Water Gardening: Going to make a container water garden., 0 by darlindeb

darlindeb wrote:
If I remember correctly, these are 40 gallon size stock tanks. These are livestock water tanks made out of thick rubbery material.

I just use dirt to plant in. I DO NOT use potting soil. The stuff marked top soil is okay provided it doesn't have that white stuff in it. I wanna say the white stuff is perlite.
I don't use any kitty litter. I have room for 5 to 7 inches above the soil line for water.
I do have duckweed in my containers along with the lotus.

On Blooming

I have had very nice blooms the first year on lotus tubers. Some times it takes maybe two years to get the lotus to bloom. I have grown them from seed and had them bloom the second year. I think they bloom better with fertilizer. I use plant tabs from Texas Waterlilies. I have never tried deadheading them to see if they produce more flowers. I read somewhere that if water travels down the inside a broken flower stalk or leaves it can make the tuber rot. No tuber means no plant next year. If lotus take over a natural pond, the way to get rid of them is cut the leaves beneath the water line.