Joyce.

Wow. I had never considered growing lotus before, but after your previous post (Joyce in the Lotus Jungle) and now this one, I'm thinking I'd like to have some lotus too. Thanks,Anne

Thanks everyone!

Sarah, cold will not cause the tubers to rot.
I plant mine very early in the spring, and often the lotus tubs have thin coats of ice over them in the morning. Lotus are VERY hardy to cold. The only way you can kill a tuber is to freeze it solid...rock hard.
Lotus are not tropical...they are hardy through zone 4.
I plant mine in March, usually before March 15th...and they sit outside in their tubs up against the sunny side of the house on the patio. For WEEKS they are subjected to near freezing and light freezing night temps, and maybe getting in the 50s and 60s during the day until the end of April. April they start putting out little pads, and the REALLY get going by the end of May. By July they are blooming or in bud. :)

The best way I have rotted tubers was to start them indoors, where they do not get sufficient sunlight. In my experience, starting them indoors is a death sentence for lotus. Unless you have a greenhouse or a sunroom where the surface of the water is in the sun for at least 6 hours a day....you are asking for trouble....ROT.

Here is my planting method, which for me, gets blooms by mid summer through fall, no matter what kind of lotus you start with.
I fill my wine 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 precisely: PLEASE NO SUBSTITUTING!
Gently lay the lotus tubers on top of the compost. (you can make a little depression and nestle the tuber into it) Then gently cover the tubers with about 1-2" of pea gravel, keeping the growing tips above the gravel. Gently, slowly add water until 3-4" of water covers the gravel. Then do nothing but top off the barrel(s) when the water gets low, and watch the lotus grow and bloom. DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FERTILIZER...at all. 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.

OK, now I am really inspired!!! Is it spring yet?, I can't wait! Joyce those pics are awesome, I am not holding out any real hope that I can grow something so beautiful but if mine end up half that nice I will be more then pleased. Thankyou for those detailed planting instructions they will come in real handy. I'm going to need all the advice I can get since I am not what I would call a natural green thumb. I will have to print those out so I will have them when the time comes. Thankyou and takecare........Rodney

Thanks Joyce! Last year I started 'em inside, not enough sun - no doubt why they ended up rotting. I got a couple tiny leaves, then nothing. I really appreciate your instructions!
Well, I have a new project on my list for spring. And I'll be checking the plant exchange for tubers!
Two more questions - one tuber or more per 1/2 whiskey barrel? and can I use composted sheep manure? Got lots of that on hand :o)
Thanks you again!! Sarah

One tuber per small container (like a whiskey barrel).
If you're using a med-large variety, you'll have to thin it every year or 2 to keep it blossoming well.

Hi cath, Thanks!

Well, I have finally been inspired...yet again, but I didn't follow through before when I was tempted by Tommy's plants. :D

I told Mom all about 'Momo Botan', and after she wiped the drool off the phone, she recalled that she has at least 2 half-whiskey barrels just waiting to be used, one for each of us. :D We're hoping to try them this year, and I have Joyce's lotus recipe clipped and saved. But where is the best place to buy them? Texas Waterlilies seems to have the best prices and good reputation. Also, here in California, when do you think the best time to order and plant would be?

Thanks for any help you can offer, ladies! :)

Brenda

Loved the pictures. One question, though

Are these lotus full sized or dwarf? I'm considering doing a lotus container, but I'm not sure which variety works best in containers.

Momo Baton and Baby Doll in the photos are dwarfs.

In the northeast, which mailorder nursery would you recommend that carry the aforementioned tubers or other dwarf varieties which you are growing?

Vicki

I was wondering about a source for lotus tubers also. I haven't been able to find any around here.

I would just trade for lotus here, for plants or postage. (other forums have plant trade sections too)

In coastal California, you could probably order and plant lotus right now.

Sorry I've been out for a while.
Had surgery Monday, just feeling better now. :)

Hey Joyce, good to see you back!!! Now don't go jumping into the pond too soon.. Remember, Slow and easy for now! ;)

Hey Joyce! I've been thinking about you and hoping all was going well. I agree......no back flips for awhile. :)

Wow, your Lotus barrels are gorgeous but what about mosquitos? Do you do anything to keep them from breeding in the water?

