Water Gardening: Wooo Hooo! Lotus Seeds Germinating!, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
X, I would give those little lotus plants of yours a bit of fertilizer to work on before the end of summer. The leaves you grow now will make your tubers for next year, so it will benefit the long term outlook for you to make lots more leaves now. Lotus grow really F A S T and big. Your little plants should be making bigger leaves by now, jmho. Do you still have several plants in the same tub? I think you might see a dramatic surge of growth if you give them some fert!

I always like to consider what would be happening if my plants were growing out in the wild in their natural habitat. Your lotus would have 'natural' fertilizer if they were in a wild pond - fish poop and leafy materials in the bottom muck. They don't have any of that in your tub.

I also fertilize the lotus and water lilies in my little pond and have healthy fish, lots of birds, squirrels, possums and raccoons drinking there. I'm using the monthly tablets by Lily Gro just because I like the flexibility - and you do push them down into the pots, so the fert is not released directly into the water. I have a very small water lily, and another that is larger, plus my lotus is a 'dwarf' variety all in containers in a 750gal. pond. As the water temp changes, their growth rates also change so I can adjust the fert dosage accordingly.

You can get the tabs in a small amount from most nurseries that have water plants. Or order it online if you want a larger amount to keep for next season. Go easy at first, maybe just one or two tabs in the tub and see what happens. You could give them a light dose now, and then if you get encouraging results, give them a bit more in September.

Here's my 'Baby Doll' lotus blooming. It has leaves up to 8" across standing about 18" above the water. I started with two tiny tubers in March.