1
Here's all the info I found on the web and some I had stored in my files on planting Lotus on Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:14 pm
jw
Master Bullshitter
Lotus tubers are very fragile. Unpack and handle carefully.
Lotus tubers resemble a banana. We ship tubers or heavy sections of lotus runner in spring only. By their nature, lotus cannot be transplanted with leaves and bloom intact. Early spring is ideal.
The larger the container lotuses are planted in, the better they will grow. Our planting container listing shows the proper container sizes for your lotus. Boxes of at least three square feet, by one foot deep are preferable. Dwarf varieties will bloom in half bushel planters, however.
Growing time is from early spring through late summer. They are dormant from fall through late winter. Use good garden soil only (top soil). Fill tuber container or box half full and add Fertilizer tablets. Fill container to 4 inches from top. Plant tuber horizontally, like hardy lilies. Add one inch of pea gravel. Lower into pool to the depth of 6 inches.
Lotuses are great large container growing plants. Place on your deck, or dig a hole in your yard and place planter in the ground for a fabulous addition to your landscape and flower beds. Add water as needed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally had the time to plant the last 9 lotus plants for this year. I planted them today. I planted 7 plants about a month ago and they are all doing fine. These were the last of the plants from tubers that were separated last March. The plants have just been left in tubs of water since then, with being sprayed with Monty's Joy Juice plant food twice during that time. A couple of the plants planted today had aerial leaves, but the aerial leaves on most of them had died down and there are only floating leaves on them now. That is due to the cool nights, and lack of nutrients. I lifted the entire plant out of the water they have been in, and laid them on top of the soil in the new tubs, trying not to break the runners. Most of the bigger tubers had died and all that is left are the new runners. I then placed a little soil on the roots and filled the tubs with water. This is the same process I used on the ones planted last month. I am not concerned about the plants blooming next year, but I want them to survive through the winter and grow tubers. They should bloom the second summer if not this next one. If this works and the plants survive through the winter, it will be great info for those who want lotuses next year. It will show that the tubers do not have to be planted so quickly and can be kept in water for longer periods of time before planting.
I did not dig up the lotuses, they were never planted. The tubers just continued growing in the water.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Put a board or some kind of flat support over the barrel, then cover and surround with bags of leaves to keep from freezing.
Compost with Osmocote or Nutricote will get you the healthiest pads and most blooms.
I prefer to grown mine in manageable half barrels outside of the pond so I don't have to do any heavy lifting.
Dividing them in the spring is child's play simply tipping the barrels and using a garden hose to wash the old dirt away.
(Yup, we wash the old soil right onto the lawn. Hubby rakes up most of it and the rest becomes lawn fertilizer. The rest gets dumped into the compost heap.)
The tubers can be divided quite easy this way.
I drag my pots inside the garage (attached) for the winter...and just keep the soil muddy-wet, no standing water at all, except for once a month when I add a little water to replace anything that has evaporated. This year there are a few extra that wont fit into the garage, and we are pushing them up against a retaining wall, and then surrounding them with bagged lawn leaves, and up over them using slats of wood to support the bags.
fill my barrels about 3/4 with composted cow manure, but plain old compost can be used too. Before putting the compost in, put one cup of Osmocote (Veggie Formula) or Multicote (Veggie Formula) at the bottom (these are NOT your typical water soluable fertilizers...please read the entire label on the container to understand exactly how they work). I do NOT recommend any other kind of fertilizer with my lotus in a barrel planting method. You will NOT get the same results as I do unless you follow my instructions exactly: NO SUBSTITUTES!
Gently lay the lotus tubers on top of the compost. Then gently cover the tubers with about 1-2" of pea gravel, keeping the growing tips above the gravel. Then add water until 3-4" of water covers the gravel. Then do nothing but top off the barrels when the water gets low, and watch the lotus grow and bloom. DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FERTILIZER. Osmocote and Multicote are time released, and will last through fall.
Remember, besides the Osmocote/Multicote, compost is LOADED with all sorts of micronutrients which your lotus will devour.
Regular potting soil or clay, or topsoil does NOT have all the micronutrients that compost has.
That is why composted cow manure is the best, with regular compost coming in second place.
I prefer growing smaller lotus like Momo Botan in barrels, but any lotus will grow well this way.
This one is Momo Botan...
