alta678

Water hyacinth is illegal in Texas. Big time.

Phil Edwards

Yeah, stay the hell away from Water Hyacinth, you could get into some serious serious trouble. In fact, it's the retailers who sell the stuff that are one of the major impetuses for the White List initiative we were talking about earlier.

If you need a floater for your pond go get some Watersprite from a pet shop. That's still legal and will to just as well as the Water Hyacinth. Other good options are hardy lilies. Put them in a pot with some nice rich substrate and let them grow, grow, grow. Coontail (Ceratophyllum dimersum) is a good floater as well if you're looking to build up biomass and get surface coverage. Likewise, Illinois Pondweed (Potamogeton illinoensis) and American Pondweed (P. nodosus) are natives that send out floating leaves. They'll grow gangbusters, strip nutrients out of the water, and create a mat of floating leaves for shade. The best thing is you can just leave the pots in the pond all year long.

Other natives used in aquaria such as Ludwigia repens, Bacopa caroliniana, and B. monneri are other good options and are regularly available from hobbyists.

Regards,
Phil