Joyce (or any other lotus expert) need your sage advice!

[El Jefe]

Joyce, et al

    In another thread you gave me this advice for my newly acquired lotus (Thanks Tinkster!) Now I need a little more... Please..... Look at the pictures of the lotus do I just plant these as is or do they need to be divided? 2). If I am planting them IN my pond (in a container of course)  how deep can I place the tuber, 6-8 inches 12? how does planting it in the pond change the mix if at all?

Here ya go El Jefe/Andy...
I tend to give my lotus a LOT of room compared to what I see here on the pond forums.
But then again, I get more blooms. Hmmmm...bigger pots...more blooms.
I see people starting lotus in what I consider small pots (12-18"),
and they seem to be happy with a few blooms all summer.
I start most of mine in half barrels. (or any container the size of a half barrel)
I get lots of pad growth, and LOTS of blooms all summer, cuz the lotus has LOTS of nutrient rich soil.
The half barrels are lined with half barrel liners I buy at Home Depot or Lowes.
Then I fill them with compost, or with composted cow manure.
Make sure the cow manure is composted.
So many people have read my directions wrong and used straight cow manure.
Straight cow manure will kill your lotus.
If it smells like poop, it isn't composted.
If it smells like high quality potting soil...it's composted.
Simple. Easy. Foolproof...apparently not.

For the past 2 years I have been making my own compost,
and mixing that with a little composted cow manure.
This year I will plant as many as I can with my own compost, no composted manure until I run out of my compost.
I always throw in about a half cup of Veggie Formula (14-14-14) Osmocote
(Multicote is another brand name that works as good, formula is a bit richer, something like 17-17-17 and it is usually a bit cheaper than Osmocote)
on the bottom of the container/pot*.
(*For the half barrel sized liner. Smaller pots get less Osmocote, read the directions on the Osmocote label!)
I do not mix the Osmocote in with the soil, because I believe the Osmocote granules near the surface of the soil can leach out, and cause excessive algae to bloom in the water. The algae starts way before the lotus starts to grow, and can smother the new lotus shoots. It takes at least a month for the Osmocote to seep up through the soil from the bottom of the pots, and by then, your lotus tuber has rooted, put up some pads, and is looking for more food. It is ready for the supplemental nutrients from the Osmocote.
I top off the compost with pea gravel, only cuz I like the look while the lotus is getting established.
And I use the gravel to weigh down the tuber.
When you use Osmocote, the Osmocote will fertilize your lotus for the rest of the season (4 months),
you don't have to do any monthly fertilization.
This saves you money too, since only one application is necessary for the entire season,
instead of monthly applications of spike or tabs, which if overdone, can burn your lotus to death.
(speaking from experience here )
Besides saving money, it saves you time and effort.
 
If you want another way to plant lotus, dig a hole in the ground, at least 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep, and drop a pond liner into it.
Fill it with compost, put your lotus tubers on the top of the soil, and then gently cover them with a 1-2" layer of pea gravel.
You can cover the edges of the pond liner with rocks, and plant the edges with perennials, ornamental grasses, groundcovers.
In the winter, to insulate it you can cover it with a piece of plywood, and put some bagged lawn leaves over it.
Make sure all your lotus pots and ponds are in full sun.
 
I know the way I grow lotus is not for everyone.
Big pots of lotus are hard to move around.
I have a big strong husband, and I am a professional landscape designer,
with access to a lot of hard working Guatemalans,
They help me move my lotus pots into our attached garage for the winter.
Most of my pots can be easily moved with a hand truck by my husband,
with me opening the garden gates and helping him 'steer'.

Marla, haven't potted the new lotus up yet, still floating in a bucket in the garage.
I think I'll use a quarter cup of Osmocote. 

[Joyce]

Plant them as is, no dividing.

I assume you mean, how much water over the soil line of the pot.
All any lotus needs is a few inches. So I would say, no more than 12 inches for large lotuses.
Around 6" for a medium sized lotus is fine.
For a bowl lotus, .5-2" is what I do.

Planting in the pond changes things a bit because you have to worry about nutrients leaching into the pond.
That is why I advise putting the Osmocote at the bottom, NOT mixed into the soil. That is one reason why NOT to use pond tabs or spikes. They tend to dissolve all at once, more often than not the nutrients leach out into the pond, cuz the tabs and spikes aren't placed deep enough. Not to mention burning the life out of your lotus.

Also, you have to worry about your fish, especially koi, messing around in the pot. Using larger gravel, or fist sized rocks or bricks laid flat over the gravel, but careful not to cover the growing tips, will keep most fish from digging in the dirt. (another good reason to put the Osmocote at the bottom)

When growing lotus outside the pond, you don't have to worry about any leaching at all. And even if the water gets yucky looking, once that lotus starts growing, the pads cover up all the ugliness.

 I personally like to grow lotus outside the pond, cuz they take up some much room and make the pond look smaller. Unless you have a BIG pond. Or a small lotus. Sometimes sinking the pot right next to the pond up to its rim, makes the lotus look like it is in the pond at the shoreline, especially if you surround it with the same rocks you have around the pond. (assuming you have rocks around the pond) If not, surround the sunken lotus pot with whatever pond edge treatment you have. You know what I mean.

I'm rushing cuz I am supposed to be getting ready for the Military Ball tonight.
Just had my hair done for the first time in over a year, since before chemo.

[El Jefe]

I had hoped to plant it in the water just past that tree, but if you think it will make it to small I won't 





Have fun at the Ball, been there done that! have a great time,
Andy

[marla]

Make it look to small! , cracking me up andy.  I'm going to attempt to go by some pots today, and use Joyces planting advice, I have 2 in the basement preform that are starting to send up shoots, hoping if I'm very gentle and transplant as one large chunk (dirt and all) I'll be able to not kill it. 
Military Balls, my oldest daughter has been going almost every year since high school, (her husband went to military acadamy high school)  She always sends me a photo of the two of them. 

[El Jefe]

Well it is in the Pond. I bought a barrel liner and planted them up. Hopefully I did it up right!
The Lotus were pushing the growing tips straight up in just 24 hours (I set them in my deep sink in our laundry room in a couple inches of water) and they took right off. One day the growing tips were as you see them here and the next they were vertical and reaching for the light. I hope my first try is a good one.  I set it into about 4 inches of water  lets see where it goes from here... Andy

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