Lotus
 

What is the status of everyone's lotus?

Mine is planted in a 20 gal half barrel sunk in the ground, with about six
inches of water over the plant and soil. We have one small leaf up. Since
we are in SW Ontario and get cold nights we are heating the barrel with an
aquarium heater to keep the water a constant 80 F.

Thanks,
Heather

I have a divide from jan, in a 20 gallon
tub on the deck.
I've put a bubbler. And I did have a lot
of anacharis in there with it.

It have about five little pads up, arial.
The first one got crispy, must have sunburned
as we had a week of very warm temps, into
the 90s, broke a record.

Then I think our neighbor cat, Hobo The Brave,
got into it. The tuber was broken (has recovered)
and the little fish I put in on fertilizer duty
vanished. Took the anacharis out (no need to
filter the water) but left the bubbler in.

kathy :-)www.blogfromthebog.com
this week ~ the damselfly

Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

What is the status of everyone's lotus?

Mine is planted in a 20 gal half barrel sunk in the ground, with about six
inches of water over the plant and soil. We have one small leaf up.
Since
we are in SW Ontario and get cold nights we are heating the barrel with an
aquarium heater to keep the water a constant 80 F.

I have 2 in tubs on my deck and have 3 to 4 leaves on each ~ 4" - 5" diam -
I am also in SW Ont and they weren't doing much until the last couple of
days - (getting warmer 90F yesterday)
Gale :~)

"Heather" wrote:

What is the status of everyone's lotus?

After a slow start due to a cold spring, everybody's alive at least:

Mystery white lotus, wintered over. This was a replacement for a Mrs.
Perry D. Slocum from Lilypons that had no growing points. They were out of
the named one, but promised to identify what they sent me when the ones in
their pond bloomed. They haven't, despite a couple of requests. They
probably don't know. But it's very pretty, and actually bloomed in its
first season. Several new leaves coming up now.

Mrs. Slocum from Lilypons; now has a couple of small leaves up after being
very annoyed at being plunged into my icy pond after leaving sunny
Maryland.

"Empress" from Springtime Nurseries/waterplants.com, taking off quite
slowly, but a couple of small leaves looking OK, so it will probably make
it.

These are all in 1-bushel Rubbermaid tubs. My only complaint with them is
that the metal plate handle attachments rust out and fall off after a few
years. I drilled holes below the top rim and looped polypropylene rope
around to have something to grab with my custom-made "LilyLiftr," AKA hook
on an ash pole. This is the heavy-duty model, with optional hose clamp
around the end the hook goes into. I should find a draw knife and pretty
it up a bit. Right now, the pole looks a lot like a straight ash sapling I
found growing wild under some pine trees.

A truly impressive line of thunderstorms has gone through, and everything
seems still in the right place. That's a relief.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Heather" wrote in message
.. .
What is the status of everyone's lotus?

## Mine is thriving in a 20 gallon tub at the moment. No flower buds yet,
but lots of nice green leaves. I fertilize it with Jobe's Rose Spikes.

Mine is planted in a 20 gal half barrel sunk in the ground, with about six
inches of water over the plant and soil. We have one small leaf up.
Since
we are in SW Ontario and get cold nights we are heating the barrel with an
aquarium heater to keep the water a constant 80 F.

Thanks,
Heather
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Ahh yes tree spikes. While at a local pond specific nursery they wanted to
sell me spikes they brought in in bulk for $3 Cdn each. The next day while
in a general garden/farm store I found the jobes - five in a package for
$3.99. They are 8-16-16. Much cheaper and seem to work just fine.

Heather



"DeKoi" wrote in message
...

"Heather" wrote in message
.. .
What is the status of everyone's lotus?

## Mine is thriving in a 20 gallon tub at the moment. No flower buds yet,
but lots of nice green leaves. I fertilize it with Jobe's Rose Spikes.

Mine is planted in a 20 gal half barrel sunk in the ground, with about
six
inches of water over the plant and soil. We have one small leaf up.
Since
we are in SW Ontario and get cold nights we are heating the barrel with
an
aquarium heater to keep the water a constant 80 F.

Thanks,
Heather
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Ahh yes tree spikes. While at a local pond specific nursery they wanted to
sell me spikes they brought in in bulk for $3 Cdn each. The next day while
in a general garden/farm store I found the jobes - five in a package for
$3.99. They are 8-16-16. Much cheaper and seem to work just fine.

Heather

You might want to look for the Tomato spikes by Jobes, you don't have to
break them up and their numbers are better, something like 8-28-8. You want
that high middle number for blooms. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Thanks Jan - I'll look for them tomorrow for sure. Already put two of the
5" long 8-16-16's in the lotus tub. Do I dare add more?


