Habitat - Outdoor :: stocking pond with plants

[timmyng531]

i have a small outdoor pond, its an old bathtub, and i always try to stock it with plants such as water hyacinth.
each time, i put in one or two hyacinths and then my turtle devours/shreds the whole thing! so then i block off the hyacinths, then the turtle breaks through and devours it all.

http://www.redearslider.com/outdoor_considerations.html

^im jealous of that turtle living in harmony with the hyacinths.

anyways, how can i start populating the pond with the plants? should i propogate a ton of hyacinths in a tank and then dump alot into the turtle pond?

[FLhaven4strays]

I was having that problem for awhile. I got a large tub (rubbermaid?), filled it halfway w/ water & kept some hyacinth & water lettuce in there to grow good roots. When the ones in the pond were looking bad I switched them out & gave the others some time to get healthy again (it doesn't take long for water plants to spring back!). After awhile I found the turts left the plants alone a little more (used to them??) and I don't have to do that anymore.
Good luck!