As some may remember, I've been keeping my water hyacinths indoors over the past two Winters to have a starter crop each Spring (they're $5 each here, very costly!)... Well this year I've had a huge problem. The plants have nearly died off, leaves withering, no new growth. I tried adding extra fertilizer, confirmed all of the light bulbs were working, and even bought a new air pump to give them a bit more circulation. Nothing was working and all of my plants have been trimmed back to nothing but stems and air bulbs.
I finally figured out what was different this year... This is the first time I didn't try keeping a few goldfish or minnows in the tub with the plants. More importantly, I did not bother adding a heater in the tub. When I stuck my hand in the water, it was COLD. Sitting on the carpet in my heated basement, and the plants were still freezing to death.
So I pulled out the heater from last year, dropped it in the tub, changed the water and double-dosed the fertilizer, and here just a few days later my plants are sprouting out new leaves, and I have a dragonfly flying around! So lesson learned -- if you're going to keep tropical plants you also have to keep them warm.
I finally figured out what was different this year... This is the first time I didn't try keeping a few goldfish or minnows in the tub with the plants. More importantly, I did not bother adding a heater in the tub. When I stuck my hand in the water, it was COLD. Sitting on the carpet in my heated basement, and the plants were still freezing to death.
So I pulled out the heater from last year, dropped it in the tub, changed the water and double-dosed the fertilizer, and here just a few days later my plants are sprouting out new leaves, and I have a dragonfly flying around! So lesson learned -- if you're going to keep tropical plants you also have to keep them warm.