Hi kyponder,
I'm not Joyce, so I hope you don't mind my chiming in. Sometimes Joyce isn't around for awhile.
Is your barrel a true whiskey barrel? If so, I would be concerned if you don't have a liner. They burn the insides of those barrels, and I've heard the carbon can cause problems. I'm pretty sure Joyce has liners.
It sounds like you might have a snail problem. I know they are eating lots of little holes in my lily pads.
How much are you fertilizing, and how often?
Sorry about your mom baton.

Sounds like your water is getting too "hard". You need to use clear water and overflow the barrel for a few minutes about once a week to keep the water clean enough to prevent that.Keep fertilizing regularly.
Sorry, I'm not Joyce either.

Thanks catherinet & sandy0225 for your responses. I followed joyce's planting recipe to the tee. Per her instructions I was to use osmocote in the bottom of the barrel and composted manure. She said to use no more fertilizer. Her recipe is in the link below.

I have been overflowing my barrel at least once a week. I had a mosquito problem that I treated with mosquito dunks & when that didnt work I used a heavy dose of microblift's liquid mosquito control. Humm wonder if that has anything to do with it?

I AM concerned about using the barrel unlined...and OH YES it was definitely charred inside. But I don't think I can possibly try to remove it now for fear of damaging the tuber. It is my understanding they have to be handled very gently or you run the risk of killing the plant.

If snails are my problem how do I get rid of them?

Here is a link that might be useful: joyce's lotus planting recipe

Just try to collect the snails somehow......maybe with a kitchen strainer of some sort. Someone suggested that I put a cabbage leaf in my pond on a string, but it didn't attract many of them.
When you say your mosquito dunks didn't work.....did you give it at least a week? It takes about that long for the larvae to take it in, and then it kills them. Its not like they die the first day you put the dunk in.
I don't think I'd try to repot it. I wonder if the liquid mosquito thing was toxic to it? Maybe between that and the charred liner, its too much.
I think I wouldn't do too much to it. I would just collect snails for now. (And talk very sweetly and gently to it!)

catherinet - I'll try to get the snails...why didn't I think of that? Guess I'm a little squeemish..lol.

As for the mosquito dunks not working...well it was my fault. Here's the story. My son found the larvae. OMG there were zillions, I FREAKED and put in a dunk. Then I realized they were way to advanced for the dunks to work fast enough. (I should have made that clear in my last post). So I scooped out what I could with my little fish net (yuk YUK...if I can do that I can certainly get the snails) and overflowed the barrel for several days, trying to wash then onto the ground. Well...I STILL had mosquito larvae and they were just getting BIGGER! This is when I gave the barrel a good dose of the liquid stuff. It worked almost immediately!! I have not overflowed the barrel as much since then...just to keep it topped off and to keep the water fresh.

You don't need much of the mosquito dunk in a small container. Just put some in there every couple of weeks, and it will eventually get all the larvae.
Also.....try to plant lots of things in your yard that will attract birds and frogs and toads, and hopefully they will take care of the adult mosquitoes.
Just try not to do drastic changes to the lotus's environment.
haha.....I always feel bad killing things.....like the snails, so that's the problem I'm having!
(killing mosquitoes, flies and ticks doesn't bother me though, since they can carry diseases).

Did you use composted cow manure or straight cow manure?
My recipe calls for composted cow manure or plain old compost, and I try to make that very clear every time I post.
IF you use composted, there is not a problem.
Any kind of straight cow manure is too rich, and will burn your lotus roots.

And absolutely NO MORE FERTILIZER ALL SUMMER once you plant it using my recipe.
Not unless you want to burn your lotus.

I also put the osmocote at the bottom, for several good reasons which I usually have mentioned within the recipe.

For mosquito larva, you can also BURY a mosquito dunk an inch or so under the surface of the soil so it slowly leaches out over an entire season. You can use mosquito granules the same way. I do not use chemical pesticides, only mosquito dunks and granules which are a natural biological mosquito larva killer.

If the liquid stuff is some kind of chemical pesticide, your lotus may be having a bad reaction to it.

