PlantFiles: Sacred Water Lily, Lotus
Nelumbo nucifera 'Perry's Giant Sunburst'

This is the fastest growing Lotus I have.... I have it in a 350 Gallon water tub usually used for horses to drink from. I purchased it in an 18-24 inch pot and moved it to the tub in 2004.

I planted it with 8 inches of soil in the tub and it has pushed the soil up to the rim of the 350 gallon pot now. It needs to be fertilized maybe 1.5 months before blooming season and blooms crazy with the right fertilizer because it can't get enough nutrients from the soil in the pot.

I just had to start digging the pot out and it seems like all the good tubers make their home at the bottom of the pot, so I was able to dig around and remove the upper 10 inches of old tubers and roots to make more room for water in the pot again.

I just wish I had a way to control the little bugs in the flowers in the summer, thrips maybe? really tiny insects, hard to photograph. but keeps me from wanting to put the flower up to my nose to smell them and the smell is out of this world.

In a pot the size I am using, I usually get between 3-8 blooms at a time through out the season. In smaller pots the plant will not get to be full size. I have had leaves as large as 18-24 inches off this plant.

Keep in mind, the bigger the pot, the bigger pain it is to clean it out when needed, but It has treated me well so far.


http://www.perryswatergarden.net/