Crazy neon purple water hyacinth roots?!

[Somethin' Fishy]

I purchased a few water hyacinths today but didn't pay any attention as they were bagged up for me. When I got home I took them out of the bag and discovered they had NEON purple/blue roots. I mean crazy bright like they were dyed. In all my years of experience with this plant, I've never seen this. The roots have always been black. I was concerned that maybe these had been treated with something, and didn't want to put them in my pond. So I rinsed them with fresh water and put them in my container garden; then I called the pond store to inquire about it... All I was told was that, "All of the hyacinths that they've gotten in this year are like that". Ooookkay.

Has anyone ever experienced this? If these have been treated with something, to either kill snails, or some kind of plant industry fertilizer or something, I don't want them in my pond if they'll do harm.

 

[Lisak1]

I've heard there is a variety of water hyacinth with purple roots but I've never actually seen it.

 

[Gemma]

I've never seen that, I'm curious to see them blooming

 

[Stephen Noble]

Here is something from the Science Society that might help. Read down to the second section, paragraph 2.

Purple Root Water Hyacinth A Natural Remedy for Pollution

A weed that has spread from South America to many tropical and semi-tropical countries now developed by Chinese scientists into a variety that is far less invasive and very effective at cleaning heavily polluted lakes and rivers. Prof Peter Saunders, 09/09/13

www.i-sis.org.uk

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

Thanks for that @Stephen Noble. I did additional searches with the term, "purple root water hyacinth", to find videos and images as well. Now I feel a great deal better about putting these in our pond! Thank you

 

[JamieB]

Another option might be they were soaked in potassium permanganate to reduce chances of pests being carried by the roots. A dilution of it is used to treat water for odor, cloudiness, etc, and a stronger mix is used for pest removal.

 

[Jag falls]

Here is something from the Science Society that might help. Read down to the second section, paragraph 2.

Purple Root Water Hyacinth A Natural Remedy for Pollution

A weed that has spread from South America to many tropical and semi-tropical countries now developed by Chinese scientists into a variety that is far less invasive and very effective at cleaning heavily polluted lakes and rivers. Prof Peter Saunders, 09/09/13

www.i-sis.org.uk

 

[Jag falls]

Very interesting article. Thanks for the share!

 

[Ginger2111]

I got some last year and they turned out to be the biggest most beautiful hyacinths I've ever had and they bloomed like crazy. I'm hoping to find some again this year.