Hello Eija,
I am receiving a couple of lotus this week and I'll be putting them in a large bucket of water in the garage until it warms up more to put outside. (next month)
I once bought a couple lotus from a seller who considers herself quite knowledgeable, which told me to start them indoors...... NEVER again, they turned to mush because of rotting.
(these were fairly expensive tubers too) :'(
BTW- I have around 100 goldies to get rid of......I now have most of my Goldies in my lilypond which are easy to catch!
Let me know if you want to give it a try this year!
No wading whatsoever!
Good luck with your Lotus..........