Hi, it's been several years since I grew a lotus in my little pond. Found out sadly that I do not have quite enough sun to make them bloom in there. So this year I am trying a lotus plant in a large planter.

My question is, how deep under the water should the pot for the plant be? This is a dwarf lotus "Baby Doll" and will only get to be about 2ft. tall so not your regular giant lotus.

Hai elaine
I growth baby doll lotus once , my experience with 2inch/5 cm water level its allright. Hope can help u

Perfect, then I won't have to move it. Thanks, Hendrik.

I have 2 Lotus on my patio, 18" of water when full, it gets down to 12. 1" would be enough, they just can't dry out in the least.





I did try a pot in my pond but not enough full sun to bloom.

Is three foot of water too deep in zone 6 to grow American Lotus?

Not positive about American Lotus because I have seen them in deep water but the fancy ones only need a small amount of water.

Nelumbo 'Emerald Daybreak'

well I'm guessing the fancy ones wont' survive our winters here in zone6. Which really has zone 5 winters occasionally. I need a lotus that will grow in clay in 3 ft of water because that unfortunately is the conditions I have. Anyone know of anything? I prefer cream white or a peach color or lavender is ok, just not pinks or reds.

I would definitely try the Lutea first, because at least we know it's hardy. Maybe if you put it in a pretty big pot that will get it closer to the surface that will get it started. Once it's established I'm sure it will grow in water that deep, just not sure about it getting started from that depth.

I'm not sure about it getting started from that depth each spring, the water that deep would stay cool so I don't know if it would sprout out and take off?

Well, they grow in the wild, so I guess they do. But you could 'hurry' things a bit by stirring the water with your shovel a few times, or running the hose into the deep part of the pond for a few minutes once in a while - especially if the hose has lain in the sun and heated up. How big is your pond?

It is about 3 ft deep at least, and 9 ft wide and about 12 ft long. It has a rubber liner. So far no filteration, but wondering if I have enough plants do I need a filter? I probably do need to areate/move the water around, but that would not have to be a filter? I also wondered how those uv ligts work, I have green water, but right now I have no plants. I just put the pond together last fall. It has goldfish in it. I will not get koi, they get too big.

Frilly, as soon as you get some bigger plants established in there they will shade the water and reduce the algae growth in there. Get planting, girl!

But you do need to move/aerate the water somehow, and it's easy to put a filter on when you install a little pump for your fountain or other aeration device. Mine just has a fiber filter that I lift out and hose off about every 2 months.

You will need to plant your water plants in pots before putting them into a rubber-lined pond because there won't be enough soil for them to root directly into the bottom of the pond. So choose a large black nursery pot - the biggest one you can get your hands on, weight it down with some rocks in the bottom, sandy soil over that and plant your lotus or water lilies. They will then be at least a foot up from the bottom of the pond so the depth is less of a problem.

My pond is only about 2ft. deep, and I set the pots for my water lilies on top of cinder blocks in the water so the tops of the pots are then only about 6in. below the water surface. The fish like to hide in the tunnels of the cinder blocks, too. (place them in there sideways so there are tunnels) Using cinder blocks you can place a pot in your pond at just about any height you want.

I do have a row of cement block, I put the swimming pool in for the lilies (about 6-8 inches of clay) is that not deep enough dirt? I guess I could put in a pot on top of the pool I already have.

funny, it doesn't look very deep in that pic, but it is 3 ft.
I had to build up that end quite a bit w rock to level it to the other end you don't see in the pic, in other words the end you see is raised up past the soil line by a good foot.

I put the blocks in for the fish to hide and to set the pump on so if it malfunctions it won't drain the pond entirely and kill everything, learned that the hard way as I do most things

Yes, put the pump near to an edge so you can get to it easily, as well. You don't want to have to go wading around in there.

That clay in the little swimming pool will be plenty of soil for the water lilies. Have you planted them yet? If you get just one medium sized water lily, you will have plenty of coverage for your water in the summer to prevent algae from getting out of hand. You do want some algae to grow because the fish will eat it, and it also helps clean the fish poop out of the water - free fertilizer!

Plus a lotus plant in the other end, maybe? The lotus do get quite big if they're happy, unless you buy a dwarf one like mine. It's still 3ft across and has leaves about a foot wide. You can limit its size by the size of pot you keep it in, somewhat.

ok so you do not think the pool will be enough soil for a lotus?

Are you thinking you'll plant both the lotus and the water lilies in the pool? That would probably work fine, as long as you get a small type of lotus, and at most a "medium" sized waterlily. If you want a large lotus like the N.lutea it will need its own pot. They are heavy feeders and develop large root systems that would very likely crowd out your water lily.

I'm thinking no lilies and maybe just the lotus? Do I have room for that?

If I had to choose, I'd go with the lilies rather than the lotus, myself. The water lilies are more dependable, bloom better and best of all they cover (shade) the water better than the lotus will. This keeps it cooler, helps prevent so much evaporation and as previously discussed it will also cut out more sunlight to help prevent so much algae from growing. Oh, and also helps hide your fish from marauding birds too.

You can find hardy water lilies that will stand the cold very well and they come in a fabulous array of colors.

Get a nice water lily established in there this summer, then maybe next spring you'll want to add your lotus. They don't sell the tubers for lotus at this time of year anyway, in my experience. You need to order them in February or March.

Here is Dusty's info on growing lotus, I think you will be fine with whatever one you choose. They grow from very brittle tubers and it is unlikely you will find a tuber this time of year but you might find a growing plant at a nursery and it will be in a container that can just be set into your pond.
http://www.texaswaterlilies.co...