planting of water lilies and other aquatic plants

[kraljcojo]

Hello I am new to the forum and I have asked some questions about the depth of the pond and the fish that would put into it, now I am interested in how to plant lotus using rhizomes that I bought in a store and of course for other aquatic plants that would be good to lotus.

 

[fishin4cars]

Lotus can take still water to slow moving water, but their planting media needs to be undisturbed. In other words, Do not allow koi to dig in their pots. They need large round planting conatiners as the shoots grow best when they can continue to grow and not get hung up in the corners. there are many differen planting media. i found the aquatic plant mix mixed with clay cat litter works very well. I used 60% aquatic plant mixture and 40% clay with about a inch of sand on top. This has been good for about two years but now the plant needs dividing. Lotus prefer temps of the water to be between 70-85 degrees.

 

[addy1]

I put mine in large tubs in a 300 gallon tank. Each tub has kitty litter clay with about a cup of osmocote (pellet type slow release fertilizer). This is their second summer. Once the water is warm enough to stick my hands in I will be able to see what size the tubers have grown to, if they need to be divided or left alone.

There is no water movement, i.e. filter, pump etc, I do have one aerator running, just from some surface movement with a few bug eating minnows.

 

[kraljcojo]

thanks