Lotus runners/tubers 101

[matherfish]

This is a lesson in growing lotuses from my experience, others may have different experiences.

I think lotuses are easier to grow than a lot of people would have you to believe. I am in zone 6. From my experience of raising lotuses for over a decade, they can take more punishment than we might think. I will deal more with this point in my post #2 on this thread.
If divided while dormant, as long as they do not dry completely out, or get infested with disease or insects, and the growing tips are not all broke off, they seem to grow easily. Now that seems like a long list of problems, but not really. I spray my plants for aphids with a dish detergent/vegetable oil/water mix maybe twice a year and it keeps the insect problem avoided. I have never had a disease problem and only get my plants from reliable sources to prevent a desease infestation. By keeping the plants in water tight tubs I do not worry about them drying, only adding water when the water level is down.
When receiving shipments, if packaged right, you should not have broken growing tips, but even with the best packing they sometimes get broke. Unless all growing tips are broken, the plant will live and grow just fine. It only takes one growing tip for the runner/tuber to make a plant. However, it is better to have multiple growing tips. When dividing, keep two sections of the tuber chain together with at least two growing tips. This helps the survival rate in case something happens to one of the tips. This should be done for personal tunners/tubers also. Tips sometimes get broken in planting.
I think the best way to plant a runner or tuber is to simply lay it on the soil, put a stone the size of an egg or small potato on the runner stem to weight it down, and let it grow into the soil. You may want to cover any runner stem with soil, but leave the growing tip uncovered. You have less chance of breaking it that way. I like using plain top soil for my growing medium.

[matherfish]

Now as to runners. A runner is a part of the root system that stretches the plant out so that new growth or plants are not bunched into the same area. From it, leaves are sent up, and runners are sent out. Tubers are also produced from the runners. If planted the way I just described, runners have as good of a chance of survival as a tuber. Runners should have multiple tips as well. I have shipped runners all over the country, some alreading having leaves on them, and they did fine.
I do not divide the runner after it has began to grow. Runners, like tubers should be divided when the plant is dormant, in the winter months. I have been doing this for several years and it has always worked.
Last year because of having so many runners, I placed the remaining runners in tubs of water and sold them up into July. The runners were already divided, but were growing of course. I did not plant them, so I did not have to worry about breaking them or the growing tips when I got them out to ship. By the end of July I quit selling them and just let them grow in the water. Many were blooming. I did not fertilize them as I did not want them to grow much because I wanted to sell them and did not want the cost of shipping large plants. They grew in whatever little mulm was in the tub.
At the end of warm weather, I brought a few of the runners into the greenhouse and placed them in ponds, but again, did not plant them. 3 or 4 of the plants were left outside in the tubs of water.
When I checked on my hardy lilies today, I noticed the lotus runners I had left outside over the winter. We have had an extremely cold winter with lots of snow, and ice on the ponds has been 4 or 5 inches deep. I was amazed! The pics tell what I found. The first pic shows the tubs the plants were in, the others show what I found. Amazing!

[matherfish]

As you could see in the last post pics, those plants grew with no care given. Just dropped into the tub and left to survive on its own. Not what you would think from listening to some, but that is what happened. Even with 4-5 inches of ice, the runners survived and have made small tubers.
I am not saying to grow lotuses without being potted. They do much better when potted, and that is how they are supposed to grow. My point is that the plants are not as hard to grow as thought, and that runners can be grown as easy as tubers.
I know this is a rather wordy thread, but for those who want to grow a lotus, but were afraid to, I hope this gives you courage to try them.
Happy ponding!

[matherfish]

As to fertilizing the lotus, just remember to fertilize them regularly, whatever fertilizer you choose to use. Osmocote works but it is a heat activated release product so you need to monitor it. It has been known to burn up plants when the fertilizer is dumped all at one time. I like pond tabs because I can consistently fertilize once a month and not worry about the heat. With year old plants,I take a stick about an inch in diameter, push a hole down about 2 inches in the soil about a couple of inches from the leaf stem on the inside of the pot and drop a tablet in the hole. I then push it down into the hole with the stick. When you push the hole into the soil, try not to damage the buried tubers. By going on the inside of the stems you have a better chance of not hitting a tuber. New plants are fertilized the same way once they start putting leaves up. When first planting tubers or runners, put the fertilizer in the pot about an inch from the pot sides and about an inch from the bottom of the pot. Do not put the fertilizer against the tuber or runner itself, or the roots. I fertilize using 6 fertilizer tablets per tub monthly. I fertilize when I plant the tuber/runner, and then when it is starting to grow and send up leaves, I begin my fertilizing ritual. During peak growing and blooming months it is a good idea to fertilize more often than once a month.

[laurw]

Great post.

Yes, lotuses appear to be weeds, some tougher than others, of course.

My first batch, I didn't even use soil. I sprinkled osmocote in the bottom of very large tubs, covered this with about an inch of leaf compost and clayey soil, then just filled the tubs with very thick layers of hay alternating with very thin layers of compost/clayey soil mix. Filled with water, and planted the tubers on top.

IIRC, I told Joyce about it and she was skeptical!

But they grew like gangbusters and bloomed well.
Naturally they sank a bit as the hay broke down but it was a cinch to keep the water topped up.

[emm]

Excellent information here.  Thank you.  When the thread has run its course I will print it for my files.  I've kept 2 lotuses (grown from seed last year)over the winter.  I'm anxious to see how they did but I'm going to have to be patient for a while longer.  Still winter here.

Thanks again.
emm

[greenthumbnails]

Thanks Frank.  I am still amazed at all the pots you have- and that you move them into your greenhouse every year.  That seems like a lot of work...how do you manage to do all that?

[matherfish]

Greenthumbnails, The tubs in the pics are actually my lily tubs, and there are over 300 of them. They are not brought inside. There are 81 lotus tubs that are brought into the gh. The lotus tubs are like the tubs in the picture, but are only 1 foot deep. I have to hire help as it takes two people to lift the tubs with the soil in them. I have divided a little over half of the lotuses this year, and they are listed for sale on the trade forum. With so many varieties, I have lots of tubers to choose from.