Max363

I have quite a few 2-3 or more tip/rhizome/tuber/root divisions of a Hardy Pink to White Medium Sized Lotus to grow in a container or your pond. Details in the long version of the story below. I found this Lotus easy to grow, bloom and store over the winter in my zone 6 garden despite all the internet hype to the contrary. Grown in a large container it will send up leaves 8"-10" wide, and 2' tall and and many flowers up to 6-8" wide. The Lady I got the original plants from three years had grown them for many years and no longer remembered their name, but after some research on their shape, color change, petal count and free blooming quality I believe they are the variety Mrs. Perry Slocum. Please send me your complete mailing address using your paypal email. Also let me know if you want a smaller rhizome that will fit in a small priority box or a larger one that could move the package to the 2 lb mailing cost. I will invoice you at paypal for $18 and the correct amount for priority mail to your location. Please feel free to direct email me with any other questions you may have. Thanks for your interest! Max
max_9432@yahoo.com


My Lotus Story- Extended Version: Two Springs back, I first got four - 8" long spaghetti sized roots (with leaves) of this lotus from a local woman who had dug them up while thinning her pond. She told me that she had purchased a $40 tuber six years before that, from a high end pond plant company. That first year the lotus thrived and bloomed very well, but in the seasons after that she hadn't gotten as many flowers, and most of her attempts at making new plants did not work out. Well I planted the two largest sections in bigger round pots, and cut the others in smaller sections and planted them in other round containers a couple even in cut off gallon milk jugs! I was so paranoid after reading how these tuber could actually drown, since they actually breathe thru the tubes in their stems, I tied all cuts ends closed, with surgical precision, with copper bell wire! Well each of those divisions, even the smallest, grew and bloomed marvelously and I had plenty to share with friends and family after that very first summer.

My super successful Lotus growing secrets:

The bigger the container - the better/larger the leaves and blossoms will be. - Always plant in round containers. - Fill the bottom half with a manure and garden soil mix maybe 60-40 and then just ordinary plain garden soil on top of that ( you are looking to make mud - so do not use fancy store-bought packaged soils). - The tuber will want to float and the growing tip must not be buried ( or snapped off -so be careful with that!), so if it's long enough, use the stem and hotdog shaped tuber to anchor the division in the top layer of garden soil - OR use a rock or some gravel to weigh it down. - Always keep two inches or so of water on top of the soil - do not allow it to EVER dry out. Situate the pot in the sunniest spot you have -t he more sun the better - Placing it on a stone/concrete patio will keep the water temp up for good spring growth and better summer flowering. - The original plant in its pond was slowly shaded by neighboring trees more each year which caused less flowers each year. - After planting the tuber. first you will get 4-5 floating leaves and then the aerial ones. Before you know it, right next to a large aerial leaf, you will see a small flower bud begin to surface, and maybe 2 weeks after that the first flower will open. The flower will open and close for 3 days, changing color from light pink to dark pink to white and then the petals will fall off and the seed pod will remain. - After the first flower, you can bury fertilizer spikes in the mud every 4-6 weeks - and maybe that's important in long growing, hot summer zones, but here in the North I've found the rich manure soil mix described above is enough to feed the Lotus for most of the northern growing season. - Expect the plant to bloom and throw large leaves during the summer but then decline in leaf size/quality and flowering by late summer. - The leaves begin to brown and dry, and you might be afraid the Lotus is dying but it actually is preparing for winter by making many fat rhizomes at the bottom of the planter. - Do NOT cut the browning leaves off BELOW the water surface. I put a nice potted - canna, umbrella palm, papyrus or other water plant in the middle of large, hard to move lotus containers to make them better looking until hard frost. Before any heavy freeze, put the lotus container in a cool/cold garage/ basement spot where it can stay dormant but never freeze solid. Each Spring I divide the tubers and start all over again although other just repot in a larger container.

Please Note: I love to grow water plants for their own sake, not as fish pond plant decorations. My experience in sharing my plants in friends' fish ponds has been mixed - those hungry, colorful, expensive japanese catfish love to eat plants, dig up the roots etc. etc. ALSO this manure soil mix can produce algae - and "perfectly clear fish pond lovers" get all stressed and annoyed with that - so caution is advised for those folks! When I have kept fish I kept them in an aquarium . Plus I love seeing the great blue herons making a home for themselves here in W. Pa, but I'll stick to feeding birds no larger than cardinals and chickadees thank you! LOL

Max363

I have had a few inquiries regarding the Lotus tubers - I have plenty so if anyone else is interested - please let me know either thru a message here or at my regular email
max_9432@yahoo.com Thanks!
I also got a question about starting Lotus from seed. I think Lotus seeds look a lot like Ensete Seeds - but Lotus are definitely easier and quicker to germinate after the seeds are slightly nicked!
July 17 - nicked then put in water on a warm outside wall in the sun
July 20:

July 22:


August 2

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