And I don't think the charred inside of the barrel would have a detrimental effect on the lotus. Maybe some of the wine or whiskey leaching out from the wood could be a problem.

I would say stop messing with it, except for burying a fresh 2008 mosquito dunk in the soil and leaving it alone. No more chemical pesticides too, for your lotus good, and for your good. They are all carcinogens. :(

Hi Joyce!! I hope you're doing well.

I used "humus and manure" from Wal-Mart. If I understand correctly humus comes from composted manure??? I tried my best to follow your directions...

As for the mosquito stuff I used Microbe-Lift's "Biological Mosquito Control" the bottle also says "biological larvicide" & "can be applied to areas used by or in contact with humans, animals....watergardens...."

So I don't know, but I appreciate your response! I'm always open to tips and ideas.

Thanks!!

Hi! I am doing GREAT. Just got in from seeing the fireworks, and it's raining now. Good timing!

Anyway....If is doesn't say 'composted' on the label, it isn't composted.
Sounds like your bag was a mix of humus, which IS composted, mixed with manure...which is NOT composted. So sooner or later, as long as you don't add any more fertilizer, your lotus should recover. I would recommend putting in some floating plants such as water lettuce, duckweed, and azolla to help soak up some of the extra nutrients.

hu·mus /ËhyumÉs or, often, Ëyu-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hyoo-muhs or, often, yoo-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
Ânoun the dark organic material in soils, produced by the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter and essential to the fertility of the earth.

Thanks for asking the question and for all of the answers. I too was hooked into buying lotus tubers just this one more time, and I used Joyce's method. I could not find composted steer manure to save my life, and did not have time to compost it myself, so I used straight compost. The tubers got leaves, but not many and not very large. We had a week of temperatures over 100, and even the leaves of the water lilies got crispy around the edges, so I am holding out, hoping the lotus will start producing those big, beautiful leaves soon.
I am also growing mosquitos and have placed an dunk in the barrel. Thanks for the tip about how long they take to work!

Should we read your name "hose nemesis" or "hosen emesis"? ;)

LOL! Hose Nemisis is my guess. Been there, done that!

Anyway, doesn't matter if it is steer or cow.
I don't think I specified steer anywhere, did I?
Or am I having a chemo-brain moment?

And besides, if you can't find COMPOSTED cow manure, you can use any kind of COMPOST. I tried humus just once and found it too heavy, and it was full of grit and sand. I think they were just trying to get rid of sandy topsoil.
I got sick and tired of trying to find the good stuff too. After the mad cow scare, it was virtually impossible to find, because people were told it could carry mad cow disease...OMG....does anyone THINK anymore? Did they stop eating beef too?
So they stopped 'importing' composted manure from Canada which was where the stuff I used was made. No imported composted cow manures were allowed anywhere. So then I tried another domestic brand and it was OK...just hard to find.
I am now making my own compost, in my 3rd year of composting. And now that we have moved, have lots of room, and neighbors who are contributing to the compost heap!

How's your new place doing Joyce? Will you build another lotus pond?
My compost (for the garden) is kitchen stuff and chicken bedding and manure.
Maybe you just need to buy your own cow? :)
I love horse manure. Its the best!

Joyce, I get the first year fertilizing, but what about subsequent years? How do you re-fertilize to keep the lotus producing? Two years ago I planted a bog and a pot using THE method. Both did great that year; however, the next year they did not do as well. This year I used about 30 plant spikes in the 4x8 bog and 6 or 7 in the pot and they are doing better. What do you use and when? Thanks

Hi Pat!

This is the second year for my lotus bog and its putting up tons of leaves, but no blossoms. I haven't fertilized it because it had alot of plant stuff degrade in it last winter, and I thought that would be enough food for it. Now I'm wondering if I need to do some plant spikes. When you said your's didn't do so well the second year, what did you mean by that? Just fewer blossoms?
Thanks!

P.S. Pat,
I was wondering if our bog is big enough, if we could use something like those big fruit tree spikes, broken into pieces, rather than having to push a ton of small ones into the bog? I'm not sure of their formulation, but it would be alot easier than all those tiny spikes.

