tiger lotus(red)

flight50

what is the proper way to plant the bulbs for this plant. i have them buried 3/4 into the fluorite bed. should they be 1/2 way, completely buried or not buried at all until they start rooting.

FuzzAz

Set the bulb where you want it to grow, you can burry it partially if you must. They start slow but grow quite fast once started.

Blaxicanlatino

that is off course if it doesnt mold. DId you get the bulb from those little packages like at walmart?

1077

I have had good success with the Tiger Lotus bulbs from the little packages at walmart in the past. I usually bought three or four packages cause some just don't seem to grow while others did. I just dropped em in the tank and they grew on their own. Proper lighting is needed but that is the case with all plants.

flight50

no, i got them from aquariumplants.com. since i planted them, one out of the two is starting to grow. the other is still wishing it could grow. i have 55gal w/260w worth of light and about 25-30ppm of co2 going in. ph is usually 6.8 and a kh of 6. tap is 7.8 so i am right where i want to be. tank has been running since august 31 08 and i have still just been adding ammonia on a daily basis. readings within a 24hr period is 0,0,5. i added flourish root tabs and i dose flourish and excel every monday and thurday. when ever i see alage trying to grow i go in a clean off my plants , glass and remove dead leaves or prune if necessary. what i don't do is change the water all the time since i have no fish. saves a little on the water bill. but in order to get the old debris out, i will start doing it on a weekly as if i had fish. all my plants are growing notically on a daily with the exception of that one bulb. sorry for all the irrelevant info.

Blaxicanlatino

i had banana plants to make the lilly effect in my tank but then I leanred that they have short life expectancy so im preparing to get one of those bulbs.

catfishtabbi

I planted all mine 3/4 of the way like you did. I got most from aquarium plants but all of them were duds so i got my last two from big als they've done so well in eco-complete with medium light and occasional fert's i can't believe it. This weekend i.m removing the green one it is just too too large for my tank, the bottom leafs are 12-14 " across and the base of the plant is 8". I guess someone with a pond will inherit it. Meanwhile i get to re-plant my tank hence thr shade it provided killed several of my other plants .The trick to thickening up a lotus is removing some or all of the top leaves once they crowd the surface, the mid level growth is lovely but shady. the stems on mine are as thick as a pencil. Can't wait to give it away they'll love it for a pond.

mattyphilly

i love this plant. very beautiful. after a few low leaves, it suddenly starts going for the surface and then u have to prune it every week, or else it'll cover ure entire surface. I have two in my gourami tank, bulbs are completely under the substrate. I bought them with a few tiny leaves and some roots. They looked a bit miserable even.

daisycutter

once these plants start they go beserk i cut mine once a week i limit it to 7 surface leaves before i left it to its own devices it took over a 29g long and killed off the other plants by cutting out the light i couldnt even feed the fish throgh, it try to prevent producing surface leaves once they start growing surface leaves they are hard to get to go back to grownig submerged leaves which look much more attractive anyway

flight50

thanks for the replies. mine finally started grown in. i had put some flourish tabs near the bulb base along with the excel and flourish (liquid). one of the two has really taken off now. but the stems getting as big as a pencil. gesh. that will be trouble for my little tank. I have a jungle with all the other plants that have taken off now that my water is stable, the co2 and the high lighting. I already have to prune about 1/2lb weekly anyways so i wont' have to prune specifically because of the lotus.