I have some lotus seeds that are about to sprout, I'm very excited. If all goes well, I will (hopefully) have some going this year, and will have a few too many for my little pond. I will let you all know if I have extras! ;)

Lucky you! Years ago, I got some seeds to sprout but couldn't keep them alive once I put the little baby lotus out into shallow tub ponds.

I've had luck getting them going, but I had my first attemt go fungusy (is that a word?!). I hope this batch works out, they're my favorite pond plant. :P

I've used the word fungusy but it's only a word for us! I think some of mine rotted too when I did it. The water must be changed basically daily when sprouting in little containers.

LOL, yeah, I don't think I ever used the word "fungusy" until I got into the fish/pond/plant hobby!!!!

On a side note, I started the filter up in my pond last weekend and the water was soooooooooo murky green that I hadn't a clue if my fish were in there or not. Now I've done 2 water changes and I saw everyone today and one of my frogs last nite. What a RELIEF!!!!! Now I'm on the hunt for a new liner (it's a sickness, isn't it?!) I have my eye on a 14x14 one at Farm and Fleet. :rolleyes:

Robyn, you know my ordeal with adding pond salt and partial plant loss.

After calculating the salt I added I believe you came up with a content about .07%. Of course over the winter and all the rain overfilling my pond I'm hoping that measurement has come down even further.

Anyway, I'm not sure I've realized all my losses yet. I'm now worried about my 3 year old Lotus; not showing any signs of life. Would .07% salt kill lotus?

Is it too early to give up in zone 5? I'm concerned because I'm seeing wild Lotus coming up in the mississippi river.

Thanks,
John

Lotus in the Mississippi? Where do you live John? I'm by the river too.

LeClaire, Iowa. Right at the point on the Mississippi, short distance where the river runs East/West, just above Quad Cities (Davenport, Iowa).

I usually say stay under 0.05% so as not to bother plants but I don't know the magic percentage at which say a lotus would be affected. My poor lotus has one floating leaf and just put up one aerial leaf. My pond salt concentration is probably 0.01% although I haven't tested it. Maybe I should! If my salt is high, that might explain why some plants are doing poorly. I'll try to test it tonight. My lotus get a late start. I'm in Zone 6/7, and mine's barely showing signs of life while others in the area are most likely in full growth. Don't give up on yours yet.

Okay Rob, it does come up late, later than normal. I'll continue holding on to hope. Just didn't know if there was anything to hope for or not.

One thing I am lucky about is one of my three mini cypress trees have survived. I don't get it, why one would survive and the other two die. I pulled one of the dead ones out last weekend. Questionable, looked like some of the roots may have had life, but all the branches I could snap in half like dry twigs. Started to remove the other (appears dead) then decided to wait.

Thought maybe someone would know tricks for sparking life in trees? Is there any chance I can cut the dead off, or nick the trunk with a knife, or even cut it off at the base and hope for new life?

Thanks,
John

John, if I can snap the trees branches like twigs in all locations of the tree, I pretty much deam that tree a goner. If some branches are still a little pliable even if the tree seems dead, you might try putting the tree in water (but yours are already in water?) or fertilizing it. I've kind of got a black thumb myself and can't keep much alive. It doesn't help with the deer, raccoons, shade, and awful soil here.

I tested the salt in my pond water when I got home on 6/18/07. The test says it's done when the liquid goes from clear to dark purple. One drop, and it went purple. Two drops was dark purple. Each drop is 0.01% salt. So, my pond has less than 0.02% salt and perhaps less than 0.01%. So, at least I know that that's not why my lotus is so pathetic. It's in the middle of the pond so the deer and raccoons leave it alone. Yet, it has one floating leaf and one aerial, both of them coming up this month. This lotus is 10 years old. Almost every year, I've bought a new lotus only to have it die right away or a year later mostly due to the animals eating it.

My salt test kit said to have 0.2% salt for ponds without plants and 0.1% for ponds with plants. I've always told people to have 0.1% salt for ponds without plants and 0.05% for ponds with plants. I guess I've been conservative then. I tend to underdose stuff. Too little is often safer than too much.

