Water Gardening: Wooo Hooo! Lotus Seeds Germinating!, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Just thought I'd chime in on the dormancy question. My dwarf lotus are in a little south-facing pond in my entry. The water temp goes down into the 50's in winter (a normal winter here, that is) and the last two winters the water dropped into the 40's. The lotus plants disappear completely once the water temp drops below about 70, and don't wake up until the water temp rises into the 70's again. I can hurry them up if I pull their tub out of the pond and put it in a warmer, sunnier corner. But then I have to wait for the pond to warm up before I can put them back. It's not worth it. They get lots of leaves, but never bloom until the weather gets really hot. I have my first flower bud coming this week.

That being said, I'm pretty sure lotus grow in equatorial climates where the water never gets cold as well. Don't know if they go dormant in places like Egypt or not. If you keep them warm all winter, I'd guess you need to keep them in the sun, and keep giving them fertilizer, too. Leaves make tubers, tubers make leaves and flowers. Hard to say if they will bloom sooner with that treatment or not. Maybe keep a couple in the warm, and let a couple go dormant, see what works?

If I had to guess, you'll get flowers either way next summer as long as you have tubers by this fall. Grow lots of leaves! Elaine ps. I use the aquatic fert tabs, too. Lotus are heavy feeders.