Here is the same lotus in it's second year in the same barrel without adding any new fertilizer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like growing lotus more or less bare root, in clear water, they grow well. It's all rather fascinating, peering into the shadey waters, feeling your way along the rhisomes, looking at the growing point, seeing whats happening.
Having tried umpteen times with lotus in dirt tubs, to see at best mediocre development, at worst the plants fizzle out, the growth rate and development of lotus has proven to be vastly improved in every case where soil depth jas been minimised
Seeing what happens five times out of five, the plants struggle or fail on the pots, the two that escaped the pots to thrive in open water was a clincher
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first pic is of the barrel, manure, rocks and osmocote I used. 20 gallon barrel, composted cow manure, pea gravel and 14-14-14 flower and veg. osmocote.
Forgot to take a pic of the osmocote at the bottom of the barrel before I added the dirt, but it's there. The pot measured ruffly 24 inches at the top. So I added around 1 cup osmocote.
Next is the barrel with the dirt and and tubers on top.
Also a pic of the tubers before planted. (Of course, the growing tip in the pic that was broke off I did not plant.)
Then pic with the rocks added and last with water in the barrel (also took one couple days later. Was careful not to cover the tips as one of the tubers had a very short growing tip coming up (the middle tuber). Approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches of pea gravel.
And then added a couple inches of water (used pond water out of a preformed that has about 6 fish and a couple water lilies.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step by Step....Planting a Large Growing Lotus ....
During all steps be very careful -NOT TO BREAK THE GROWING TIPS. And it is best to plant Lotus after all hard freezes have passed. Until then I just place them into a bucket of water and let them float some where cool but, not freezing.
1- pick your container...I use 55 gallon barrel cut in half. You can also use whiskey barrels or containers made specially for lotus.
2- Add 1/2-3/4 cup slow release fertilizer to the bottom.
3- The brand I use - Osmocote
4- on top of the fertilizer. add 5 inches of top soil or clay dirt. I didn't use compost on this one but plan to on my others. when using compost add 2-3 inches compost and 2-3 inches topsoil or clay. Any more than 5 inches of total planting material is a waste and only makes the container heavier.
5- place tuber on top of soil..you may have to use the side of your hand and make an indention in the soil and lay the tuber into the indention. growing tips facing UP....
6- place a rock in between the tuber on the fleshy part NOT where the growing tips are.....at this point you may also choose to put a layer of pea gravel in. I don't because I grow them in the container but, if you are going to be placing it in a pond you may want to.just be careful not to cover up the growing tips or break them.
7-Add water so that the tuber is 2-3 inches below water level. keep at this level until you start to have aerial leaves(not floating on the water-but standing above the water) appear then you can start to raise the water level.
Place lotus tuber in a sunny spot. If you are adding it to a pond make sure the lotus is well established first. And then lower it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step by Step....Planting a Small Growing Lotus:
During all steps be very carefull-NOT TO BREAK THE GROWING TIPS. And it is best to plant Lotus after all hard freezes have passed. Until then I just place them into a bucket of water and let them float some where cool but, not freezing.
1- pick your container...I use a large water tight flower container , a 5 gallon bucket, or you can use a container made for small lotus.
2- Add 1/4-1/2 cup slow release fertilizer to the bottom.
3- The brand I use: Osmocote
4- on top of the fertilizer. add 5 inches of top soil or clay dirt. I didn't use compost on this one but plan to on my others. when using compost add 2-3 inches compost and 2-3 inches topsoil or clay. Any more than 5 inches of total planting material is a waste and only makes the container heavier.
5- place tuber on top of soil..you may have to use the side of your hand and make an indention in the soil and lay the tuber into the indention. growing tips facing UP....
6- place a rock in between the tuber on the fleshy part NOT where the growing tips are.....at this point you may also choose to put a layer of pea gravel in. I don't because I grow them in the container but, if you are going to be placing it in a pond you may want to.just be careful not to cover up the growing tips or break them.
7-Add water so that the tuber is 2-3 inches below water level. keep at this level until you start to have aerial leaves(not floating on the water-but standing above the water) appear then you can start to raise the water level.
Place lotus tuber in a sunny spot. If you are adding it to a pond make sure the lotus is well established first. And then lower it.