I'm not sure what Joyce does, but in mine, I use pieces of "Mosquito Dunks". You can find them in nurseries/home improvement stores, etc. They are a bacteria that the mosquito larvae eat, and it kills them. It doesn't hurt fish/frogs. Its very easy to use.

joyce great pictures i am in the process of ordering baby doll and mombo today itransplanted quite a few lotues from last spring planting in containers their were quite a few about 8 some iam leaving outside others i put in a heated room 72% i do not know if they will make it probably to early i am in zone 8b on a barier island in nc something intresting when i planted them last spring i put them in a large plastic pot then put them inside a half wine barrell plastic about the size of a whiskey barrell today the tubers i removed were all out side of the large plastic pot and all around the barrell really got some nice tubers thought i would mention that as i was really surprised you can tell iam new at this the ones i order will be planted as per your recomedations do you think the ones ive yust transplanted will mnake it thanks

Does anyone know of a mail-order source for Siberian Pink Cups (Baldellia ranunculoides)? I have looked and looked for this plant to no avail.

Joyce - I don't know the reason for your surgery, but I hope that you are doing well and recovering quickly.

Your Lotus containers are just simply stunning! Thank you so much for posting your special recipe for growing them in a container. I saw your Lotus photos a year or so ago and it inspired me to give it a try!

I grew out Baby Doll, Momo Botan, and Red Scarf from small tubers. All of them got aerial leaves, but no blooms. Hopefully this year I'll get blooms!

When I did your recipe, I goofed and used regular Osmocote time released fertilizer, not the veggie fertilizer. Oh well. The plants still did well, just no blooms. This year we shall see! I hope they look as lovely as yours do!

Becky, if you remind me later via email, like in March or April, I can send you some Baldellia ranunculoides aka Siberian Pink Cups.

I have had 13 surgeries in less than 2 years, because of Breast Cancer. This includes several biopsies, a complete hysterectomy, a radical bilateral mastectomy and then reconstruction. For now, I am done. :)
I'm just not in the mood to go through any more unnecessary surgery.
But it goes to show you: Get your mammograms done yearly! If I hadn't skipped 2 years, I wouldn't have had to go through all this!

Remember, the bigger the container, the happier your lotus will be, and when they are happy....they bloom!
Good luck this year with blooms! :)

hightider, leave ALL your lotus outside.
They will rot in a heated room inside.
They need the winter chill to rest....they are NOT tropicals!
Please use punctuation too, I have a lot of trouble reading posts with no punctuation.

Joyce - (((Hugs))) So sorry to hear all that you have been through the past several years. Did you have to get Chemo treatments, too?

THANK YOU for your generous offer for some of your Siberian Pink Cups! They are just lovely with the Baby Doll Lotus!!! I believe we had this conversation a year or so ago and I never emailed you to follow-up. My loss!!! I won't forget this time! Thanks so much!

I think my Baby Doll Lotus is in too big of a pot. I believe the pot holds 15-20 gallons. It's pretty deep. I haven't had any luck finding a reasonably priced container like the flat bottom urn you have. They quit making the hose containers that were the perfect size. So I have had to resort to using the larger containers.

Thanks! Yup, had 4 months of chemotherapy, went bald, then 2 months of radiation.
Then had another biopsy which showed the cancer was still there (was not removed properly during the 1st lumpectomy....long story), so had a radical bilateral mastectomy.
Then reconstruction.
All is well now.
Rebuilt, now a 'sports model' woman. ;)

BTW: There is no such thing as a pot 'too big' for a lotus.
In fact, the more room it has the more blooms it will have. :)

Sounds like you have been through the ringer, Joyce. I am so glad to hear that you are cancer free now. I hope it stays that way! So you look great now, huh? I could use a "lift" myself! :-)

Well, I hope that is true about a large pot being okay for a dwarf lotus. The plant sometimes looks like it is getting lost in the pot! I hope they all bloom this year. I have been waiting anxiously to see the flowers!

Hello all you Lotus Lovers!! Just found this post while having an attack of Spring Fever. Planning to grow a Lotus this year for the first time, in a pot. Thanks Joyce for sharing all your knowledge & valuable info!! Beautiful Lotus Pictures, also beautiful Daughter!! Best of luck with your recovery, you have inspired me to get a mamo, have not ever had one. Continued good health to you & wishes for a complete recovery!!:D

txgdnr, Have a mammo! Then follow your dr's advice on how often to have one done based on your age. Thankfully the 5mm lump they found on my mammo last year was benign and completely removed.

GO, JOYCE! Hope you're feeling better.
Sarah

Yes, I know I'm well overdue!!! I plan on it soon. No more procrastinating. Thanks again Joyce for the inspiration!
Dianne

Oh, wow. Joyce, your method is way different from Bonnie of Bonnie Plants. But the proof is in the photos. I think I'll feel confident growing them your way.

