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Stillman

Lotus plant Nelumbo sp

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Anyone grown any of this species from seed? Really beautiful plant. I was given three seeds of a Lotus plant, not sure what colour flower. Did a bit of reading, hopefully the will germinate.

Edited by planthelper
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Yep

Nick the seed coat then give a pre-sowing soak.

You can sow them in shallow water or just in a pot in a ziplock bag

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I sanded down the side until I saw white and have them in a cup they have swollen up, and I'm changing the water daily. One of them started floating this morning but has since sunk back to the bottom.

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Floating is not uncommon with nucifera cant say with lutea.

The only trick seems to be being exceptional careful with the new shoots, one bump & its curtains.

Edited by shortly

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I had a few going really well, had about 2 leaves forming nicely and roots about 2". I had them in a cup floating in the pond,lol. I was babying them and wanted to watch the initial first few weeks. ...BUT,,,stupid dog thought they were for him to chew Grrr.

I did the same, sanded the seed till the white was barely showing, and then soaked. The water goes foul real quick too, so change it regularly as it can turn the seed to mush.

I will have a crack again one of theses days.

I expect to see some photos Stillman as it progresses. You have a very green thumb so i have no doubt your lotus will thrive.

:)

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so once they shoot should I pot them up straight away or let them shoot some roots and then pot them up? I was going to put them in a fish tank for a few months until they get a more robust rhizome.

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I have read that when the leaves shoot, you can plant them out. I don't see why you couldn't let the grow in a tank for a bit. I never got that far, but after looking at some pics on google images, i think i might get some more seed to play with.

EDIT: i was testing the quote function, lol... and now when i go to edit, i cant see it to delete it .

Edited by Amazonian

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Amazonian if I get them going I'll be taking lots of photos for sure, I'm thinking about a few different colours I found a good source for seed online, I may have to order some more. Plants are a cruel Master lol.

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they germinate esay, just in a 2l container, out of the light, when it's realy warm (right now, hehehe:))

lotus seedlings grow fast, so they are fun to watch.

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yellow, white and pink germend well, but later, i lost them all, never saw them flower.

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3 from 3 in 3 days, I better get the pond built lol.

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They are still growing! one looks a bit of a runt compared to the others but hanging in there. Just moved them outside and they are in a 10 litre Box / bucket.

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awesum they grow fast aye

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Really quick in the heat. Hopefully I don't cook them were I have moved them. lol

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they grow wild in full sun!!! same sotta temps we live.

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In saying that though, in the wild they grow in much larger bodies of water like rivers, lakes, ponds etc. The water in a small plastic container would heat up much easier than one of these water bodies.

I didn't have much luck germinating some seeds I had, although they were some pretty old and bung looking seeds that just happened to still be in some of the seeds pods I had collected for other reasons. There's large population in one of the rivers here, so I'll have to go back and try and collect some more seed as this has got me excited!

I love the way the water beads over the leaves of these aswell!

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Lots of interesting notes at this page.


http://www.victoria-adventure.org/lotus/lotus_letters1.html

When the Nelumbo seed sprouts, the two cotyledons separate as if on a hinge at the dimpled end of the seed. The folded over stem of the green embryo can then be seen between them. The folded stem grows out of the seed shell and pulls the inrolled first leaf after it. At this stage of growth the seedling looks like a sharply bent fish hook with the inrolled leaves imitating the barb. The fish hook bend in the leaf stem slowly straightens out while the stem continues to grow until it is at least eight to fifteen inches long. Consequently, because the stem is fairly stiff, the leaf may be pushed out of the water if the depth is less than eight inches. With a moderate water depth, the leaf stem will start to bend over and push the leaf horizontally just beneath the surface. For deeper water the stem will continue to grow vertically until the leaf reaches the surface. At that point, the inrolled leaf begins to grow and expand until it floats flat on the water. The leaf diameter will be between one and two inches. The period of time to reach this stage is about ten days after sprouting. After the leaf has unfurled, the stem does not readily accommodate water level changes, so if you intend to transplant the lotus later into a pond, the new water depth should be similar.

Does anyone know if this is indeed the case, that you have to decide on your approximate water levels shortly fairly early on in life?

I just prepped 5 seeds last night actually, they're germinating right now. After at least 5 mins/seed scarifying on sandpaper I soaked them in water and got the tannins pouring colour (well, brown) into the water. I've sin just a little patch on the side ce rins1ed it out a couple of times with filtered water. All seeds have swollen to twice their initial size - at first one didn't swell but a touch more scarification took care of it.

Stillman were you planning on keeping 'em in pots or a pond?

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Pots mate, I have a pond but they get too big so am growing in 25 litre pot/buckets, the water level is about15 cm above the seed, I read that this is a good hight for plants, they do become quite leggy if you allow them apparently.

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Get yourself a nice stock trough or small to medium aquaculture tank, 60-90cm depth is about right if your using pots. 45cm + if your planting into media on the bottom.

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Is pH a concern? Just curious with fert feeding may make a smaller body of water bounce around a little?

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Today I repot them into their own buckets

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All mine have been transplanted outside except one, which i'm growing deliberately short for a friend to try in his fish tank.

These things grow QUICKLY - after 6 days the biggest is unfolding a leaf at the top of the water in a large plastic tub..

EDIT: will try and post piccies tonight, i have a few things i'd like to share now that i finally found my lost phone!!

Edited by endorfinder

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Seeds arrived and have some soaking. my Sacred lotus took 2 days for it to throw a green tail.

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There not much fun to file down. I have a nice thumb blister. lol

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