Loutus from Seed Help

Penny,

The last two springs I have unsuccessfully tried to grow lotus from 
seed. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes. 

Two years ago I planted the seedlings in muddy soil after they had 
sent out one or two leaves, kept them in a sunny window until it was 
warm enough for them to go outside (I am also in zone 5) to a 
container on a deck. I wanted them to gain in size before I planted 
them in the pond where koi and goldfish might disturb the growth. 
However, after two months they rotted.

Last spring I decided to avoid the soil, thinking that it contributed 
to the rotting, so I planted in sand. The seedlings did not look very 
happy, so I planted a couple in the pond, hoping they would recover, 
but unfortunately they just died. One seedling in the container on 
the deck stayed alive until August.

This year I will start the seeds later, maybe in April, to see if it 
makes any difference when they don't have to stay in the house for 
several months. I also have an instruction from Lilypons Water 
Gardens about growing lotus from seed:

"There is a raised peduncle near one end of the seed. File gently 
beside this peduncle just enough to get from the shell to the meat.

Then place sand in a dixie cup 4/5 full. Push the seed, filed side up 
into the sand so that only a minuscule amount of sand covers it. 
Water should fill the cup.

Make sure the cup is in a window of southern exposure. Air 
temperature should not be less than 75 degrees and water temperature 
should not be less than 65 degrees F.

Over the next 3-4 months you will need to transplant the seed as many 
as 5 times. Each time add 20% soil until at last you are working in 
all soil. The container size should grow with each transplanting. At 
the last transplanting you should be working with at least 30 quarts 
of soil.

In April, when the outside water temperature is at least 65 degrees 
move the container of at least 30 qts. of soil to the pond. Make sure 
only 1 or 2 inches of water covers the top of the container."

Please share any good ideas with me. I would also love to have a 
lotus in my pond.

Good luck,

Eva Thorn,
Solon, Ohio, z5

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