Water Gardening: Lotus Tuber Photo, 1 by darlindeb

darlindeb wrote:
Sure, MerryMary.

I hope you planted the ones you got off e-bay. There are some bowl lotus that would have smaller tubers, but I don't know how small.

You might look in the yellow pages under ponds or pond building some of the folks there might have potted growing lotus you can buy or they might know a little mom & pop nursery that has them.
You might trying calling some regular nurseries and see if they know anyone. I don't know if any lotus are banned in Florida or not. I know there was talk around here of wanting to ban the 'Scared' lotus.

There are lots of places you can purchase lotus through the mail.
I think they are running around $35 to $50 a tuber depending on
variety. I'll try and put a list together of the folks I know and post it later. There is also a great site for showing varieties of lotus and waterlilies that I'll post with it. There are also different methods of planting lotus. I've done the big pot and the 2 inches of dirt method and they both have worked for me.

You also need to consider the scale of your fish pond. If you have a big pond, a giant five foot plant wont look out of place. If you have a tiny preformed pond that is 18 inches deep and six feet long, maybe one of the smaller bowl lotus would work. Of course, considerations have to be made if you live where it freezes.

Things you need to consider first. Do you have koi or goldfish?
Some folks koi root around in pots; then I know others that have koi that aren't interested in their pots.

Lotus, which are in pots perform better when they get regular feedings of fertilizer tabs. Most folks I've talked to who grow them in pots divide them every 3 to five years.

I've grown mine in full sun. I have a friend who grows hers in some spot that gets some shade during the day. I have also grown them in big containers at work. You have to keep them watered. In this zone they start to look ratty towards the end of the summer and early fall. Also, I've had some years when they really multiply and others when they don't seem to do as well.

You can also grow them from seed, but that takes usually about 2 years on average from seed to bloom.

They are a beautiful plant. The flowers usually last only 3 days.

The image below shows a pot of lotus that's probably about 5 years old.