Thanks for reading your test kit, Rob. Much appreciated. I wish I had one.

Seeing your test kit reads 0.1% salt for ponds with plants gives me a little more hope, but I think you're right on being conservative; considering I've lost some plants.

My 3 year old horsetail isn't coming back either. Darn it.

Thanks again, John.

Okay, I'm not seeing any growth from my Lotus yet. Maybe I'm still a little early.

I'm starting to wonder if there's anything I need to worry about, if it is dead, the affects of decaying and all? How long in the growing season should I wait for signs of growth before I deem it is dead?

Hard to believe after all the growth last year, shooters traversing the bottom of my pond and all, that there's no signs of life yet.

If it is dead, I'm hoping it's from the salt and not something else I did. I really don't study much about caring for plants; pretty much just let them do their thing, while keeping them trimmed and the dead cut off. I heard you shouldn't trim/cut off the Lotus dead leaves below the water line (like you would lilies), because the stems are like tubes and water would get inside and suffocate the root/tuber, essentially rotting it. So as lotus pads would die, I essentially let mother nature do her thing. Does anybody know if this is correct?

Thanks

My lotus now has a few floating leaves and three aerial leaves. Does you lotus have any leaves at all? If not, at this point, it's probably dead. Still, it wouldn't hurt to wait a month or even two to see if anything comes up. I let dead pots sit in my pond a long time in the hopes they might magically come back to life, and also because I don't have the time to remove them!

I've not heard about the lotus stems flooding with water. When floating leaves are profoundly decayed (not slightly as with my water lilies), I sometimes try to pull them off but they are pretty strong. I only cut the leaves off completely in the fall as they really die off. I use pruners then, and I cut above the water line. I do suggest cutting above the water line but don't know if doing it below the water line would really kill the tuber or not. It is already under water after all. I'm sure animals feeding on lotus don't discern where they cut a leaf either.

I have "smart" animals, Robyn! :D They only eat above the water line. :P

Just kidding of course, good point.

Wow, I wish my deer were smart! When I've had lotus in their reach, they don't bother to eat above or below the water line. Instead, they just rip the entire thing out including the tuber! The raccoons also rip out tubers but they don't even eat them! I guess they're just play toys.

John,
Sorry I don't know the answer to your question, but I just made an observation that may assist in your diagnosis. My lotus is going nuts so I'm pretty liberal with yanking leaves off as they get banged up. (Usually by walnuts falling from the tree and trashing the leaf). So about a week ago I yanked a leaf, and it was sort of growing horizontally so the stem laid in the water. Seconds later I noticed bubbles coming out of the stem! This went on for several minutes. So maybe there is some truth to the air getting in to the stem theory.

Mary Anne

Interesting observation, Mary Anne. Thanks.

* * * NEWS on the LOTUS Front! ! ! * * *

Today I came home from work and noticed a 3 foot stem with a flower bud on top, so it looks like I am going to get my very first lotus blossum!!!

I just had to come here and share that with people who understand what a momentous occasion this is. :)

This is the second year we've had the lotus and I had begun to despair. I will post a pic when it is in full bloom.

Happy Ponding everyone!
MA

You are SO lucky! I've had lotus for 10 years and haven't had a single flower in about 5 years! I only have one surviving plant now that's doing ok but no flowers again this year.

What color is the flower? When it's open, smell it. I remember I liked the smell. I smell the few waterlily flowers that I get too.

See, I knew yous would 'get it'. :)

When last we were at lilypons I mentioned it to them and they reminded me that the lotus needs a lot of fertilizer, so we have tried to be more diligent about adding the tabs on a regular basis.

I don't even recall what color we bought, but the bud looks to be deep lavender or purple.

MA

I fertilize my lotus regularly but it never "eats" the old fertilizer pills in the feeding tubes. I have a feeding tube as well as stuff some pills into the pot as best I can.

Lilypons always has those lotus with like 10 flowers on them in tub ponds in the late summer that they sell as is. I would get one but they want $100 or more at that point!