Late spring last year I purchased a dwarf lotus tuber that--aside from it's non-flowering probably due to insufficient light--became very leafy and was--flowerlessness aside--thriving. Aside from my own research I thoroughly and repeatedly grilled the vendor about various aspects of keeping the thing healthy as well as what to do when winter fell.
The thing is, I grow my most precious plants indoors; it's my hope to have a HUGE, 'real' greenhouse someday--in the meantime, I have the indoor plants distributed according to diminishing light requirements--plus, I provide additional heat and light sources where required--such as for seeding projects. SO, the lotus is situated in a very large container [meeting minimum requirements as per research] by a northeast window (the best light available in my 18th floor apt.).
The vendor told me--in response to my questioning alternative [vs traditional] ways of dealing with Lotus during winter--that as long as the soil the tuber was in didn't dessicate completely--and it was protected from freezing--I could keep the tuber in its container [vs. storing it outside of the container].
Late in March '07 I decided it was time to initiate the summer set-up for the lotus, so I removed the protective cover--inserted a 'plant tab'--and added some water. Here it is, closing in on the end of May--and there's no sign of life (specifically, of 'leaf') from the tuber---so the questions are: should I give the tuber more time? or shall I confer an R.I.P. status to the thing? I am a gambler and an experimenter and sometimes I try things that some might perceive as doomed to fail, but--if nothing else--I learn--a lot. I learn about the limitations of certain plants and the non-negotiable limitations of the physical environment I can offer the plants.
Can someone advise me on this situation?!
THANKS!
Return of a Dwarf Lotus tuberor not...
You may want to carefully check the tuber by running water over it to wash off the dirt to see if there are any growing tips. If so, carefully repot it and wait for it to produce leaves. If there are no growing tips it has died. Google something like "growing tips on lotus" and see if you can find a picture to help you identify them. Lotus and water lilies need a great deal of direct sun to bloom well. We have had to remove quite a few trees over this past winter to get enough full sun on my pond so my lotus and water lilies would do well. Several of my bowl lotus did not survive and our winters are very mild. I would think that to get a lotus to bloom inside you may need full spectrum lights.
BTW-I love British Columbia. We have vacationed on Vancouver Island many times. It is one of my favorite spots in the world.
Loretta
Hi Loretta-
Thanks for the input. [It's nice to know that you enjoy BC---it is indeed a gorgeous place. I'm actually originally from the Big Bad Apple [NYC]; I moved to Vancouver to get hitched! Back home, I haven't seen all 50 States, so I only know Tennessee by reputation [Nashville]; were you born in TN?]
Back to LOTUSland...
I can understand that a lotus wouldn't blossom without sufficient light--but why would it DIE, as in the case of your 'bowl lotus'? and regarding 'bowl lotus', exactly how large are they and how do you accommodate them?
I'll drop you another line when I've determined whether the tuber has a 'pulse'!
April
p.s.: so what are your favourite Vancouver spots?
April, are you certain that the tuber made it through the winter? I agree that you should carefully rinse the soil away and see how the tuber is doing. If there is a growth tip, you really don't want to break it off. But I've tried to overwinter lotus only to find a nasty smelling mush in the spring. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
Oh, also lotus need heat so maybe the water is too cold?
OK--Live and Learn...
Apparently, the tuber did not make it. I'm not as broken-up as I was when one of my cats ate the lotus I grew from seed! My attitude is: 'I'm experimenting with so many different plants--mostly exotic and challenging 'landlubbers', so I'll take advantage of the additional space and won't play around with lotus until I can give the plants a serious pond----then again, as Pixydish mentioned, lotus need heat; this was not a point that was emphasised to me in my questioning, nor in my research---so I thought, as long as the tuber remains moist, we're likely to have a comeback in the summer. [WRONG!]
Raising an aquatic plant is like raising a fish--or an amphibian; one is responsible for simulating and maintaining an environment that the lifeform in question depends on. Some people who have never had 'animal companions' may think that keeping a Goldfish alive and happy is easy, and Goldfish are relatively hardy as aquatic critters go. The difficulty is not so much learning what to do, but in doing it--whatever 'it' entails--consistently. I think Goldfish--to continue with this example--need a neutral pH, but as hardy creatures they can tolerate fluctuations in one direction or the other--UP TO A POINT. One needs to set-up a self-sufficient 'ecosystem' of sorts. If you keep lotus in an outdoor pond, you can include Koi or frogs; then you've got your dragonflies--and pollinators... blah blah blah
My underlying point is all the blathering is: 'if you're gonna do something, you may as well do it RIGHT'! so for the time being, I'm sticking to terrestrials!
