Saved cut Lotus Tubers Will they rot?

[Mpig]

A few years ago I purchased a Lotus tuber which over the years has multiplied many times over. I normally have planted the tubers in big pots, some freestanding, and some placed inside a basin like in the first picture below. In the past, for winter, I have taken the coiled lotus tubers out of each of the pots, removed the dirt, and put them all into one very large above ground container filled with water and protected from the cold as best as I could. So far, this method has worked for me (I am in 6b/7a area of Maryland.)

This Spring, because I had so many tubers, I experimented. Along with putting tubers in water-tight pots with dirt and placing them in the large basin, I also put extra strings of tubers directly into the basin around the outsides of the pots WITHOUT any soil but with osmocote fertilizer wrapped in newspaper and some of the rotting leaf debris from the previous years plants. The tubers without soil grew well over the summer (second photo) In fact, most of the foliage seen in the second photo are from the plants NOT in the pots. Now I am left with a mass of extra large tubers. (Third photo) To fit these in the container for overwinter storage will require that I cut many of the tubers before putting them underwater.

My questions are these:

!. If I have to cut some tubers, will this cause the cut tuber section to rot in the water, or worse yet, will it cause the entire string of tubers attached to it to rot?

2. If I have tubers this size survive to Spring, will the resulting plants be any different (better or worse) from the plants that grow from the average size (7"tubers)?

Thank you for any help you can give.

mass of long

 

[j.w]

@Mpig
I don't have Lotus, sorry I can't help ya.

 

[bagsmom]

@addy1 ?

 

[addy1]

I have not divided any of mine, this is what the net says and what I have read many times:

LOTUS should only be divided in the early spring, preferably before any major growth occurs. After early growth is seen, invert the lotus container like you would a mold and remove the lotus tuber and rinse the soil off. Be careful not to break any growth tips.

• Be careful not to touch or break the growing tip. This could kill the plant.****
• Pick the tuber you want to plant with the growing tip. Then cut through the tuber next to it.

Some of those large tubers could be dead. Long time ago I did have a lotus running free in a small pond, when I pulled it out one spring not all of the tubers had growing tips. The old tubers just rot away

 

[Lisak1]

I just wanted to say WELCOME and HOLY COW those lotuses are HUGE! Are you getting a lot of flowers?

 

[Mpig]

I have not divided any of mine, this is what the net says and what I have read many times:

LOTUS should only be divided in the early spring, preferably before any major growth occurs. After early growth is seen, invert the lotus container like you would a mold and remove the lotus tuber and rinse the soil off. Be careful not to break any growth tips.

• Be careful not to touch or break the growing tip. This could kill the plant.****
• Pick the tuber you want to plant with the growing tip. Then cut through the tuber next to it.

Some of those large tubers could be dead. Long time ago I did have a lotus running free in a small pond, when I pulled it out one spring not all of the tubers had growing tips. The old tubers just rot away

Luckily, i have a few pots with normal size tubers and I will wait until Spring to divide them. Since winter storage space is limited, I think I will experiment with the bigger ones and see what happens if I divide some now. Thanks very much for the information.

 

[Mpig]

I just wanted to say WELCOME and HOLY COW those lotuses are HUGE! Are you getting a lot of flowers?

It seemed to take awhile for the flowers to appear, but I got about 6 or so flowers from this planting. I don't know if that is considered a lot but it was more than I had ever gotten before. I will probably try planting some without soil again next year becasue it worked so well this year and was much easier get at the tubers. Thank you for the welcome.

 

[MEP]

Hi - I'm curious what your results were. Did you store divided tubers in water over the winter? And if so, did you replant them and have success? Or did they rot? Thanks!