How to grow lotus at home + Helpful Tips

Lotus is a beautiful aquatic floating Plant. Its Scientific name is Nelumbo Nucifera. However, it is commonly called Water Lily, Egyptian bean, Sacred Lotus, or simply Lotus. It can be found in large varieties. Lotus is mainly Pink and white in color, however, pink color Lotus is more common. Let us check out, how to grow lotus at home.

Since it is an aquatic plant it is grown in water. And It’s also a nice way to add a little pond set up to enhance the beauty of your Garden. It can be potted in a container in the size, color, material, and variety of your own choice. It requires very little care.

In your Lotus pot, you can also add in some of your favorite fish to make it the most attractive and playful area of your garden.

Lotus is treated as a sacred flower in many religions and many parts of the world. Adding lotus plants and fish will bring in more positive energy to your existing garden. 

The lotus flowers float on the surface of the water, it also has floating leaves and the flower has long stems submerged in water which have its roots in the mud at the bottom of the pot or container.

Now let’s begin with the planting process of the Lotus plant for your garden.

How to grow lotus at home?

Now, let us see how to grow lotus at home.

Step-1: Temperature requirement

Lotus plants love warmth. They are good for growing in warmer climates. Direct sunlight for six hours is good for the growth of lotus plants. So they do well in moderate temperatures with partial shade and light.

However, for the planting process, the best time is spring to begin planting lotus tubers. During winters it can be kept indoors to keep it warm. Temperature is required to grow lotus at home.

Step-2: Container 

You can use either a tub or a bowl or any container for your Lotus pond. It can be either ceramic or plastic as per your preference. You can use your old tub, old whiskey barrel, your old wine box, or any porcelain container for that matter. However, It should be a non-draining container.

The depth of the container can ideally be 10 inches deep and the width can be anywhere between 12 to 16 inches in diameter since the plant would need some space for its foliage to grow and will require at least 10 inches of water over its roots.

Step-3: Soil

Fill up the base of the container with clay that is a mixture of soil and sand. Add some water to it as well. On the top of this clay add some pea gravel for ½ inch depth since the gravel will bind the soil to the base of the pot and prevent the soil from making the water muddy.

I hope you got an idea of how to grow lotus at home.

Check out, Why doesn’t my jade plant flower?

How to grow Lotus plants from seeds?

There are different ways we can grow lotus plants at home, like from seeds, potting, etc.

Check out the below tips for growing lotus from seed.

Seeds

Take some lotus seeds and scrape the hard casing of seed gently with a metal file. U can also use a hammer or a stone for that matter. Take care that the core is not damaged or it will spoil the seeds. 

After that take a glass of warm water and put some seeds in it for soaking. Make sure to add in at least a few seeds because some seeds might float in the water.

Such seeds are infertile hence useless. The idea of doing this process is to germinate the seeds before planting.

After a day, the seeds that have sunk into the water will grow and the rest of the seeds that are still floating can be removed from the glass since they cannot be used for planting as they are infertile.

Let the seeds germinate in the glass until they develop roots and leaves. This could probably take 5 to 6 days. During the process make sure to change the water of the glass every day.

Don’t hurry in as if u remove the seedlings earlier than developing the leaves for at least 

6 Inches tall, there might be a possibility that they won’t grow.

Potting

After the germination of seeds has been completed successfully, take them out of the glass and begin the potting process.

For this, we can either put the seeds in a small pot with sand and seeds and put it into another big pot filled with water, or we can directly add the soil seeds and gravel and add the water to the pot of your choice.

For this take the container and fill it up with clay 80% and compost 20% for best results till the container is covered for 4 inches approx.

Now plant the germinated seedlings into the soil at least an inch deep into the soil but don’t embed the leaves that are grown already.

Cover the soil up with pea gravels and add water up to the 1-inch rim of your container so the leaves will start floating.

Read Why Is My Jade Plant Turning Purple?

How to grow the Lotus plant from Tubers?

Tubers

You can also use tubers for growing your lotus instead of using seeds.

Tubers can be bought either locally or online as well. You can purchase them in early springs since the plantation is ideally suitable in spring.

Put the tuber in a bowl of warm water for a free day till the leaves and roots develop.  Change it every 3 to 7 days if the water gets somewhat cloudy. 

Add soil to the container in the same way as explained earlier. Instead of the seedling add the tuber from the water to the wet soil.

Don’t embed the complete tuber inside the soil to avoid rotting. Let some part of the tuber with the leaves still be showing on the surface of the soil.

Add gravel on the top of the soil to avoid mudding the whole pot. Then add water to the top of it. This is how we can grow lotus in the garden from tubers.

Read How to Add Calcium to Soil?

How to Monitor and take care of your lotus plant?

To grow lotus in the garden properly, we need to monitor and take care of your lotus plants.

Temperature

You should ideally try to maintain the temperature for the plant to 21 degrees. Since the lotus plant loves warmth it also grows to its maximum potential when it has ample warmth and sunlight.

After being planted in the spring season, the lotus plant will require at least  3 to 4 weeks of sunlight and a warm ideal temperature to be able to see new leaves on the surface of the water.

