Question about the first winter of my young lotus plants.

[tugo]

I have quite many Nelumbo Nucifera pots laying in an above ground pond, grown up from seeds.

Almost half of them are the seedlings from mid July and after having each 2-4 aerial leaves they are dormant now.

The other half are the seedlings from last week of September and they have gone dormant without any aerials but after having 4-5 floating leaves, each.

All the aerial leaves got dried out and the floating ones are rotten during the dormancy.

I am in zone 9 and they are under abt 6-7 inches of water over the pot surface. We do not have any freezing here. We will have 2-3 days with 28 F and rest of the days will be 32 F and over.

Waiting till may/april to see if they are surviving, will be very hard for me, since it is my first winter experiment and the plants are too young.

Could I get your opinions about the possibility of getting them back healthy in spring again or going to loose them?

Do they need any special care like, cleaning or aeration of the water?  Or shall I just sit and wait?

Any comments will be much appreciated.

I wouldn't mind at all if the case was hardy water lilies because I have experience with them for the last 3 winters but this lotus experiment looks like to keep me sleepless till spring:))

Thanks in advance.

[PondmaninAL]

Tugo, don't worry, they will return in the Spring. That's the bad thing about Winter in Zone 9, you are all busy in the Spring, Summer, and Fall with the pond that you panic when there is nothing to do in the Winter. This is when another hobby is useful.

[Johns]

Tugo,

The best thing you can do for those babies in the spring is to fertilize them.  Time release fertilizers are best.   Since your plants are already in pots, before any growth is seen, pull each pot from the pond, make a hole in the soil with a broomstick, tip the pot to drain the water from the hole, then place a tablespoon or two in the hole then plug the hole with wet clay to keep the fertilizer out of your pond water and in the pot where your lotus can get it.

[tugo]

Thanks to both. Well, I have other hobbies etc for the winter time but since this is my first lotus trial I can't keep my mind away but now I feel more easy after your comments. Looking forward for the spring:))