Hi Perry,
Hopefully you're not from "Perry's Water Garden"...hahaha Just kidding! (They are a really good place to buy lotus from).
I'm glad you're trying lotus. They are very cool plants.
First, let me ask you a few questions.
When you bought it in the spring, was it just a tuber?
How big is the container that its in? What kind of soil are you using? How much and how often have you fertilized it? Is it in a small or large watergarden? Did it put out any blossoms this summer?
I have extremely alkaline water too, and it never seemed to affect the lotus. I think I wouldn't have done the sulphur thing. What's the name of the lotus? Is it in at least 6-8 hours of sun a day?
Sorry for all the questions, but the answers will help us figure this out for you.
Its possible that its in too small a pot, or you haven't fertilized it enough....... But answer the questions and we can help more.

I bought from a local pond store. It is in a pot 18" across and about 6-7" deep. It is 1/2 to 2/3 filled with soil. I don't know what soil they used. I've bought soil from the same place and it is extremely clay-ish and can get quite hard if it dries out.

Right now it has about five leaves ranging from almost dead to just brown around the edges.

It should have ample sun.

I had not fertilized it in a couple of months.

HI again pedzsan,
You don't know how long it was in that pot before you bought it, so it could be severely root-bound. Lotus are very aggressive plants and can easily outgrow any pot. I planted one tuber in a 5x5' stocktank bog in May, and its completely covered it now.
I'm sorry I'm not real familiar with zone 8. Would you leave your lotus out during winter? When would your "dormant" time be? Here's what I'd do. I would fertilize it now, with about 4 pond tabs, then again in a month and then again in October. Then, when it was dormant for the winter (or in early spring...which is considered the best time), I would dump the pot over, retrieve the very biggest and best tubers and repot them.
Lotus are heavy feeders and need fertilization every 3-4 weeks during their bloom time. I think your's is probably not doing well because of no space left and no food.
Did it blossom this summer? How far under the water's surface is the container?
Not to worry. I think you can save this for next year, but you must fertilize for several months now, and then repot for sure in late fall or early spring, before any new growth happens. I hope this helps.

Hi Catherinet

I am not sure what I am going to do over the winter. I just joined the Austin Pond Society and I'm hoping they can help me with those questions. Austin is usually in the 40's or above with two or three cold snaps that last a week or so each winter. The cold snap will bring freezing temperatures but usually pretty brief. The worse worse worse winter I've seen had below freezing for over a week. But, that is rare. (I was trying to keep horse troughs clear of ice during all that.)

It never tried to bloom. The first month or so, the new leaves would not hold themselves up out of the water. Eventually that changed and I had new growth that was free standing. Then it started to die back.

The pot, right now, is not very deep -- maybe 18". I can put it deeper during the winter if necessary.

I like your plan. I'll keep feeding it until I repot it.

One question: will all the leaves drop off during the winter? (does it matter?)

Thank you for your help,
Perry

Hi Perry,
Lotus like to be closer to the water's surface. I usually keep the surface of the lotus soil 6" below the water's surface.
The leaves don't fall off, they just die, and then you can cut them off.
Can you possibly post a picture of it?
When lotus first start growing, they make "floater" leaves for awhile.......maybe 8 of them. After that, they put up "aerial" leaves. Those are the ones that grow up out of the water. After it has about 6 of those, it starts putting up a blossom. Its not usual for a new tuber to not put up a blossom its first season.
There are alot of good instructional sites on the internet about growing lotus, so just do a google search and I'm sure you'll learn lots.
I think your main problem is that its too low under the water, and in desperate need of fertilizer.
In the spring, its important to put it as close to the water's surface as possible, so it can warm up more quickly. As the water warms up, you can lower it......but keep it within 6-10" of the water's surface.