(This picture is of A Perry's Giant Sunburst lotus at Northern Tropics)

A lotus is one of the ULTIMATE pond plants you can have in a Northern climate water garden for that WOW! factor. It's a real attention getter and it looks SO tropical....And to top it all off, it's hardy, cared for properly. With their large aerial leaves that shed drops of water like mercury spilling out of an old thermometer, and stunning long-lasting blooms, what's not to like? Unfortunately, a lot of information that is needed to successfully grow a lotus seems to be hard to find, or even worse, contradictory or hard to understand. And even though it makes some floating leaves, the care is not at all like a water lily. So let's cut through some of the mis-information and get right down to the facts, so you can be successful in growing your lotus plant. They are actually very easy and rewarding, once you have some good information.

Lotus plants can be kind of picky to get started from a tuber. First of all, you need to start growing them in the spring when it's warm enough outside. Below 70 degrees, they really don't like to start growing, so you might be wasting your time (and money!). They will actually rot and die if you try to start your tuber when conditions are still too cold.  I sometimes sell lotus tubers via mail order, but most people prefer to start with a prepotted prestarted plant, and pick it up at the greenhouse in person. There's  more chance of success that way. There is all kinds of information on the web about starting lotus tubers, and how to plant them, so let's leave that topic alone. We'll save that one for another guide.

When your prestarted lotus plant is purchased, it should be preplanted in an appropriate tub that it can continue to grow in. A large tub, like a rubbermaid party tub with rope handles- is a great planting container, if the lotus is growing in a container with square corners, that's a big no-no. Lotus plant runners have been known to grow into a corner, not make the turn around the corner and die off. So it's vital to purchase one that is planted in a round container with no holes in the bottom. If you can't get a properly potted lotus, sometimes they can be VERY VERY carefully repotted during the growing season. The main thing is that none of the growing tips or leaves can be broken off or the plant will die. So unless you are an experienced lotus repotter, it's best to just pass on that plant, even if you really want it. Why risk your money and get disappointed?

 Lotus runners will go out any drainage holes in the bottom of a standard pot and eventually run out into the pond. If it's a liner pond, the runners can be cut off, but sometimes that will kill the plant. If it's an earth bottomed pond, the results can be disasterous. Lotus runners will root every few inches and eventually competely fill up an earth bottomed pond. It usually requires a backhoe to remove the lotus from the pond. Please don't put a lotus in an earth bottomed pond! Place your lotus plant into the pond at a depth where the pot is submerged by a few inches for water circulation, in a sunny location for best blooms.

Lotus tubers and roots are very attractive and apparently delicious to koi. So a large koi or two can quickly ruin a potted lotus plant. One thing that helps is to carefully cover the soil in the top of the pot with a layer of sharp lava rock. Koi don't seem to enjoy digging as much into that lava rock! Be careful when adding rock to put it around the leaves and not break or even cover the growing tips. Don't break off any of the leaves/stems either.

Lotus are very heavy feeders. If you normally feed your waterlilies with a plant fertilizer where you use two tablets a month, then a lotus will need four tablets a month during the hot weather months of July, August and September. Use no fertilizers at all during May when growth is just beginning, I usually fertilize half strength (two tablets) in June, four tablets a month during the hot weather months of July, August and September,and no fertilizer in October so it will run out before frost occurs, and of course, no fertilizer when the plant is dormant over the fall and winter months. This schedule can be easily adjusted for more southern or northern climates by just making sure not to fertilize during the month that growth begins or ends. Be sure and look to see where your lotus is growing and don't break off or injure any growing tips when you fertilize, it's usually safest to tuck the tabs right in beside the side of the pot.

Occasionally you will see leaves that are yellowing or deteriorating in the spring/summer. Leave them alone. If you really can't stand to see them, kink the stems sharply and bend them over so they aren't so visible. But leave them alone, don't cut them off....Why? Because the lotus stems have hollow, drinking straw-like spaces in them, and by cutting those off, water can be siphoned into the tuber, drowning and killing the entire plant. When it frosts in the fall, also--don't cut off your lotus leaves. Leave them there until they totally dry out, turn brown and dessicate. Then they can  be removed well above the waterline in late fall, winter or even spring. Personally, I really feel it's best to leave the dead leaves all winter. Lots of well-intentioned people have killed lotus plants by cutting off the foliage in the summer or fall. Here in Central Indiana, a lotus is hardy when properly potted into a large container and sitting in the bottom of a pond that is around 24-30" deep. So you will be able to enjoy years of beauty with your lotus plants. They need dividing only every two to three years if they're properly potted in a large container as mentioned above. If you accidentally cut off a leaf or break it off, take it and kink the stem over and put a rubber band around the stem to cap it off.

Be very patient when waiting for them to emerge in the spring. Often new growth is not observed in my pond until the end of May or even the first of June. When you see new growth emerging, don't rush right in to fertilize your plant, like you do with a water lily. Wait until at least 4 or 5 floating leaves have formed. Give it a full month to grow. It has stored energy in the tuber to sustain itself for that time period. Then fertilize after thirty days using the same amount of fertilizer that you would use for a water lily for that first feeding. And feed twice as much next month.

After your lotus plant has made several floating leaves, it will normally then start to make aerial leaves that stick up out of the pond.

After several aerial leaves are made, the lotus will then start to bloom. It's so exciting to see those first lotus buds sticking out of the water! Around here, that's usually around the first of July, but can be sooner or later depending on your pond conditions, sun factor, weather, etc.

Lotus plants can also be grown outside of the pond, especially if you have large koi. Dig a hole next to your pond and put your lotus tub into the hole. Then it appears that the lotus is in the pond, but it's actually safely next to the pond. Then in winter, very carefully take the tubers from the pot, be sure not to damage the growing tips. Drain the water from the pot and cover it, or remove and store the pot so it doesn't freeze and crack, and store the tubers in damp spagnum moss in a cool frost free location and restart your plant next spring. Or cover the top of the pot securely with a couple of layers of plastic netting, like you can buy in a fabric store, secure it around the top of the pot tightly using wire or a waterproof twine, and submerge your pot into the bottom of the pond for storage until spring. That way your lotus has proper storage conditions, and you don't have to worry about the koi getting into it and making a mess over winter.

Thanks for your attention, and most of all, enjoy your lotus plant--it's one of the coolest plants you can grow in a water garden! If this guide was helpful to you, please take a second and leave feedback, and feel free to use this guide or any of my other guides for your personal use.

Sandy Burrell

Northern Tropics Greenhouse, Muncie, IN northerntropics.com