"~ janj JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
Ahh yes tree spikes. While at a local pond specific nursery they wanted
to
sell me spikes they brought in in bulk for $3 Cdn each. The next day
while
in a general garden/farm store I found the jobes - five in a package for
$3.99. They are 8-16-16. Much cheaper and seem to work just fine.

Heather

You might want to look for the Tomato spikes by Jobes, you don't have to
break them up and their numbers are better, something like 8-28-8. You
want
that high middle number for blooms. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 22:22:23 -0400, "Heather" wrote:

Thanks Jan - I'll look for them tomorrow for sure. Already put two of the
5" long 8-16-16's in the lotus tub. Do I dare add more?

Probably not at this time. ;) ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Mine is in a bog I built for it in April. Just 2 weeks ago starting
seeing some growth. Last couple of days have been in the 90's but my
lotus leaves look sad. While observing the pond I saw about 3 birds
use it as a bird bath. Now I now why the leaves look ragged. I think
I might put up some netting for a week or so.


--
Koitoy

I am in Houston, so that should explain this, but I got my first lotus
flower that opened today! The plant was in the pot since last year and I got
about five blooms that first year but not until about July. It is a
dwarf.....I will have to divide it this year I am certain. I will try to
post some new pictures of it tomorrow on my webshots site.

Lisa

I am in Houston, we had a mild winter this year. My lotus already bloomed,
though I didnt get many blooms, only two. I thought that was odd and maybe
I overfertilized or somethng?

"kathy" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a divide from jan, in a 20 gallon
tub on the deck.
I've put a bubbler. And I did have a lot
of anacharis in there with it.

It have about five little pads up, arial.
The first one got crispy, must have sunburned
as we had a week of very warm temps, into
the 90s, broke a record.

Then I think our neighbor cat, Hobo The Brave,
got into it. The tuber was broken (has recovered)
and the little fish I put in on fertilizer duty
vanished. Took the anacharis out (no need to
filter the water) but left the bubbler in.

kathy :-)www.blogfromthebog.com
this week ~ the damselfly

Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 18:22:55 GMT, "Our Family" wrote:

I am in Houston, we had a mild winter this year. My lotus already bloomed,
though I didnt get many blooms, only two. I thought that was odd and maybe
I overfertilized or somethng?

I haven't had a lot of experience with lotus, but mine is acting oddly,
imo. It hasn't even sent up an aerial, just a few floater pads. I fed it a
few days ago and now one has a bud on it. Seems I'd get more pads, aerials,
before buds. ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

"Our Family" wrote in message
...
I am in Houston, we had a mild winter this year. My lotus already
bloomed,
though I didnt get many blooms, only two. I thought that was odd and
maybe
I overfertilized or somethng?
=========================
Mine is loaded with large healthy aerial leaves but no flowers yet.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
Do not feed the trolls.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

This thread just appeared - otherwise I would surely have answered
sooner. The lotus garden is full of blossoms and buds. It was early
to bloom this year for some unknown reason. I didn't divide this year
and haven't fed them anything other than the fish pond water.
I'll get some pictures up on webshots - sometime. I don't have any new
lotuses.
Just offspring of the originals.

Lotus Garden:
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

Nedra from Missouri
Zone 6

I have several 2005 pictures of the lotus garden uploaded.

I'll repeat the Lotus garden website:
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

Nedra

Amazing the growth, mine are still coming out of dividing shock I guess.
Though one has a bud up, silly thing, should have put some energy into more
pads first. ;-) ~ jan


On 23 Jun 2005 21:53:59 -0700, "Nedra" wrote:

I have several 2005 pictures of the lotus garden uploaded.

I'll repeat the Lotus garden website:
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

Nedra

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Nedra wrote:

I have several 2005 pictures of the lotus garden uploaded.

I'll repeat the Lotus garden website:
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

Nedra



WOW!!!! Very Nice!!!! :-)
Will those grow in zone 5 (Colorado)? I have not seen anything like
that in my area at all!
Way to grow! :-)
W. Dale

Hi Nedra - nice to see you back - haven't seen you in a while on here
Gale :~)
"Nedra" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have several 2005 pictures of the lotus garden uploaded.

I'll repeat the Lotus garden website:
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

Nedra

Hi there Dale,
Why I know these lotus will grow in zone 5... only inhibiting factor
would be the lack of humidity in Colorado. And that is only thing I can
think of that would hold back the blooms.

Thanks for the compliment!

