Some of my smaller aerial lotus leaves are starting to dry/shrivel up and die, and the larger ones are beginning to show signs of yellowing. New stems with unopened leaves have even stopped continuing to develop. I wanted to know if this is normal at this time of the year? And how do I handle the lotus as the weather gets cooler and winter approaches?
How to Maintain a Lotus Plant Going Into the Winter
- Thread starter greatbarrierreef
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Perfectly normal, if my lotuses are any indication. Is this in a pot? We bring ours all into the garage for the winter. The tuber itself cannot freeze, so we make sure that it's somewhat protected. We put the pots up against an interior wall and wrap them in something that will provide some kind of insulation.
Phew, this is my first year growing a lotus so I wasn't sure if it was still too early to see all this occur because some leaves have completely dried up. Yea, I have it in a pot. I was thinking of bringing it into the garage, but I will also have to cover it with something to provide a bit of insulation. Will the pot need any kind of sunlight or water above the surface of the soil while it essentially hibernates for the winter?
mrsclem
mrsclem
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Once it goes dormant, it doesn't need light. I cover mine in my 75gal preform with foam board and blocks to keep it from freezing.
We keep ours topped off with water until we're sure the surface is frozen over. (The water will continue to evaporate until the ice forms.) The tuber won't mind an ice cap, but without the water over the top, ours freeze even in the garage. So it's tuber planted in dirt, covered by water, topped off by ice, all in a pot that's wrapped in something to keep it a bit warmer than the outside air. We have a couple of those blankets that movers use that we have utilized for this purpose. We've also used a cooler for smaller pots - we've had a couple of the "teacup" varieties over the years - that works great, too. Bubble wrap, bales of hay, newspaper... basically anything that will provide a bit of insulation. I'm guessing most years this isn't even necessary, but we never know in advance just how cold it's gonna get. I don't want to be out there in the sub-freezing temps trying to wrap up my lotus pot!
One year we dug up the tubers and wrapped them in damp newspaper and then garbage bags and stored them in an unheated room in the house. That also worked, but was waaaaaay more work than I'm willing to do on a regular basis!
Also - remember that you don't want to cut the leaves off... even the dead ones. Just let it die back. If you cut them, water can get into the hollow stem and rot the tuber.
One year we dug up the tubers and wrapped them in damp newspaper and then garbage bags and stored them in an unheated room in the house. That also worked, but was waaaaaay more work than I'm willing to do on a regular basis!
Also - remember that you don't want to cut the leaves off... even the dead ones. Just let it die back. If you cut them, water can get into the hollow stem and rot the tuber.
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I leave mine outside, they are in a 300 gallon tub, with about 2 feet of pea gravel, growing free. As long as the tuber does not freeze they will survive. I do cut off the leaves once they turn brown, collapse and die, cut what I can easily reach, . Not too worried about debris in that pond, it helps fertilize the lotus. I have not fertilized them in years.