not likely but it can, and does, happen every few years. Certainly if it did and I had any water hyacinth in my pond they would likely get damaged or die back, but even if I don't get any freezing temps, I still have the problem with cold water, and water hyacinth only grow well in warm water. It will likely be June before I have water warm enough for good growth, I can put them in the water long before that, but how ever many I put in there, they will just sit there till the water really starts to warm up. My plan is to get them growing and multiplying now. if I have too many later, that's fine, I have no problem throwing them in the compost or giving them away, but I want to get to that point sooner than later.
So I decided to build a little heated mini greenhouse for the water hyacinth to get them growing as fast as possible early in the season while the pond is still cold
Here's how I built it.
The basic box is about 4 ft x 2 ft
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1809-basic-box/
The outside is covered with metal and has some styro insulation inside.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1812-metalskininsulation/
The liner was fitted inside and metal edging and the A-frame installed over the liner and the excess liner was trimmed off.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1811-linertrimaframe/
Inside I have a small pump to circulate the fertilizer enriched water and two small 100 watt aquarium heaters that have been keeping the water between 25 C (77 F) and 29 C (84 F)
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1810-greenhouse6-hyacinth/
April 24th I started with 6 plants, each with one small offshoot, we'll see how they do.
For sure I know if put those 6 plants in my pond they would likely do nothing until the end of May. I am hoping that with this little greenhouse that by the end of May it will be full of water hyacinth and I'll already have taken some out and started to propagate the pond.
Do you think it will work?