I have 7 buds on my Lotus right now. 3 blooms just completed their 3 day bloom. I use Jobs Tomotoe spikes in my bog. Probably 8 to 10 spikes in about 3'x 6' area. And I fertilize them about once a month. Glenda

Thanks Glenda,
I'm going to fertilize them tomorrow.

Please read the link to my fertilizing recipe, and most questions will be answered.
But like any recipe, if you don't follow it exactly, such as using straight cow manure, disasters can result.
Please don't blame me on your mistake(s)!
kyponder posted the link above. Thanks kyponder!

I try to repot every year. When I don't (like the last 2 years) because of my cancer battle, I just leave them be. They do OK and bloom a bit but by Mid August they are done and looking hungry. But my health comes first.
This year I have had a chance to repot most. The others that were not repotted, I made four 12" deep holes with the handle of a shovel (equidistant from each other like north, south, east, west) and added about 1/8 cup in each, then stuffed them closed with my homemade compost and stopped off with a rock.

I do not use plant spikes, tabs, tomato spikes, whatver the stuff is that is NOT time/temp senstive, so it dissolves too quickly and ends up causing fertilizer burn. And besides most people do not push them in deep enough, seal them off well enough, and a lot seeps out and causes algae blooms. It's also a lot more expensive to use spikes/tabs than my once a season Osmocote application.

This is why I do the once a season Osmocote method.
Saves time, money and work! :)

But each to his own. Do what makes you happy, what works for you.
My method seems to be working for me, as you can see from my photos. I am happy with it! :)

Joyce - Thanks for your patience with us. I'd be frustrated too if people couldn't follow my directions...geez. Even though I thought I was doing it right...I still goofed. I'll sure know next year...lol.

My lotus seems to be doing better now. I have a few more aerials and they seem healthy! I put some WH in my barrel to soak up some excess nutrients (like you suggested). I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Do you think its possible mine will bloom this year?

Thanks again
amy

Joyce, so you repot every year. Wow! I thought about Osmocote pockets. Will do that next year.
Cathy. Lotus last year put out fewer leaves. They were shorter and had only a few blooms. Needed to do something. The plant spikes are helping, but I will do pockets of Osmocote next year like Joyce suggested. Thanks!

Amy, no problemo, people like you do not frustrate me.
It's the ones that come on here, and other forums, and in a very nasty way try to blame me for their stupid mistakes at NOT following a recipe.
I am getting to the point of not ever posting it again, or answering any questions, cuz 9 out of 10 times, if I don't tell 'em what they want to hear, they get even nastier.
You are the exception to this statistic...that 10% that keeps me here. :)

Pat: Also, by being such a nice steady and slow temperature/time release fertilizer, Osmocote mimics Mother Nature very closely. And unless you grossly do not follow the application rate and use too much, you have no chance of fertilizer burn because Osmocote can not dissolve all at once like Spikes and Tabs do.

With spikes and tabs...there is too much room for error and fertilizer burn. :(

Joyce
I am new to the site, and I am impressed with your rich fund of knowledge about the lotus.
My main pond is about 25X25 with a waterfall flowing into one end. I have planted an assortment of marginals, three hardy (blooming) lillies, and a few dozen water hyacinth (not blooming for some reason) We have four nice sized koi and a bunch of babies. In this pond's second year, I decided to put in a lotus. I placed the pot in which it was planted so the soil was about four inches under the water. Shortly thereafter I was out of the country for 17 days. When I returned, the pot was overturned and the plant was simply floating with tendral and roots all over the place. Having hurt my shoulder , I asked a pond company to repot the lotus in another pot about 24" wide by 10" deep. They did so using soil from my property but without using the gravel I provided. The plant had been fertilized by the local company from which I purchased it. Now the lotus is, once again, all over the place with roots (not he main big guy) floating about 5 feet from the pot. There are many leaves -- some now brown -- others green but no flowers. HELP !! BTW I am a cancer survivor whose thoughts and prayers are with you

Another question for Joyce. I have two lotus seeds that have sprouted with two leaves each and 1 inch roots. I'm wanting to pot them in a barrel (round pot inside the barrel of water). Should I use the manure compost method with the Osmocote or use loam?