DrDave said:
When I was in China, I saw millions of Lotus. All these spread without the use of artificial fertilizers. Once they are started, they should be ok if your pond has a big enough fish load to provide nutrients.
I agree
My experience is planting in a container with the recipe i described.
As far as planting in a pond...... I have only heard of good results in a mud-bottomed pond.
I would like to hear from someone who has gotten a lotus to bloom in a man-made pond without any additional fertilizer or enhanced planting medium of any sort.
I know that waterlilies will bloom in a man-made pond, planted in either gravel or nestled into rocks on the bottom, but I feel that planting in an enclosed container with compost and additional fertilizer results in more blooms in less time than just what is available from fish waste.
Last year ...in our short zone 5 season... we had many blooms on all our lilies, both hardy and tropicals culminating with one day in late August producing 52 blooms from 12 different plants
We don't have the benefit of a long growing season, so in order to maximize our lilies
(and Lotus) pontential, I think the method I use produces the most blooms in the shortest amount of time