Nedra in Missouri
zone 6

Hi Gale! It has been a long time since I visited and posted on
rec.ponds. Thanks so much for the welcome back.

Sorry to say the horrible trolls kept me away.... now I just ignore
them :)

Nedra

Jan, I honestly believe that dividing lotus is a myth. These haven't
been divided since I first season after the pond was dug - probably
year 2000. I haven't even fertilized them this year. All I do is add
the water from the koi/fish pond - until the lotus garden is flooded.
Thanks for the compliment, kiddo.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6

Nedra wrote:

Jan, I honestly believe that dividing lotus is a myth. These haven't
been divided since I first season after the pond was dug - probably
year 2000. I haven't even fertilized them this year. All I do is add
the water from the koi/fish pond - until the lotus garden is flooded.
Thanks for the compliment, kiddo.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6



So you grow your lotus outside the pond? Just goes to show you how much
I know! :-P . For some reason I was thinking they were water plants
similar to the water lilies. Are they more of a marsh plant?
And I know what you mean about the other 'stuff'. I almost gave up too
until I learned about 'killfile'. That sure helped me!
My WH seem to be doing fine this year and my water while tinted has not
been pea soup green this season. Yea! Now watch me go out in a few
days and not even be able to see the sides of the pond for the algae!
LOL :-) .
Have a great weekend and very nice to have you back!
W. Dale

Yep, right you are, Dale. Lotuses are a water plant. I probably threw
you off by calling it a lotus 'garden'. The lotus pond which is
adjacent to the koi pond is actually a 12' circle - it is 2 feet deep.
It's lined and has about a foot of builders sand on the bottom.
I added water from the fish pond - then the lotus were planted in pots
and placed in the pond. HA! the first year they jumped the pots and so
it has gone... every year.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6

Jan, I honestly believe that dividing lotus is a myth.

Since mine don't have free rein of a whole pond, I think they would need it
at some time, but I don't think I'll do it next year as one of them went 2
years and did great last year.

Water Gardening magazine had an excellent article on dividing them, so I
can see where I've gone wrong and will have better success next time. Good
thing this time around I was so generous with my spacing between cuts. Else
I couldn't have completely killed it. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Hi Nedra - God, you are just only back and I have a problem with the
statement below - My 2 Lotus are planted in containers - in containers on
my deck and after 3 to 4 yrs HAS to be divided and repotted or they get root
bound and stop growing and flowering and I need to fertilize them with 3 to
4 pond tabs every 6 wks until Aug or they die back early - maybe the fact
you have them in a pond of their own, not potted so they can spread as they
want alleviates that - also I don't know how you would fertilize them even
if you needed to - they do love their fertilizer
Gale :~)
Jan, I honestly believe that dividing lotus is a myth. These haven't
been divided since I first season after the pond was dug - probably
year 2000. I haven't even fertilized them this year. All I do is add
the water from the koi/fish pond - until the lotus garden is flooded.
Thanks for the compliment, kiddo.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6

Not to worry Gale! I know my situation is unique and that most people
do have their
lotus planted in a container of some sort... and I also know that these
lotuses have to be fertilized and divided.
To fertilize my lotus pond I usually have some guy who is really tall
get in the pond and push the lily tabs around each tuber. This is done
by 'feel' as opposed to seeing where the tuber is. The tabs haven't
been put into the pond since March 2004. I think the fish pond water
being flooded into the lotus pond suffices.
And the dividing - we'll have to skip that chapter as it doesn't apply
to my lotus pond... VBG

What got me started on having a lotus pond dug was a picture of Perry
Slocum's MPDS lotus lake. I don't know where it is located but a
portion of this lake is pictured on the cover of his (and Peter
Robinson) book, "WATER GARDENING Water Lilies and Lotuses". I had to
have something similar, hence my lotus pond was planted with three
fully grown Mrs. Perry D. Slocum lotus. As they say, the rest is
history.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6

Nedra wrote:

Yep, right you are, Dale. Lotuses are a water plant. I probably threw
you off by calling it a lotus 'garden'. The lotus pond which is
adjacent to the koi pond is actually a 12' circle - it is 2 feet deep.
It's lined and has about a foot of builders sand on the bottom.
I added water from the fish pond - then the lotus were planted in pots
and placed in the pond. HA! the first year they jumped the pots and so
it has gone... every year.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6



So you just leave them out in the winter? I know it can get down right
cold in Missouri during the winter! Maybe not as cold as Colorado but
still cold. I have started a little 'bog' pond this season. It has
lots of rocks in the bottom and my neighbor gave me a water iris which I
planted in the bottom. So far so good! :-) . I am hoping they take off
and form a mat of roots. I think the addition of lotus would be great!
I have a few in pots that are really struggling right now. Don't know
what's up with that. Maybe just time. Oh, yeah, my little bog pond/vf
return route is 18" deep. I will try to take a picture and post it on
my site.
Have a great weekend!
W. Dale

