The sacred lotus or the Indian lotus – Nelumbo Nucifera grows naturally in muddy lakes and ponds in warm countries. It comes in two colors, pure white and light pink. Its bewitching beauty and sweet fragrance, combined with its edible stem, makes it a fit plant to take its place as the jewel of your garden. Though many novices try growing it in water pots (as I did years ago), they rarely succeed getting it to bloom profusely. Here are a few important things, which I learnt over a couple of decades, to grow lotus successfully in your home garden.
Water lilies grow and bloom well even in small pots, but the lotus requires a pond of at least 2 square meters (20 square feet) size and a depth of at least 50 centimeters (1½ feet). The pond can be of concrete, fiber glass or a simple dug-in affair lined with tarpaulin or a durable, thick waterproof sheet.
The bottom needs to be covered with potting mix, preferably soil, sand, and dried farmyard manure (or compost) at the ratio of 3:2:1 for a thickness of 10 centimeters (3 inches). A thin carpet (1 centimeter / ½ inch) of sand can be spread uniformly over the potting mix to avoid the soil coming in direct contact with the water. This will help keep the water clear, while ensuring nutrition to the roots of the lotus.
Now, just spread a sheet of newspaper over a part of the sand and gently hold your garden hose over it to fill the pond with water without disturbing the potting mix. Once the pond is full, remove the paper. If the water is chlorinated, it is best to leave it for a week for conditioning. You can plant the lotus plant in the middle of the pond, gently pushing the roots under the soil and leaving the base of the plant just above the sand. The base can be weighed down by a couple of rocks to keep it in place.
Lotus seeds are known to sleep for a thousand years or more in mud without sprouting. So, if you intend to use seeds to grow your lotus plants, you need to activate them for germination. Just hold the seed firmly between your fingers and rub the eye of the seed briskly over coarse cement or a rock a few times. This will wear off a part of the thick seed coat. Plant it in the soil just beneath the surface and it will sprout in a few days.
If your pond is not yet ready, you can put the rubbed seed in a glass of water and leave it in partial shade to sprout. Once the first leaf comes out (in around 7 days), it can be planted in the pond. The first leaf will have a stem length of about 15 centimeters (6 inches), so, it is wiser to have only that much water in the pond to start with. The second and third leaves will grow much longer, and you can fill the pond up. Once 10 to 15 leaves appear, it is normal for the younger leaves to rise up above the water line.
Though waterlilies (Nymphaeaceae) can bloom well without any added fertilizer, the lotus requires weekly fertilizer application in garden ponds. NPK 19-19-19 or 20-20-20 complex fertilizer can be applied at the rate of 10 grams (2 teaspoons full) once a week in the pond water to ensure profuse flowering.
While introducing fish in the pond, take care not to put in grass eating species like Giant Gouramis or Grass Carps, for they love to gobble up the leaves. Lastly, and most importantly, the pond must receive direct sunlight for the larger part of the day. Lotuses may not flower well if the temperature goes below 20°C (68°F). Replanting can be carried out once in a couple of years, by changing the potting mix and removing unwanted dead stems and roots. I hope you find this helpful. Do send me some pictures when your lotuses bloom!
Sketch by Girija Giridhar Kini (kitchenarchives.com).
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