*****My small growing lotus I grow in small containers outside of the pond.Usually next to it...and then lower them into the pond during the winter..the containers are small enough and not too heavy to do this*****
DIVIDING A LOTUS:
Also if you are dividing and replanting your own Lotus..I like to place 2-3 tubers in each container...for a nice full plant
This can be very messy so make sure to wear rubber boots and old clothes.
Only attempt to divide a lotus when it is dormant...do not do it when it is growing....
First you empty all water from container and dump all contents out on the ground..(the lotus will be upside down-leave it that way) and start rinsing all mud off with a water hose-I use the jet stream to do this.this is what it will look like before you start rinsing
after you get most of the mud rinsed off the sides then lift up on the sides just enough to insert hose under the lotus...What you are trying to do is get enough mud off of the lotus to be able to lift it up and turn it over....
then rinse off the remaining mud....
Once all mud is off then gently pick up the lotus with both hands and place somewhere else so you can work on dividing (as the place you dumped it out at will be very muddy and wet)...
Once you have it somewhere dry start unwinding it if possible..(with only one years growth this is possible) or if it is very dense like the one pictured(usually 2+ years growth) then start finding all dead tubers and roots and pull them off....As you start getting rid of the dead and old tubers it will be easier to see the new growth and how it lays and winds.....start to unwind the new growth as you unwind it...make your divisions.. smaller tubers I leave 2-3 growing tips and larger I try and leave 2-6 growing tips...I really depends on how long each tuber is....make your cuts in the middle of each tuber after you are done this is what you have a pile of old/dead tubers and a pile of live viable tubers. If any growing tips are broke from tuber it goes into the dead/old pile...since they will not grow with out a growing tip....
I then store them in a tub of water in a cool shady place. For me that is in my small unheated green house...you can keep them in the garage or shed if you like...just as long as they don't freeze...and it is not warm enough to encourage growth before it is time to plant them....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: I received a lotus tuber in the mail a few days ago. It is still in
the box, in a large ziplock bag along with a layer of dry peat moss.
A: You can leave it in that bag on the counter or in a cupboard or on
shelf in garage just to keep it dormant they can stay like that for a
while... If it by chance starts growing at the growing tips just be
careful when planting it because u can't damage those tips ! I just lay
my tuber on the soil and put a rock in the middle to anchor it place
away from those tips
Lotus tubers resemble a banana. We ship tubers or heavy sections of lotus runner in spring only. By their nature, lotus cannot be transplanted with leaves and bloom intact. Early spring is ideal.
The larger the container lotuses are planted in, the better they will grow. Our planting container listing shows the proper container sizes for your lotus. Boxes of at least three square feet, by one foot deep are preferable. Dwarf varieties will bloom in half bushel planters, however.
Growing time is from early spring through late summer. They are dormant from fall through late winter. Use good garden soil only (top soil). Fill tuber container or box half full and add Fertilizer tablets. Fill container to 4 inches from top. Plant tuber horizontally, like hardy lilies. Add one inch of pea gravel. Lower into pool to the depth of 6 inches.
Lotuses are great large container growing plants. Place on your deck, or dig a hole in your yard and place planter in the ground for a fabulous addition to your landscape and flower beds. Add water as needed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally had the time to plant the last 9 lotus plants for this year. I planted them today. I planted 7 plants about a month ago and they are all doing fine. These were the last of the plants from tubers that were separated last March. The plants have just been left in tubs of water since then, with being sprayed with Monty's Joy Juice plant food twice during that time. A couple of the plants planted today had aerial leaves, but the aerial leaves on most of them had died down and there are only floating leaves on them now. That is due to the cool nights, and lack of nutrients. I lifted the entire plant out of the water they have been in, and laid them on top of the soil in the new tubs, trying not to break the runners. Most of the bigger tubers had died and all that is left are the new runners. I then placed a little soil on the roots and filled the tubs with water. This is the same process I used on the ones planted last month. I am not concerned about the plants blooming next year, but I want them to survive through the winter and grow tubers. They should bloom the second summer if not this next one. If this works and the plants survive through the winter, it will be great info for those who want lotuses next year. It will show that the tubers do not have to be planted so quickly and can be kept in water for longer periods of time before planting.
I did not dig up the lotuses, they were never planted. The tubers just continued growing in the water.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Put a board or some kind of flat support over the barrel, then cover and surround with bags of leaves to keep from freezing.
Compost with Osmocote or Nutricote will get you the healthiest pads and most blooms.