Nedra wrote:

Not to worry Gale! I know my situation is unique and that most people
do have their
lotus planted in a container of some sort... and I also know that these
lotuses have to be fertilized and divided.
To fertilize my lotus pond I usually have some guy who is really tall
get in the pond and push the lily tabs around each tuber. This is done
by 'feel' as opposed to seeing where the tuber is. The tabs haven't
been put into the pond since March 2004. I think the fish pond water
being flooded into the lotus pond suffices.
And the dividing - we'll have to skip that chapter as it doesn't apply
to my lotus pond... VBG

What got me started on having a lotus pond dug was a picture of Perry
Slocum's MPDS lotus lake. I don't know where it is located but a
portion of this lake is pictured on the cover of his (and Peter
Robinson) book, "WATER GARDENING Water Lilies and Lotuses". I had to
have something similar, hence my lotus pond was planted with three
fully grown Mrs. Perry D. Slocum lotus. As they say, the rest is
history.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6



What's a Mrs. Perry D. Slocum lotus? Is this a hybrid she or he came up
with?
W. Dale

Wilmdale wrote:

What's a Mrs. Perry D. Slocum lotus? Is this a hybrid she or he came up
with?

W. Dale

Why, did you know her? Here is the story:

Probably Perry D. Slocum's most well known lotus hybrid occurred as the
result of a friend's suggestion that he try hybridizing the native
American lotus, Nelumbo lutea with the very double pink Nelumbo 'Rosea
Plena.' Perry made eight crosses: 4 using N. lutea to N. 'Rosea Plena'
and 4 vice versa. From those 8 crosses, only 2 seeds formed. Planting
the 2 seeds the following year produced one weak seedling that was
discarded and the other, an extremely vigorous plant that opened a very
rich double pink, changing to creamy yellow with a pink flush over a
three day blooming period. This changeable lotus was named 'Mrs. Perry
D. Slocum' and is now the most popular and largest selling lotus in
North America.

His previous efforts started in 1946 when Perry received the first U.S.
Plant Patent (No. 666) ever issued for a hardy water lily, Nymphaea
'Pearl of the Pool', a very vibrant, glowing pink with many petals.
Forty years later, in 1986, he received the first U.S. patents for
lotuses -- Nelumbo 'Charles Thomas,' N. 'Maggie Belle Slocum,' and N.
'Angel Wings.' Today, he has patents pending on hardy water lilies N.
'Peaches and Cream' and N. 'Black Princess.'

For more see:
[http://www.victoria-adventure.org/mo..._profile.html]

There are two types of plants: SPECIES which come from the wild and
HYBRIDS that are crosses between 1) different species or 2) a species
and a hybrid or 3) between two hybrids. Species can be cloned by
growing from seed that has been pollinated by the same species. Hybrids
never can be expected to come true from seed and must be propagated
vegetatively, usually from cuttings or division. There are thousands of
hybrids and they are named by the person who registers them. It is
usually the hybridizer. In general hybridizers name their hybrids
anything they want that doesn't sound like a latin species name. Those
are ferbotten. Sometimes they are named to describe the plant. Other
times they are named after friends or loved ones. Other times they are
given amusing names. Some hybrid plants were named after tropical
islands, other were named after birds, others were named after
constelations, etc.

Another class of plants is a selected species called a cultivar. These
are also propagated vegetatively so they will always be true clones.
Usually they are a freak and not like the true species or perhaps a
superior selection of the species.

Actually in the wild, species cross naturally so some plants collected
as species are actually natural hybrids. If two species overlap in the
wild, the area where they overlap is where these natural hybrids occur.
"True" species must be collected in areas where no natural hybrids can
occur.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
18,000 gallon (17'x 47'x 2-4') lily pond garden in Zone 6
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA

I do indeed leave the lotuses in the pond all winter long. It does get
cold here in Missouri but that is the reason I had their pond dug in
the first place. They were growing in a small pond (125 gallons) and in
whiskey barrels. I knew they would freeze in our hard winters so I had
the lotus pond dug.

Here is the website - on pages 6 and 7 you will see the lotuses.
Website was done by friend Wayne Breshears.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836

Nedra in Missouri
zone 6

Thank You so much for answering the question, Stephen.
Your answer has been filed in my lotus file.

Nedra in Missouri
Zone 6