I love duckweed but found that it shades a bit too much for other plants when it's covering the surface. I ended up scooping it into the compost bin (horrors, I know) and the lotus died anyway. So did the parrots feather now that I think back. That's when both died. Life is about change, right?

I wouldn't think Duckweed would be a problem for Lotus. The leaves have a bigger job trying to out compete each other for direct sunlight. The other thing with Lotus, they seem to fade away in small containers after a couple of seasons. Combine that with encroaching tree canopy and it's a downhill slide. They do best in their first year.

Good knowledge shared, Tropicbreezent. Thank you.

I've had lotus in containers and they really need thinned almost every year.

The first couple of years I had the sunken stock tank lotus bog, it was gorgeous. Tons of leaves and blossoms. A couple years ago, it just quit. DH and I dug as many tubers out from the top foot as we could. I also started fertilizing it more. It seemed to pick up last year, but now the trees have grown and it just doesn't get enough sun. It's a bummer. Can't trim the tops of the trees. Sure miss those beautiful blooms. I also think I need to fertilize it more. We'll see.

It's hard to give up things that have given us so much pleasure for so long. If there's no solution for this bog, I might just go back to growing the lotus in a 7 gallon container and put it in my sunken stock tank pond......and turn the lotus bog into a swamp. I've always wanted a swamp! I know that sounds crazy to some, but swamps are so full of life. We'll see. It's hard growing old and not being able to keep up with all the things that we've loved for so long.

My place has a swamp on it, but only during the wet season, and for a while after. That's why I bought this property. I've been cataloguing the biodiversity for a number of years and I still keep finding different things. Guess I qualify for being one of the crazies too.