The temperature of the water should also be ideally 21 degrees or so. In countries having warm climates, the water temperature may be maintained due to the climate influence, however for places like North America or so, where the climate is cold and the temperature keeps falling, during such times the container may be filled with warm water or water heaters may be used.

Read How to Germinate Blue Lotus Seeds

Sunlight

The lotus plant needs ample sunlight in a day ranging from 5 hours to 6 hours. Sometimes after the growth of leaves, you will notice the foliage blocks the sunlight from reaching the plant’s roots.

Hence you can prune the leaves to allow the plant to get ample sunlight throughout. In North America, the blossom season is from mid-June to mid-July.

Water

Continue to monitor your container and add water when the water level drops. Also, u can replace the water if and when it starts giving odor or becomes muddy to look at or u find algae growing.

Pruning

You may require to take care of the excess growth of the leaves and clear out the damaged and yellow leaves to maintain healthy and steady growth.

Fertilizers

When we are using seeds to grow our lotus we should not be using fertilizers for the first year. Use a good aquatic plant fertilizer for your lotus. Don’t over-fertilize them when they are only beginning to sprout.

Fertilize only when the plant starts growing fully. In order to fertilize your lotus plant, you can use pond pills. It is recommended to use these fertilizers only when the plant shoots up at least 6-7 leaves out from the tuber that you used.

However, the plant mostly grows during summers and hence summers are the best time for fertilizing your lotus plant.

We should not be fertilizing our lotus plant after the month of July since because of that the lotus plant will not be able to prepare for its dormancy for the upcoming months.

Winters

You should prepare to shift the lotus plant from the outdoor garden to indoors on the arrival of winters since the lotus plant will not get warmth outside in winters.

Pests

Your lotus plant may be attacked by some pests but it varies from region to region. The lotus plant can be attacked by your geographical pests, however, there are some common pests for lotus plants for example caterpillars, aphids, etc.

To prevent this you can apply some powdered pesticide directly onto the leaves of your garden lotus plant.

By applying a small number of such pesticides you can prevent your garden plant from getting attacked by such pests.

However, it’s recommended not to use liquid pesticides since the oil and detergent in them can end up destroying your lotus plants, even if such pesticides are organic ones.

Repotting

In the next year during the spring season in the US, you can check for your tuber in case the plant has exhausted the soil. You can add some new clay soil to the container.

Also, ensure that the pot is not leaking in any way. If there is leakage or cracks in the pot, repot your lotus in another container that does not have drainage holes and also add some new soil as per the plant’s requirement. Add the water to the rim again and let the plant grow in sunlight.

You can repeat the process every year.

Read White Spots On Jade Plant

FAQs

1. What do you feed a lotus plant?

For lotus plants, you could use a good aquatic plant fertilizer that is either fast or slow release according to the instructions. You should take care of its fertilizing during all the phases be it early, mature, fall, or winter.

Fertilizing should be done during summers. If the plant is grown out of seeds fertilizing should not be done in 1st year. Over-fertilizing of slow-growing plants should be avoided. 

The lotus plant grows two types of leaves- standing and floating leaves. But first, it grows floating leaves therefore it is in a slow-growth phase. After that, it grows standing leaves therefore fertilizing should be done when standing leaves come since then the plant is fastly growing.

2. Why is my lotus dying?

Lotus plants don’t need watering every day, however, there are certain parameters to take care of regarding its growth. One should ensure the plant is getting ample sunlight that does not create distress in the plant.

It should also be cleaned and pruned so that the foliage doesn’t block the sun rays from reaching the plant. In addition, the yellowed and damaged leaves cannot be repaired so it’s better to prune the plant.

Saving the plant from pests and using fertilizers in moderation and at the right time is very important. If your plant is dying ensure whether all the things mentioned earlier that are required for taking care of this plant are being fulfilled.

3. Does Lotus need sunlight?

A lotus plant loves warmth. It requires warm temperatures to grow well, at least 21 degrees. However it will do well in shade, but it is highly recommended to provide it with 5-6 hours of sunlight since in proper sunlight it blooms and thrives to its best potential.

Summers are considered to be the best time for the lotus plant to bloom and grow. In summer, you can grow lotus in garden easily.

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• Repotting Jade Plant

Final Thoughts

To sum up, a lotus plant can give your garden a little pond effect making it extremely beautiful. In order to grow a lotus plant, you need just a few things that are easily available around you. It is super easy to grow and adds beauty to your garden. By following the above-mentioned steps you can grow the lotus plant through either seeds or tubers. 

This plant is easy to grow and even easier to take care of. 

It doesn’t need your care every day. By paying attention to small things like ample sunlight, proper usage of fertilizers, usage of powdered pesticides, repotting, temperature, pruning, cleaning, etc you can ensure a healthy and happy grown lotus in your garden.

Lotus is not only a beautiful plant but is also considered sacred in many places. It has a lot of benefits and usages together with adding to the beauty.

Hope you enjoy growing your sacred Lotus and know how to grow lotus in garden?