BC-My lotus overwinter in a pond that gets very cold in the low 40s sometimes. I think it is more about having growth during the season as often the new growth is what survives the winter. Bowl Lotus are about 12" to 16" tall and as the name suggests can grow in a bowl sitting on a table. My friend also has a hardy water lily that grows in a little container on her patio table. I mean the spread is no more than 10" and the leaves no larger than a quarter to a half dollar piece. Sorry to hear about your lotus but you got to love a gal that tries the difficult things. lol
As for my favorite spots on the island. In the south, we like the Saltham Lodge on the Cowichan River. We love Tofino, usually rent a house right on the beach. Then we will head up to the Campbell River area and check out the logging roads in the northern part of the island. In fact, we usually get a map of the logging roads and travel as much as possible on those everywhere we travel on the island. A couple of times we did some river rafting on the Upper Nimpkish River. Oh and I love the wine from Vancouver Island and BC. Can't get a bit of it down here. And even though I have gone on several winery tours have never managed to get home with any of the wine we bought. lol I believe we could live there and be quite content.
PS- What a big change from New York City, but then Vancouver is very cosmopoloitan is'nt it? Beautiful city, as is Victoria but we tend to spend very little time in the urban areas, preferring the wilderness.
Loretta
Hi Loretta-
Although I was born and bred in NYC [even went to Art School there!], I too prefer the wilderness; the futher away from (most) homosapiens, the better---I'm also a big wildlife--critter--animal companion--bug, etc. lover. There are a few things that I really miss about NYC: it truly IS the 'City that never sleeps'; I miss being able to find a bookstore, for example, post-midnight; also, I can get around NYC practically with my eyes closed--it's MY TURF--and I thereby feel empowered; plus, most of my best friends and family are out east. Here in Vancouver, I'm still in many ways a 'stranger in a strange land'. T, my husband, is also more of a nature freak. What makes our current location work for us is that we're 10-minutes away from the Pacific Ocean or Stanley Park; so, we stay in constant touch with our favourite elements. We plan to 'buy an island'--or something to that effect--at some point in the future!!!
We also LOVE Tofino---an amazing spot. T--prior to our nuptials--had been there several times over the years; he knew Tofino before it became a 'hot' spot overrun with surfer dudes and dudettes[lucky guy]. I DON'T knock surfers---it's just that at one time they were comprised mainly of locals.
Re LOTUS, etc. ...
A while ago, someone had told me about the 'bowl lotus' that you refer to---but I hadn't found a source for it at the time I was intent on ferreting-out a source for 'any' type of lotus that didn't have massive, 2-ft-across leaves! Not that that wouldn't have been magnificent, but we're talking about 'accommodations' here! I mentioned that one of my cats dined on my first lotus plant, which I'd grown from seed and was expanding like gangbusters. The thing is, that lotus was one of the '2-ft-across' variety, so, I'm glad it's egress from this life was pleasant--at least to my cat on a gustatory basis! BUT...
Do you perchance have--or know anyone who has one of these itty bitty lotus that isn't sterile and thereby produces viable seed? If YES, what would it take to get a few of those seeds?!!!!
Until next time,
April
April-NYC is a someplace I have always wanted to visit at least once but may never make it there. Of course if I had a coop at the St Elmo or someplace cool, might even want to live there part time lol. Do you get back home much?
Have you had a chance to take any of the BC Ferries overnight cruises out of Port Hardy up to the Queen Charlotte Islands? We would like to do that on our next vacation up there, if we ever get away again. Last time we were in Tofino we decided to try some other spots not visited yet.
I can hook you up with some seeds in a couple of months or probably even a tuber. I can ask a good friend of mine if she has any seeds from last season. Her collection of lotus is impressive and she is very generous. Of course you could check the Victoria Adventure site (google Victoria Adventure to find it). They have a seed bank and you may find some there. Do you have a balcony or any outdoor area? You can always buy your kitty some lutus tubers at the Chinese Grocery Store so it will leave yours alone.