Back to mammograms, my best friend was saved by one that detected tiny irregularities too small to be called lumps. She didn't have to go through near what you have because she caught it early. Still a trauma and, being a sculptor of really big stuff - like 40' tall - she wouldn't have reconstruction as she was told they'd take muscle from her back to do it. She couldn't afford to lose any strength. Been about 6 years now, I think, maybe 7, and she's fine.

Vanessa

Hey Joyce....
when you grow your lotus in such small containers, do the floater leaves just sort of overlap each other? Do they grow fewer floaters, if the space is limited?
I forget.....where do you store those lotus in the winter?

Hi Catherine! Sorry it took so long to reply. I read this a couple days ago but the page kept on locking up when I went to reply.
Also, we've been house hunting like maniacs....and this morning we got the good news that an offer we made on the one house we really loved, was accepted! YAHOOOOO! :)

Anyway, The first month or so of each season, the lotus covers the surface with floating pads. They start off small, but as it gets warmer, the pads get bigger and bigger. Once they cover the surface, and it seems to me when the pads get crowded and start overlapping, the aerial leaves start to emerge. Once there are enough aerial leaves to shade the surface, the floating pads on the surface rot away, and are replaced by a few smaller, feeble versions of floating pads. I think the reason for this is because there is so much shade.
As you can see from the first photo, the aerial leaves fan out a bit, almost bouquet style, creating a tree-like canopy, trying to get as much sun as possible.
Also, I only keep 3-6" of water above the soil line.

My lotus and potted container ponds get dragged into my garage (attached, never freezes but hovers around freezing on the coldest nights) for the winter and stacked with wooden slats on top of each other. Looks terrible, and I keep them barely submerged, but it works for me. Right now the lotus tubs do not even have any standing water....just mud. Looks NASTY. Here are some pix from a few years ago of my garage swamp.
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Not very pretty, huh? LOL!

Thanks Joyce,
Congrats on your new house! Can you drag your lotus pond there? ;) (Or is that why you're moving??? hahaha)
I sure wish I had a garage, but my system of burying them seems to work out okay. I have spots close to the house, where they spend their summers to bury them in each winter. The house helps keep them warm.
Please don't tell me you drag all those pots/barrels to your garage yourself?!
Does your new house have any ponds? I'll bet your mind is racing with all the possibilities for the new place. What fun! Again, Congratulations!

Joyce - Congrats on the new home! I am sure all your beautiful water plants will be accompanying you there when you move!

Thanks also for the pictures and description of how they look during winter and also early floater pads. Mine all have floater pads currently. I am starting to get some aerial pads. I have noticed that some of the floating pads look burned and crispy. Do you ever notice that?

I also seem to have one struggling to make floater pads. I am not sure what is wrong with this lotus. I believe it is my Momo Botan. It was a very small cutting that I got last year. It never got big or spread out like I was hoping. I hope it makes it. These are all in pots using your method of planting. I have 5 different lotus plants this year. Baby Doll, Red Scarf, Tulip (new tuber cutting), Sunflower (also new), and the sickly-looking Momo Botan.

So beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing.

joyce
Wow! they are so beautiful. I was searching this forum for growing lotus in containers. Your water garden is very encouraging for beginners like me. I am planning to grow sacred lotus in containers. Can I grow them in 10 gallon pot like yours or do I need a bigger one?
Where can I buy the tubers for a reasonable price?
If I grow them from seeds how long will it take to bloom?
Can I grow parrot feather and anacharis with lotus in the same pot?
Sorry for asking so many questions.

Thanks for your help.

joyce
Wow! they are so beautiful. I was searching this forum for growing lotus in containers. Your water garden is very encouraging for beginners like me. I am planning to grow sacred lotus in containers. Can I grow them in 10 gallon pot like yours or do I need a bigger one?
Where can I buy the tubers for a reasonable price?
If I grow them from seeds how long will it take to bloom?
Can I grow parrot feather and anacharis with lotus in the same pot?
Sorry for asking so many questions.

Thanks for your help.

Joyce,

Congrats on the new house. It will be interesting to see what you do pond and bog-wise.

Also, thanks for the info on the lotus. I am very tempted to try one this summer. The garage here gets close to freezing.. may actually freeze when we have a super-cold winter, but I don't think it froze the past 2 winters.

Anne

Joyce, your lotus pots are absolutely beautiful. I would like to have one on each side of my waterfall but right now I am in the process of finding some without paying a whole lot of money. I just got my pond cleaned and ready. I am fixing to go through a hystorectomy also at the end of the month so I feel like I need to get everything done before hand because it will be June before they will let me do very much. You have truly made me want to do some lotus pots. I also wanted to let you know that I am glad you are doing better after all you have been through. To everyone else on this sight I have truly enjoyed reading and learning from all of you on here. This is one of the best forums I have read.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery lilysnaenae!

