Water Gardening: Lotus rehab, 1 by helenchild

helenchild wrote:
I need some experienced advise on how to get my lotus back in shape. I have had this plant for years in a pot thats about 24-30inches in diameter and for the most part it has done well. Last year I cut down a tree that had grown and shaded my water garden so I was expecting more and better growth and flowering from my lotus and water lilies. I fertilized with tablets I have been using for years early in the spring. They are suppose to last a year.

As you can see from the picture the leaves have poor color. Its what I would call chlorophytic, meaning nutrient deprived. That surprised me since I fertilized them adequately. Also does anyone have any ideas about why the leaves were such a sick color? It only had a hand full of blossoms too.

The second pictured shows how the plant got top heavy and kept tipping over. I didn't have the time in the spring to really address the issue so I left it leaning and you can see the new growth in going straight up now.

What a mess. I need to rehab this plant and want some advise. Should I pull it out and repot it now or repot it in the fall or winter. Maybe it would be best to wait until new growth begins in the spring.

Thanks,
Helen