Loretta
Loretta-
T and I have taken the ferry several times, though not yet to the Q. Charlotte Islands; that's something we very much look forward to. We've stayed overnight in Victoria a few times, and of course there's Tofino. How is it that you guys learned about Tofino? Until I moved here, I knew very little--correction: 'nothing' of the 'Great Northwest'. T and I are very easy to please---our days shine when we walk to the beach--I comb for shells and interestingly shaped pieces of wood---T'll bring a beer and a smoke and we just chill---either spacing-out [more likely me!]--talking about what's going on in our lives and the world---watching the eagles, gulls, herons, ducks, geese, crows, seals, cormorants, etc. It's so pathetic that I don't have a digital camera---why I don't is a story for another time; needless to say, this place is a teeming macrocosm of photo-ops.
Re The Victoria Adventure site---'been there, done that', ages ago. I'm not opposed to checking the site out again, and since you reminded me, I probably will. I enjoyed the exchanges I had when I was exploring it---but I'm not sure they still offer seeds. BTW, there are several online vendors that sell lotus seed---the 'traditional'--2-ft across leaf-type; but I very specifically want to grow a dwarf species. I'd even contacted a few online companies that sold dwarf varieties and asked if I could purchase some seed if any of their dwarf species produced. One company sent me what they predicted would most likely be--and was--a handful of unviable seed. Different sources also said that the dwarf species are usually sterile--but from what you've said, you've raised my hopes that this isn't true across the board...? Do you happen to know anyone who grew their dwarfs from scratch? I'd like to grow the teeniest lotus available, which from what you've described is the 'Bowl Lotus'. What do they share with their larger cousins? do they have a scent? What, for you, is the most beautiful and unique feature of these itty-bits?
Right now it's about 2a.m. and I've got to shower; then I'll resume my various research and creative processes. I DO sleep, but I wish I didn't have to!
April
Pixydish-
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I DO experiment--a lot. That's why, when I can, I purchase more than one packet of the seeds I'm planning to germinate. I've had blazing successes and dismal failures--but the worst impact the failures have on me is to postpone my next shot at the challenge in question. I do make certain concessions to the environmental 'reality' I can bring a plant into; e.g.: I don't live in the tropics, so, I either shouldn't try to grow Gardenia tahitensis (sp?), aka, 'Tiare'--or, I'll simulate the elements that the plant needs to live. etc. etc.
As I've said to 'shadowgirl', I'd like to grow another lotus from scratch---but NOT the gigunda variety!
April
You might realize this already, but those lotus seedheads that you can get in the floral department of craft stores actually have viable seed. Likely not the variety you are looking for, but they are good for practice. Lotus seed remains viable for decades. I actually germinated a lotus seed that came from a floral wreath that I swear must have been made in the 1970's. It germinated easily. I germinated lots of them, but the tubers didn't make it through the winter. I like to experiment, too. It costs me good money each and every year. This year I have several species of echium that I am growing. If I can get them to flower without dying in the winter wet I will be ecstatic!
Loretta where do you get bowl lotus from? I've googled but haven't found much.
Jeri
Loretta-I have a friend that grows lots of water lilies and lotus. She has given me all my waterlilies and lotus. A couple of my dwarf lotus are doing well and putting out lots of leaves. My tags faded on my lotuses over the winter so I am not sure what made it. I hope the one called "Brunken Beauty" is one that survived.
This is a link to a picture of "Peach With Raindrops" is is a dwarf.
http://www.victoria-adventure.org/lotus/cultivar_galleries/tao_hong_su_yu.html
I found them for sale if you want to check it out. If they are available I may get one at this price.
http://www.azgardens.com/egyptian_lotus_tubers.php
Loretta
This message was edited May 20, 2007 11:47 PM
Thanks Loretta that link is outstanding. The Victoria I picked up last Tue. is a Longwood. It was stunted by the Easter cold weather we all experienced and hopefully will look good by my pond tour.
Jeri
They are fabulous. I have some great pictures that I took of a friend'
s when it bloomed. I am getting the Peach With Raindrops.
I have been tring to get some good pictures of some of my lotus. I have buds coming on. Woo Hoo!!!
Victoria Water Lily
