A dear friend has offered to share her lotus plants with me. I know they require pots without drainage holes and we have no source nearby. Are they expensive? Anyone use a cheap alternative? I also need to find source for the fert. tablets she said to use.
Lotus Pots
You can use any large pot you like. If it has drainage holes put a piece of liner in it first. My advice would be to try to find one that is wide rather than tall though as it will be more stable.
tetley: why no drainage on lotus pots?
MM, lotus roots would escape thru the drainage holes, and you don't want that to happen. The plant could take over the whole pond.
I use the black wash tubs from the Dollar Store. They have always worked and the color blends in under water.
dollar stores are good!
This message was edited Mar 4, 2009 2:38 PM
My dollar store was also kind of limited. I found a few small tubs which I'm using for the smaller tubers, but two were too big so I bought a few large animal feed tubs from a farm store. They come in all different sizes from 6 gallon and up. I bought two six gallon tubs for $11 each. I will try to take a picture later on and post it. One of the lotus tubers I have already rotted and I threw that one out (could not take the smell anymore). They are on heat mats but our house is only around 65 so I think it is just too cool for them. Hopefully I won't lose any more. Otherwise I'm buying a water lily!
IC: Was that tuber from TWL? I didn't get mine yet and wondered if I missed it and it's outside freezing somewhere.
MM, no these were from Bonnie's Plants. Shipping was rough on them - the tip broke off the one I wanted the most, 'The President' and a new one never grew, the tuber just kind of rotted and stunk and I finally threw it out. Another tuber, from 'Chinese Double Rose' broke in half but I put the two halves in separate containers and they are both growing (one has two little leaves, the other has one).
Against my hubby's protests I raised the heat in the house yesterday from 65 to 68 degrees and shut the vent in our bedroom (that room tends to be the warmest in the house otherwise).
Sorry, I did not get a picture yesterday of the tubs. I twisted my ankle going into the basement to check on my koi (they are all doing well) and forgot that I was going to get a picture to post.
did you tell Bonnie because she is a good vendor and probably would replace it.
She was made well aware of what happened. I tried taking pictures, none came out decently, finally got fed up and said "forget it." I threw out the one that was clearly rotting. That is the last I will say about that - don't want to get myself into trouble!
When did the lotus arrive? I know they come early but that seems too early for lotus but I don't know what I'm talking about . . . I better get ready in case mine arrive soon! I haven't even read up on what I am supposed to do with it when I get them . . .
If you are talking about the TWL co-op you could specifiy when your order was supposed to be sent. Mine should be coming the end of March. If you call them, they could probably tell you when they intend to ship or you could still specify what would be a good date for you.
It seems years ago that I ordered them (and a lot of other plants on co-op). I put down dates for all the plants but I didn't write them down. I guess I'll have to go back over the co-op posts and figure out a time line.
Mine came at the beginning of February or very end of January, but they are not TWL. It did seem early, but this is my first attempt with lotus. I now know that a big danger once they are dug is rotting if they are not kept warm enough. Hopefully they won't all rot away by the time it gets warmer. I have them on heat mats and that room is steadily 70 degrees. I have to keep them alive inside for at least another 3 1/2 months, it won't be warm enough to transfer them outside before then. These were not co-op plants purchased at co-op prices, which is why I am so frustrated about the tuber damaged during shipment and that I was not offered a refund or replacement. I might have unrealistic expectations from vendors, but next year I'll order from TWL. I only allow a vendor one serious faux pas before I take my business elsewhere.
This message was edited Mar 4, 2009 2:39 PM
When I ordered my waterlilie in the Co-op I inquired about pots and she said even the Folger and Maxwell House Plastic Coffee cans would be great.They even have handles for easy pick up once in the water.Just need to put rocks or something heavy in the bottom to weigh them down.
I don't know if i would put metal in the pond (unless these are now plastic-I don't drink coffee).
They are plastic!
Oh things have changed since I last drank or made coffee. I must come out of the dark ages. . . LOL!
