LOTUS SEED SPROUTING:   Seeds must be nicked with a sharp knife
(careful here ) or rubbed with a file to break the hard seed coating.
You can file top or bottom, just stop when you see the creme colored
inner core. This allows water to enter the seed faster. 

Take a clean, empty 2 liter soda bottle, put the seeds inside, add hot
but not boiling water, and place in an area that you frequently pass
during the day. Kitchens are good. When you pass the bottle, give it a
brief shake. Change the water daily, use any clean water that is not
softened by chemicals.  Seeds that float usually will not sprout, but
give them a chance. 

Seed sprout quickly once the water is absorbed inside the seed. But it
may take a week or so, don't give up !!! My best time has been 24 hours. 

Remove the seeds as they sprout. Put them in a dishpan with about 3
inches of sand on the bottom and 3 inches of water covering the sand.
Press your finger in the sand and put the seed in the hole ... don't
cover with sand. You can sink this in your pond, or just place it in
full sun next to the pool. 

If something should happen to the first stem, just leave the seed alone
and it will fork out and grow another stem. Or place it in a slurry of
potting media in a 3" pot, cover the surface with pea gravel and place
in water to cover over at least 3", and it will continue to grow and
produce leaves and form a tuber. If the seed drops off, don't panic,
that just shows you that your Baby Lotus is growing up. 

The tuber which is now the food for the Baby looks like a darkened
colored stem. Carefully sit this in a depression you have made with your
finger and snuggle sand around it. Roots are probably already growing
out of where the seed used to be. These will grow to hold the Lotus
upright as it grows. 

It will probably be the second growing season 
before blooms, but you could get lucky with lots of TLC. Fertilize with
a water soluble fertilizer once the Lotus has three leaves. Then every
two weeks feed again. Get ready to have a beautiful Lotus Water
Garden......you can't just raise one !!! 

WINTER TIME CARE:  You can leave the Lotus in your pond if it won't
freeze over, you will notice a dieback to the pads, just cut them off
close to the tuber, and leave it alone.  This is how Mother Nature does
it, and Mother knows best !!!

Baby Lotus can be brought inside and placed in a dishpan to spend the
winter.  Again cut off the dying pads and leave alone.   

The other choice is to wrap the Tuber in sphagnum moss and place in a
cool spot, keeping barely damp till spring.

There, that was easy, you can do it !!!

// published by tacethno.com