Catherine,

I don't know if this is much help but where I live we have some natural bog areas and they *are* putrid! The decaying stuff sinks and the water stays clear on the top though and doesn't smell unless you get in there and mix things up.

-John

Thanks John,
Maybe I shouldn't be touching it at all! hahaha
I figured maybe a larger bog or a more natural bog has a few features that my artifical bog doesn't have. Hmmmm.....maybe I really shouldn't do much to it now, except maybe remove those huge dead lotus leaves, and see what happens next spring? I could always clean it up then.......if it doesn't come alive before that and eat my house and family.. :)
I sure wouldn't want an open septic pit next to my deck! Its definitely a learning experience.
Here's a pic I took yesterday of a pot of hosta that I had sitting in the bog. You can see a lotus leaf coming out of the pot and a big runner out the side!
Those lotus ARE soooooooo aggressive!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:233113}}

*GULP*

I left some of the lotus in the ground where it had burrowed under the river rock and made a run for the border. Now you have me thinking maybe I should revisit that idea before it is too late and it cannot be stopped!!!

-John

You can always pull it out in the spring, when it shows signs of life.
Hmmm.....are we talking ourselves out of having these plants? hahaha I suppose they are like unruly children and pets. You just have to be firm and disciplined and can't let them run all over the place. Then you can really enjoy them. :)

I just left my lotus alone. Finally the dead leafs disapeared. I heard you can actually drown the tubbers if you cut off the dead portions of the plant wrong. Well the next spring she came back beautifully and she's now flowering for me. I decided to just dedicate the whole bog to the lotus and I gave her free run this year! No pots just let her go in the loam. She's beautiful and now its just a lotus bog. :)