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| I do not grow any lotus in a pond, they are heavy
feeders and the amount of fertilizer needed will turn the
water green AND most of my fish are 30 inches and they would
have a "field day" with the lotus. Speaking
about fertilizer we use Pond Tabs because they are designed
specifically for pond plants. They will NOT turn the
water green like regular fertilizer will. |
| These lotus are "stock" plants we grow to
sell. In late January we harvest tubers and begin
shipping them in February. Around mid-March, when
we are done shipping and we start new plants for
shipping in 2 years. The rows of pots you
see will be allowed to grow for 2 years. We have
pots that are not shown that will be harvested in
January of 2005. |
| We start the tubers in the heated greenhouse and let
them grow until there is no danger of frost. After
frost danger is past, we move the huge pans outside and dig
them into the ground. This is how the bed looks before
we put down hardwood mulch to keep the weeds down. The pans
are watered with water from the well that has a pH of 6.0
and fertilized once a week. We have a fertilizer
injector that we use in the greenhouse that mixes the
fertilizer to right ratio of water |
| The tuber must be kept warm if it is to root and grow.
One trick if you keep your house on the cool side is to set
the pan on a heating pad that is set to "low".
The tubers will root at room temperature but at a slower
rate. |
The image at left shows you how WE grow them out of the
pond. These are our propagation pots. Not very fancy to put
on a deck, etc., but you get the idea. In zones 7 or higher,
the pots can sit outside all winter long!In zones less
than 7 you can put them in a garage or basement that does
not go below freezing. Be sure to check the pot
regularly to make sure that there is water on top of the
dirt at all times. IF the dirt dries out, the lotus
will die.
You can use any large pot 18 to 25 gallon that has no
holes. If there are holes, use a piece of rubber liner
in the pot to make the pot water proof. |
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Chawan Basu a semi dwarf lotus
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