My 'Sweetheart' Lotus flowers are drying up and browning before they open. The petals are thin like tissue paper. I have never had this issue before and am loking for possible causes. I have checked and can find no indication of any mites or any other pests. The leaves are fine. This is the first time I am growing this cultivar and it was a new plant this year, planted in fresh soil. Any thoughts?
Sorry this is a fuzzy pic, I'll try and get a better one later.
There also appears to be some yellowing in the leaves, as if there was a mineral deficiency.
They have been well fertilized with water plant tabs. Lotus often have lighter spots on the the leaves here. My healthiest plants have experienced that in the past. Our soils do have an overabundance of phosphorus however that has never caused the flowers to brown off. I am also awaiting a response from the grower, this is a new plant this year.
Dry bud and fresh bud before it turns.
Have you checked the pH? I'm not sure what they'd prefer, but would assume it to be on the lower/acidic side.
I am wondering if the weather could be affecting your lotus? My waterlilies are far behind where they normally are because of the cool, overcast weather we have been having.
Have you had an abundance of rain? Mine looked bad (both flowers and leaves) when we had rain, and the water drops sat on top of the plants. It burned the edges of both.
Although our spring was a bit cooler and longer than it usually is we never had any cold weather. Zone 9 here. The grower thinks it might have been the few unusually hot days we had but wants me to wait a bit and see if it clears up. I am on municipal water and the pH is neutral. Guess I'll have to wait a bit and hope
We cross posted Mary, we did have about 5" of rain last week then nothing since. The leaves are fine, it is just the flowers. I just switched computers today and my photos are still on the old one so I can't post a picture of the whole plant yet but it looks good.
