quick lotus help please

14 years ago

three years ago i traded with people here for a bunch of different lotus'. i put them in plastic drums that i cut in half and then filled half full of cow manure and sand. the first year they all grew and bloomed. the second year half bloomed. last year, i only got leaves on two of them with no flowers. i decided to turn the barrels into sarracenia bogs. so i started digging them out, lo and behold the lotus all have healthy white tubers, although they're skinny. what should i do with them at this point. the barrel water got nasty immediately and started housing critters and yard debris filled them daily. they got to be too hard to clean out once the plants started growing. i know they're supposed to have water over the tubers, but how much is the minimum? the leaves were flopped all over while in the tubs and i'd like to avoid that. can i just leave three inches of water over them and then fill the tubs mostly full of manure and then cover with chicken wire to keep out frogs, turtles and such? i'd put them in our big pond but they only last about a week down there before something eats them. i'm putting in a large bog that i'm lining with plastic that will be about two feet deep. would it be possible to do something like that with the lotus and just keep the soil really wet? help please!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

nkm56
14 years ago
I only have a couple of inches of water over my lotus. It does just fine. I've had people express surprise because they thought the lotus should be treated like a water lily, with a couple of feet over the tubers, but I've never grown mine that way. They will do fine in a few inches of water. Also, frogs won't hurt them, and in fact the tadpoles will help clean the water of algae. I'm thinking your lotus may need phosphorous. They're getting plenty of nitrogen from the cow manure, but they also need phosphorus to grow strong and healthy and especially to bloom. Use plant tabs or plant food spikes. Make sure the phosphorus is the highest number.
metalinmary
14 years ago
2 things I can think of.....too much sun? Did the water get too hot? Don't forget to fertilize every 3 mo during growing season. BTW, I need to fill a natural pond with water lilies and lotus for the park. I would love to trade for bulbs or seeds. If anyone can help me with that, please contact me. Thank you!

Here is a link that might be useful: FB
Related Professionals
Bloomington Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Syracuse Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Vancouver Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Pensacola Landscape Contractors · Terre Haute Landscape Contractors · Alexandria Landscape Contractors · Columbia Landscape Contractors · Muncie Landscape Contractors · Fergus Falls Landscape Contractors · Ontario Landscape Contractors · New Bedford Design-Build Firms · Winona Design-Build Firms · Sacramento Design-Build Firms · Cody Design-Build Firms · Ottawa Design-Build Firms
chubbypoptart
14 years ago
I have a few different kinds of lotus. bowl and normal sized. Some are in plain garden soil others were in a manure compost type mixture, they both only have a couple of inches over the water and stay in full sun. They do get mucked up with algae But the plants themselves do well. This is the second year for the ones I started from seed and the first year for the tuber I just bought at the beginning of the year so here's crossed fingers for their first blooms! I want to know how you got blooms your 1st year from seeds!! Great job!