Joyce, just beautiful! Hope you are getting better & stronger everyday. Thank you for all the pix and the pointers. I'm going to grow my lotus(Sunflower) outside my pond for the first time this year. Hope it looks half as nice as yours. I'm having a really hard time finding containers. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Theresa

Oh dear, my husband is not going to be pleased that I've just developed another plant addiction. Those lotus pots are incredible.

Yes, this must go on the already too long to do list.

Thanks for all the photos and instructions.

Thanks everyone!

Yep, feeling great, getting better and better every day.
Getting ready for the big move...been busy!

Best place to find containers is Lowes or Home Depot...they sell half wine barrels and the black plastic liners made specifically to fit inside them. You can always just buy the barrel liner and bury that in the ground like a preform pond. Rocks around the edges, or whatever plants you like to compliment the lotus. :)

Hello Joyce and everyone,
I'm so glad fo find this forum and and then this thread. I've been looking for lotus tuber sources as well as tips on how to grow lotus. Luckily I've found very detailed instructions here.
So how do I go about trading for lotus here? I don't have anything I can trade with. :( I just decided to start a garden last month...Also, if I plant the tubers now, is it gonna be too late for them to bloom this summer?
Thanks very very much for sharing the growing tips and the beautiful pictures!
Aline

Alinen, it appears, from your zip code, that you're in Sunset zone 22 or 24, near the San Diego Freeway, so you should have no problems growing lotus year round. :)

Good lotus growing to you!

Brenda

Brenda,
"...so you should have no problems growing lotus year round. :)"
Oh, my! Thanks for the information! My Grandma is gonna love this! She'll have lotus stamens to flavor her tea all year round, that is, if I'm lucky enough to successfully have my tuber grow into a plant and then blossom. She used to prepare her father's tea that way back in the days when she was a young girl in Viet Nam. She even told me there were people who got up very early in the morning to put the tea inside lotus buds and then collected the tea later when the buds opened.
I placed an order for a tuber of the Pretty Pink Princess (?), it should arrive by the end of the week. Yay!

Hey Joyce,
Just wanted to let you know that your pictures inspired a purchase. We now have a Momo Botan growing in the biggest pot we could find. A few leaves on the way. This is our second lotus, we have a Mrs Perry D Slocum in the pond (in a container in the pond...)
Thanks a million!

Drew

Thanks everyone, glad I inspired you!

We are getting ready to move in a week, been packing for weeks, and especially the last 2 days, so not online much, may be down for a few days during the actual move, on June 2.

Where is Rodney by the way?
I sent him an email about a month ago...worried!

Pondly...Joyce

The pictures are so lovely!
Speedy recovery Joyce. You are incredible. So this site is not only about lotus, also about survival-? The lotus seems so full of life maybe there is a connection-?:))
I am looking for advice and tips too - being a novice lotus grower or wannabe.
The lotus out on my balcony, which are all in containers, are struggling but haven't given up yet. I planted them in regular potting soil, so perhaps not enough nutrients, and they are getting half a days worth of sun? Should I replant them in early spring with compost? I have six from seeds, but I haven't seen an aerial yet... still they are trying but the leaf browns out of water... one grown from root has a few floating ones... which is probably Momo Botan, the seedlings I don't know. So they are not dormant yet, with Mediterranean climate.
I really don't need seven lotuses, but who knows if they make it! Other question... the seedlings are in jugs, like big juice jugs, should they go into bigger pots packed with compost even now they are struggling?
Thanks...
Tarja

I don't know if you are still around Joyce, but I also was inspired by you to plant a lotus this year. I ordered a momo botan and followed your instructions closely.

My questions is, how long can it take to sprout? It's been planted at least five weeks now. Nothing yet. I hate to disturb it to check for roots. Maybe I should tho???

Yes, I am still around! :)

By now, you should have seen some kind of growth. :(
Who did you order the lotus from?

Whatever you do...do not dump that pot yet.
I have seen lotus take a while to sprout.
Sooo...wait it out for now.

Next spring (early!), contact me and I will send you some lotus roots.

Pondly...Joyce

Thank you for responding!

Now I am really nervous tho. I was looking really close yesterday in the sunlight for any signs of growth - none. BUT I did see a very small off-white worm moving around above where the tuber is under the gravel. Do you know anything about these worms? I haven't looked it up yet.

I was about to push aside some gravel and nudge the tuber to check for roots when I saw the worm. Hope it's not a lotus tuber worm or something like that. Hope it is an algae worm!

Anyone have seeds or tubers available? THANKS!

Very beautiful pictures and great instruction. Thank you very much