Growing Lotus and Water Lilies

My special gardening interest is in growing lotus and water lilies.

In addition to the information and photo gallery shown in this web site, I have prepared a more elaborate note on growing lotus and water lilies and a more extensive photo gallery, showing details of the steps in growing lotus and water lilies.

For those interested in growing these water plants and who would like to receive more information on the subject, you are welcome to contact me at cvsanten(at)indo(dot)net(dot)id .

Water plants
Lotus and water lilies are water plants or aquatic flowering plant species from the order Nymphaeales, family Nymphaeaceae, genus Nymphaea.

The true lotus or Nelumbo contains two species:
1. The sacred lotus or Indian or Buddhist lotus: Nelumbo nucifera
2. The American lotus: Nelumbo lutea from the family Nelumbonaceae

In the following only images of the sacred lotus or Nelumbo nucifera are shown.
There are six varieties of sacred lotus: a pink wild lotus and five mutants.

The sacred lotus is multiplied from rhizomes/ root cuts or from seeds. Cross fertilization is not possible. The sacred lotus is a tropical plant and needs a warm climate with at least six hours sunshine per day to produce flowers. About three to four months after planting the stems of the leaves and flowers may rise from 30 to 130 cm above the water level, depending on the variety of the plant.

A typical characteristic of the scared lotus is that it grows in quiet waters in a muddy surrounding with deep, saturated, oxygen-poor soils, whereby the roots are permanently located in a saturated watery surrounding. This compared with land plants which only grow when the roots are planted in a soil whereby the soil capillaries contain both water and air.

Water lilies:

1. The Egyptian water lily-Nymphaea and the Egyptian lotus- Nymphaea caerulea which grow in most climates.
2. The Victoria amazonica-Poepp-Syn, or Victoria Regia Lindl or Amazon water lily which only grows in tropical climates.

In the following only the Egyptian water lily – Nymphaea is discussed, which consists of two wild species and at least four cultivars.
The rhizomes of the water lilies grow under water in mud. The leaves float on the water surface, while the flowers emerge on short steles. Multiplication is by seeds. Cross breeding is feasible through emasculation.