My First Lotus - what now????

[hillbillysrus]

Hello all,
I just had to share a few pics of what my DW got me for my 40th B-day.
The only problem is I haven't decided what I am going to do with it.  I don't know the first thing about them and I'm afraid I'll kill it.
The folks at the pond store told her to just sink it in the pond.  I don't really want to do that, because I'll never be able to get it back out to fertilize or divide it.  Besides, I think most of you put your's outside your ponds.  To me, this one looks like it is already too big for it's pot, but maybe I'm wrong.  Should I just dig a hole for the pot and put it at ground level?  If so, will it survive the winter (I'm at 6a/6b) or will I have to do anything with it this winter.

One more thing, the bud in the 2nd picture, is that the begining of a flower or just a new leaf?

Thanks
Alan

[SueSTx]

Beautiful.  The bud will open up to a bloom.

I also live in zone 6 and I place my pot on the bottom of the tank for winter.  This is its 3rd summer with no bloom.

[matherfish]

Hi. That is a bud bloom. It should open in another week or two. Sue, you should have blooms by now. I will chat with you one night about things you may need to do to get it blooming. I think it needs more fertilizer.
Alan, does the pot that the plant is in have holes, or does it hole water and is therefore a small pond by itself? Lotuses need to be in wet mud, preferably with water above the soil. Your plant looks like a standard sized lotus, which means it really needs a pot that has a mouth opening of 24-28 inches in diameter. You cannot repot the plant until it goes into hibernation at the end of the season or you will kill it, but after it has stopped all growing for this year, you might want to consider repotting the plant. By that, I mean you will take the tuber out early next spring before new growth starts, and plant the tuber in a new pot. In the meantime, over the winter, the plant needs to be moved to a place where it will not freeze. this can be done by moving it to deeper water, or by moving the plant into a place where it will stay between 40 and 50 degrees for the winter.
Lotus reproduce by seeds and by tubers. Their tubers are extremely delicate, and if the growing tip is broken, the plant will most likely die. Because of this, lotus should be grown in round pots, allowing the tuber to continue to grow unimpeded. Division of tubers should only be done during the hibernating period when the leaves have died and before new growth begins. Due to their size, standard sized lotus need to be planted in round containers that are at least 2' in diameter and 10" deep. The smaller, or dwarf-sized (bowl) lotus, can be grown in 18” containers. Because these large pots are difficult to handle in a pond, many gardeners grow the lotus in watertight pots or containers as a small water garden themselves.
Tubers should be planted in shallow (10-12 inches deep) round containers.  Square pots will cause the growing tips o get broken and your plant will not survive.  Place 5 or 6 aquatic plant fertilizer tabs in the bottom and around the edges of the container and cover with 6" of soil or more. Place your tuber about two inches from the side and running parallel with the sides so that the growing tip will grow around the edges of the pot.  Place a small flat stone on the tuber if necessary to hold the tuber in place so that the roots stay in contact with the soil. Cover the tuber with 1” inch of soil, but do not cover the leaf part of the leaf stem, or the growth tip.    You can add more soil when the leaf stem is taller, if needed.  Be careful for new growth  if you do add soil, however.  Add water slowly and cover the soil with approx. 2"-3" of  warm water, or place in pond with preferably no more than 5-6 inches of water over the top of the soil..
Hope this helps.

[emm]

Useful information here matherfish.  Thank you.

emm

[hillbillysrus]

Yes, Matherfish,
Thank you for the information.
The pot doesn't have holes and it is about 20 inches across and about 18 inches tall with several inches of dirt in the bottom
So now I have a new question, (2 actually)if I bury this pot in the yard at ground level, (1)do I fill it to ground level with water, which would be 10-12 inches at least, is that too deep? and (2)will that be deep enough for it to winter or will I have to remove it and put it in deeper water (pond) until spring.

Thanks again.
Alan

[matherfish]

I have seen lotuses grow in water that is 12" or more above the soil, but they are usually growing in mud bottom ponds. Your plants might survive that deep, but I would not want to chance it personally. I would suggest leaving 4 or 5 inches of the pot above the ground if you want to bury the pot, and then you could put some decorative rocks  around the outside at the top. I would not fill the water tot the top of the pot unless the plants are used to that depth already. It won't hurt the plant not to have the water at the top of the pot. 
I am not sure what temp. zone Lexington is, but it is no warmer than zone 6 I am sure. Based upon the size of the pot, I am seeing the tuber in the ground at least 5" at the top of the soil, and 10" at the bottom, allowing 5" of soil and 5" of water in the pot. The warmth of the earth is not a lot different there than on the top of the soil, so I am not sure if that would be deep enough to keep the tubers from freezing. Here, just north of Nashville, most winters the plant would survive, but this past winter it would have been frozen, I think. My suggestion, if you want to leave the plant out over winter, would be that if you put it in the ground, as described, after the plant has died back for the winter, cut the dead folliage off above the water level, and place a heavy clear piece of plastic over the pot, Use the rocks to keep it snug. Or, if you have one, a piece of glass or old window pane. This would make a "mini" greenhouse for the plant, drawing heat into the pond and warming it up even more so that it is warmer when the temps drop at night. If you wanted to get elaborite, get pvc and build a small cage around it instead and cover it with plastic. The tent needs to be only a foot or so tall and the size to go around your pot. Place a flood light in the "tent" and cut the light on when the nights are extremely cold you can cut the light on for the extra heat. Be careful so that the light cannot fall into the water in the pot. and anchor the pvc down.
Hope this helps.