Many gardening enthusiasts love to grow beautiful aquatic plants like lotus and water lilies in their courtyards, terraces, or gardens, but due to a lack of proper knowledge, maintaining these plants and making them bloom can often become challenging. To address this, Abhishek, an expert from Thakur Nursery in Bokaro, has shared specific tips on planting and caring for lotus at home, which can help anyone grow these magnificent flowers successfully.
Choose Tubers Instead of Seeds
According to the nursery expert, lotus plants can be grown from both seeds and tubers, but starting with a tuber is a much better option for beginners. The outer surface of a lotus seed is quite hard, which can delay the germination process, and without proper procedural knowledge, the plant struggles to develop. On the other hand, planting using a healthy tuber bypasses the initial germination hurdle and allows the plant to grow at a much faster rate.
Selecting the Right Pot and Sunlight
Growing a lotus requires using deep and wide tubs or large pots rather than ordinary flower pots. These containers must have adequate space to hold water, and crucially, the bottom of the pot should not have any drainage holes so that water remains stagnant around the plant roots. Furthermore, the lotus pot must be placed in a location where it receives at least six hours of direct sunlight every day, as sufficient sunlight aids significantly in plant growth and flower blooming.
Preparing Soil and Applying Fertilizer
Heavy soil resembling natural mud works best for growing lotus plants, and a balanced mixture of fifty percent soil and fifty percent vermicompost can be used while preparing the potting medium. Fertilizers can be utilized to boost plant growth and flower development, but they must be applied very carefully by wrapping the fertilizer in a piece of cloth and burying it one to two inches deep into the soil. This ensures nutrients dissolve gradually into the water without causing any direct damage to the lotus roots.
Special Care During Winters
The growth rate of lotus plants can slow down considerably during the winter season, which is why excessive fertilization should be avoided during this period. When temperatures drop, the metabolic activity of the plant decreases, and adding fertilizer under such conditions can spoil the water quality and increase the risk of damaging the tubers. Therefore, fertilizers should only be applied after carefully observing the weather conditions and the health status of the plant.
Managing Pests and Water Hygiene
If problems like spots, rotting, or fungal infections appear on the leaves of the lotus plant, it is essential to address them promptly. Damaged leaves should be hand-picked immediately, and decaying leaves or other debris must not be allowed to accumulate in the water. After a prolonged period, the water should be changed regularly, because stagnant water left unchanged for too long attracts a heavy breeding of mosquitoes.
