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Re: Floating leaves on Nymphaea lotus...
Gitte wrote:
My Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri) has very lush and beautiful growth, big perfect
leaves, a stunning burgundy colour. In addition to this bottom growth, it
has just started sending up floating leaves+ADs- the second one is on its way
up. I have read that I can cut those off, and that if I don't want floating
leaves, I should prune the roots and leaves. I just moved this plant around
in the tank a couple of weeks ago, but didn't prune the roots or anything at
that time.
I would love to see some flowers on this plant and don't want to do anything
that would decrease that likelihood. I don't really want too many floating
leaves, as it would cut down on the light available in the tank. I could
just prune the floating leaves, I guess, but I imagine they would continue
to be produced. Any advice? This is a 50-gal tank which has been set up
for about 3 months. I'm using high output fluorescents (110 watts). Can I
prune the roots without disturbing (potential) flower production?
Thanks.
Gitte
Last summer I had several lotus plants growing very well in a 30 gallon
tank. They too sent up floating leaves and I left them as is. The
unfortunate result was they cut off the light, this, despite the fact that
the tank receives direct sunlight for a few hours in the afternoon, and all
the submerged leaves just melted down and made a big mess. The plants also
received a great deal of substrate fertilization. Eventually the corms (?)
went dormant for a few months and this year I've not fertilized as much and
snipped the floaters so that the submerged leaves are dominant. No flowers
last year and of course, none this year either. :( James Purchase did
successfully grow miniature water lilies by themselves in a tank by the
window and those flowered. I'm totally envious.
G. Kadar
Toronto