I prefer to grown mine in manageable half barrels outside of the pond so I don't have to do any heavy lifting.
Dividing them in the spring is child's play simply tipping the barrels and using a garden hose to wash the old dirt away.
(Yup, we wash the old soil right onto the lawn. Hubby rakes up most of it and the rest becomes lawn fertilizer. The rest gets dumped into the compost heap.)
The tubers can be divided quite easy this way.
I drag my pots inside the garage (attached) for the winter...and just keep the soil muddy-wet, no standing water at all, except for once a month when I add a little water to replace anything that has evaporated. This year there are a few extra that wont fit into the garage, and we are pushing them up against a retaining wall, and then surrounding them with bagged lawn leaves, and up over them using slats of wood to support the bags.
fill my barrels about 3/4 with composted cow manure, but plain old compost can be used too. Before putting the compost in, put one cup of Osmocote (Veggie Formula) or Multicote (Veggie Formula) at the bottom (these are NOT your typical water soluable fertilizers...please read the entire label on the container to understand exactly how they work). I do NOT recommend any other kind of fertilizer with my lotus in a barrel planting method. You will NOT get the same results as I do unless you follow my instructions exactly: NO SUBSTITUTES!
Gently lay the lotus tubers on top of the compost. Then gently cover the tubers with about 1-2" of pea gravel, keeping the growing tips above the gravel. Then add water until 3-4" of water covers the gravel. Then do nothing but top off the barrels when the water gets low, and watch the lotus grow and bloom. DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FERTILIZER. Osmocote and Multicote are time released, and will last through fall.
Remember, besides the Osmocote/Multicote, compost is LOADED with all sorts of micronutrients which your lotus will devour.
Regular potting soil or clay, or topsoil does NOT have all the micronutrients that compost has.
That is why composted cow manure is the best, with regular compost coming in second place.
I prefer growing smaller lotus like Momo Botan in barrels, but any lotus will grow well this way.
This one is Momo Botan...
Here is the same lotus in it's second year in the same barrel without adding any new fertilizer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like growing lotus more or less bare root, in clear water, they grow well. It's all rather fascinating, peering into the shadey waters, feeling your way along the rhisomes, looking at the growing point, seeing whats happening.
Having tried umpteen times with lotus in dirt tubs, to see at best mediocre development, at worst the plants fizzle out, the growth rate and development of lotus has proven to be vastly improved in every case where soil depth jas been minimised
Seeing what happens five times out of five, the plants struggle or fail on the pots, the two that escaped the pots to thrive in open water was a clincher
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first pic is of the barrel, manure, rocks and osmocote I used. 20 gallon barrel, composted cow manure, pea gravel and 14-14-14 flower and veg. osmocote.
Forgot to take a pic of the osmocote at the bottom of the barrel before I added the dirt, but it's there. The pot measured ruffly 24 inches at the top. So I added around 1 cup osmocote.
Next is the barrel with the dirt and and tubers on top.
Also a pic of the tubers before planted. (Of course, the growing tip in the pic that was broke off I did not plant.)
Then pic with the rocks added and last with water in the barrel (also took one couple days later. Was careful not to cover the tips as one of the tubers had a very short growing tip coming up (the middle tuber). Approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches of pea gravel.
And then added a couple inches of water (used pond water out of a preformed that has about 6 fish and a couple water lilies.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step by Step....Planting a Large Growing Lotus ....
During all steps be very careful -NOT TO BREAK THE GROWING TIPS. And it is best to plant Lotus after all hard freezes have passed. Until then I just place them into a bucket of water and let them float some where cool but, not freezing.
1- pick your container...I use 55 gallon barrel cut in half. You can also use whiskey barrels or containers made specially for lotus.
2- Add 1/2-3/4 cup slow release fertilizer to the bottom.
3- The brand I use - Osmocote
4- on top of the fertilizer. add 5 inches of top soil or clay dirt. I didn't use compost on this one but plan to on my others. when using compost add 2-3 inches compost and 2-3 inches topsoil or clay. Any more than 5 inches of total planting material is a waste and only makes the container heavier.
5- place tuber on top of soil..you may have to use the side of your hand and make an indention in the soil and lay the tuber into the indention. growing tips facing UP....
