Some lotus starting pictures for this year.
I started seed from an edible tuber variety in a water bottle this year, under my germination lights. Nothing had been done with it before this picture but to damage the seed coat and drop it in half a bottle of water under lights for a few weeks:
I cut it out of the bottle and gently put it in some media. Unfortunately, many of the main leaves dried up, but the rhizome is healthy and it still has growth points, so I think it will recover. Next time I'll remember to cover the plant transparently at transplant to let it adjust to less humid air.
I normally start tuber divisions in small containers in my greenhouse, before putting them into their growing spaces once the weather/water warms enough. They grow new leaves from the tips before they put out roots, and I've found that the tuber is best left above the soil. I'll pin the tuber to the soil with a clip or a rock once the leaves have elongated. Shallow water seems best for getting them going, and I don't always have the luxury to produce the right conditions in the target locations, so this is my nursery.
Mini lotus. The blue bowl is one that I made for this purpose. The others will go to their own bowls once I get them finished.
Larger lotus. One of these is an edible tuber that will go in my food pond when it's ready. The other is shown a couple weeks later with elongated growth points, being placed with a curved rock to pin it in a large container in my front display pond that I just cleaned out.