One thing I do know is that the taller the plant the larger the container base needs to be otherwise the plant and pot will turn over in high winds. I was able to get a few of my pots to stay upright by shoving large rocks around them. I also use heavy ceramic pots that I no longer have a need for and they are too heavy to flip.
Here is a picture of my lotus tubers in the plant room in a few different sized tubs. The red containers in the upper left hand corner are from the dollar store, they were $1 each. the blue containers, probably about 2 gallon capacity, are also from the dollar store and were $1 each. I probably will not put any of the cheapo containers in the pond, they are very flimsy. The big tubs you see in this picture are animal feeders from the farm store, they were $11.99 each and are 6 gallon tubs. Rather hefty, probably around 20 pounds each.
Here are some more farm store purchased tubs. The larger one is the same size as the two in the first picture, 6 gallons. The smaller two are each 3 gallons capacity. They are the same width as the 6 gallon and half the height. They were $8.99 each. All of the farm containers are very high quality (they are made for cows and horses to abuse) and I believe have 10 year guarantees against weather damage, chipping, etc. I have wated a horse use one of these for a soccer ball and didn't scratch it.
IC: You are a good shopper. I checked out my local dollar store and was surprised at what they carried. I bought 3 dish wash bins that were dark blue in color. I plan to drill a hole on eat side and put a rope or cord through it and somehow tether it outside the pond in a hidden way so that I can just pull the basket up to fertilize it. I don't plan to put all of my lotus's in the pond. Perhaps only one of them. I have hopes of digging a bog garden to put the lotus into.
IC: Those farm bowl look very heavy duty. I have to drive about 45 minutes to even come into an area with a farm store . . . Farm and Fleet in Woodstock IL is my farm store. They also have great prices on those "Heat Mats" I see you placed under your bowls of water.
IC: Did you leave feedback for Bonnie's plants on this website? She may be a little more responsive to your problem.
I did leave feedback - the first negative feedback I've left for a company here on DG. I'm awaiting a replacement tuber.
ic_conifers, a message was left on your negative feedback, don't know if you already saw that. Hopefully you can turn it into a positive ending.
Deleted my own message - will update feedback when/if replacement arrives in good (undamaged) condition or a refund is provided.
This message was edited Mar 5, 2009 10:51 AM
ic, Sorry to hear about your lotus but I have faith that Bonnie will replace it.. definately not worth bad feedback to her to not replace a damaged plant.
As far as lotus pots, I've heard of people purchasing oil pans which work okay for dwarf varieties but the bigger pot the better when it comes to lotus!
WIDE not deep because the soil only has to be 6" or so deep.
The big tubs with the rope handles work great for growing lotus.. if you want to dig a hole in the ground and place the pot in the hole that works very well if you don't have room in your pond, etc.
I've been using time released fertilizer (Colorburst ) for my lotus and it seems to work just fine.
Know what happens when a rope handle breaks and you're standing over the edge of the tub as it sits in the water? I do.
Not pretty....been there.
LOL! No tell me what happens to the rope/tub????
I wish the ground was soft enough (not frozen) to dig so that I could get a head start on digging my bog area. I was trimming and picking up small branches and leaves and my body started hurting after about 50 minutes. I am so out of shape for gardening. . . I notice my wrists were hurting. Last year I had nerve pain in my wrist when I dug with hand shovels. I hope I don't have some type of carpal tunnel syndrome.
So snapple, was the water cold at the time! ;)
I try to put one hand on one of the ropes and the other on the edges when I lift them out of the pond to prevent that from happening.
Mother, do you have a post about your bog area and is this for your lotus? I think bog areas next to ponds are just beautiful...
Not only did I fall in but I slugged myself. When the rope snapped my left hand, suddenly free of the weight, flew up and I caught myself in the jaw. It hurt!
Ouch!!!
Ouch Snapple!
I've had a few tumbles in the pond, slippery when wet definately applies!