6- place a rock in between the tuber on the fleshy part NOT where the growing tips are.....at this point you may also choose to put a layer of pea gravel in. I don't because I grow them in the container but, if you are going to be placing it in a pond you may want to.just be careful not to cover up the growing tips or break them.
7-Add water so that the tuber is 2-3 inches below water level. keep at this level until you start to have aerial leaves(not floating on the water-but standing above the water) appear then you can start to raise the water level.
Place lotus tuber in a sunny spot. If you are adding it to a pond make sure the lotus is well established first. And then lower it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step by Step....Planting a Small Growing Lotus:
During all steps be very carefull-NOT TO BREAK THE GROWING TIPS. And it is best to plant Lotus after all hard freezes have passed. Until then I just place them into a bucket of water and let them float some where cool but, not freezing.
1- pick your container...I use a large water tight flower container , a 5 gallon bucket, or you can use a container made for small lotus.
2- Add 1/4-1/2 cup slow release fertilizer to the bottom.
3- The brand I use: Osmocote
4- on top of the fertilizer. add 5 inches of top soil or clay dirt. I didn't use compost on this one but plan to on my others. when using compost add 2-3 inches compost and 2-3 inches topsoil or clay. Any more than 5 inches of total planting material is a waste and only makes the container heavier.
5- place tuber on top of soil..you may have to use the side of your hand and make an indention in the soil and lay the tuber into the indention. growing tips facing UP....
6- place a rock in between the tuber on the fleshy part NOT where the growing tips are.....at this point you may also choose to put a layer of pea gravel in. I don't because I grow them in the container but, if you are going to be placing it in a pond you may want to.just be careful not to cover up the growing tips or break them.
7-Add water so that the tuber is 2-3 inches below water level. keep at this level until you start to have aerial leaves(not floating on the water-but standing above the water) appear then you can start to raise the water level.
Place lotus tuber in a sunny spot. If you are adding it to a pond make sure the lotus is well established first. And then lower it.
*****My small growing lotus I grow in small containers outside of the pond.Usually next to it...and then lower them into the pond during the winter..the containers are small enough and not too heavy to do this*****
DIVIDING A LOTUS:
Also if you are dividing and replanting your own Lotus..I like to place 2-3 tubers in each container...for a nice full plant
This can be very messy so make sure to wear rubber boots and old clothes.
Only attempt to divide a lotus when it is dormant...do not do it when it is growing....
First you empty all water from container and dump all contents out on the ground..(the lotus will be upside down-leave it that way) and start rinsing all mud off with a water hose-I use the jet stream to do this.this is what it will look like before you start rinsing
after you get most of the mud rinsed off the sides then lift up on the sides just enough to insert hose under the lotus...What you are trying to do is get enough mud off of the lotus to be able to lift it up and turn it over....
then rinse off the remaining mud....
Once all mud is off then gently pick up the lotus with both hands and place somewhere else so you can work on dividing (as the place you dumped it out at will be very muddy and wet)...
Once you have it somewhere dry start unwinding it if possible..(with only one years growth this is possible) or if it is very dense like the one pictured(usually 2+ years growth) then start finding all dead tubers and roots and pull them off....As you start getting rid of the dead and old tubers it will be easier to see the new growth and how it lays and winds.....start to unwind the new growth as you unwind it...make your divisions.. smaller tubers I leave 2-3 growing tips and larger I try and leave 2-6 growing tips...I really depends on how long each tuber is....make your cuts in the middle of each tuber after you are done this is what you have a pile of old/dead tubers and a pile of live viable tubers. If any growing tips are broke from tuber it goes into the dead/old pile...since they will not grow with out a growing tip....
I then store them in a tub of water in a cool shady place. For me that is in my small unheated green house...you can keep them in the garage or shed if you like...just as long as they don't freeze...and it is not warm enough to encourage growth before it is time to plant them....
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: I received a lotus tuber in the mail a few days ago. It is still in
the box, in a large ziplock bag along with a layer of dry peat moss.
A: You can leave it in that bag on the counter or in a cupboard or on
shelf in garage just to keep it dormant they can stay like that for a
while... If it by chance starts growing at the growing tips just be
careful when planting it because u can't damage those tips ! I just lay
my tuber on the soil and put a rock in the middle to anchor it place
away from those tips
_________________
"Live and let live and let nature be your teacher,
respect the lives of your fellow creatures"
zone 7
