Tiger lotus question

[Kezzab]

Hi all, i bought what i think was a tiger lotus from the LFS 6-8 weeks ago.

It was just a bunch of stems with a few poor roots, no bulb, but it was abou £2 so i thought id try it.

Since planting it has slowly sent out new leaves, but none have got bigger than half palm size and its stayed about 10cm tall.

I was hoping for larger.

Should i just wait, is it a different species, any tips?

Its in a c02 tank with medium lighting.

Thanks

K

 

[zozo]

A Nymphaea highly depends on its bulb (Rhizome) it stores energy and the more it has the healthier it will grow. Plants sold in the LFS are often young cuttings/runners cut off from the nursery mother plant that yet not have developed their own bulb.

It needs time to grow this bulb and this can take quite some time... Thus patience is a virtue if you bought one without it.

How long this will take? Only the plant knows and we can't ask...

Lilies also are light worshippers and Tropical lilies also are rather sensitive to temperatures. High light, High temperature, good fertilization next to extra CO² is welcome for high metabolism and fast development.

If all this is in a medium it obviously will take longer and then extra CO² is an absolute must.

Give it a nice Clay Root Tab and some time is all you can do for now...

 

[Kezzab]

Thanks @zozo really useful.

 

[sparkyweasel]

It needs time to grow this bulb

and plenty of ferts, the plant needs enough to grow plus some spare to build up the reserves in the bulb. I would put some root tabs under it as well as water column dosing.

 

[Sammy Islam]

I would load up on tabs under the lotus, they are nutrient hogs! I had one in my old tank and did well from the beginning, took a few months before it started growing with massive leaves and sent out runners like crazy! Avoid pulling it out during maintenance etc it's very easy to do even with a bulb.