Notes

Water Hyacinths and Water Lettuce Tips
Thank you for your order. Here’s some tips for your aquatic plants that may be useful:
1) Firstly, I ship these from Atlanta. So the trip from down south to where you are could have resulted in some unforeseen problems such as freezing temperatures, baking in a delivery truck, delay in transit, etc. If you had any such issues with the plants arriving unhealthy or dead, please let me know and I will help / replace in any ways I can. Water hyacinths and lettuce are hardy plants and generally recover and multiply extremely fast.
2) When shipping these plants, I do look for medium sized plants and one or two larger ones that will reproduce soon. They may be 4” to 8” in diameter. I clean them by removing any old or dead leaves and any debris. Occasionally some stray weeds may get trapped on the roots. You can remove them by skimming them off. Even otherwise, the Koi or turtles will go after this as treats.
3) Water hyacinths provide a safe haven for Koi to place their eggs. They also provide shade and keep water cool under extreme heat. Occasionally Koi go after the hyacinths and shred them. Given that the hyacinths grow fast, they can keep up with the Koi’s intense search for food. If the Koi are too aggressive on the plants, you may need to isolate these in a floating mesh in the pond and let them reproduce. An ideal scenario would be half of the indoor pond being covered with the aquatic plants.
4) Sometimes, the hyacinths might appear slightly imbalanced and float on their side. Do not worry as they will correct themselves as they grow new roots and leaves.
5) Hyacinths and water lettuce thrive in some good sunlight. An improper pH and nutrient levels in the pond can deteriorate the plants health – the leaves may turn light green to yellow. Under these scenarios, place them in a tub where there’s plenty of light. Potting them in a shallow spot where roots have access to soil can also help. Adding nutrients to water is not recommended as this might encourage algae. You can enhance the pH level using many other organic methods – introducing microbes or using barley straw.
6) Finally, never put the water hyacinths in an open pond. They are highly invasive and will reproduce very fast. In indoor ponds, you can simply remove and compost the excess. Fast growth is an indication that they are absorbing the nutrients from your pond and in the process keeping it clean / depriving any nutrients for string algae.