Lotus Flower Care 101: Mastering Disease Prevention

Why do lotus leaves wilt? Is it entering a dormant period? Is it suffering from lotus wilt disease? What’s the difference between lotus wilt disease and lotus rot disease? How to manage and care for the lotus when it has no withered leaves and has grown into green leaves?

Should it be pruned? Should it be kept in a greenhouse in winter? How to prevent and control pests and diseases? After being stored in a greenhouse, how should the water depth of the potted lotus be controlled?

In response to these multiple questions, the writer has summarized them into three aspects.

1. Things to keep in mind for daily management during the growth period.

In the Beijing area, potted lotus are generally planted from early to mid-April. When planting in dry soil, the first watering must be thorough, then it can be let dry for a few days before watering again, this will promote root growth.

Initially, keep the pot soil moist. After 7 to 10 days, the water can be 1 to 2 cm deep. As the temperature rises, the water level can gradually increase until the pot is full.

Lotus love light, are fond of fertilizer, and prefer a well-ventilated environment. Therefore, its maintenance site must be well-lit, ensuring at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day.

Care should be taken to space apart the pots of lotus, with a minimum pot distance of 20 cm, to facilitate ventilation, light penetration and leaf growth.

Lotus love fertilizer, in addition to applying base fertilizer at the time of planting, appropriate topdressing is needed during the growth period.

Generally, before the leaves stand and buds appear, apply a compound fertilizer once, mainly using three-element compound granular fertilizer, compound fertilizer tablets or raw soybean meal etc., wrapped in a package and applied to the pot center soil about 1/2 deep, or it can be applied directly.

Watch its effects, generally effective after three days, pay attention to frequent application of thin fertilizer. If the leaves turn yellow or pale green, and are thin, it indicates a lack of fertilizer, generally apply once every about 10 days.

If the leaves are dark green and thick, it indicates no lack of fertilizer, no need to apply, generally apply a maximum of three times in a growth season, too much fertilizer, the lotus root is prone to rot, and the lotus leaves will die with burnt edges.

2. How to prevent and control pests and diseases.

During the growth period, lotus commonly suffer from diseases like brown stripe disease, which mainly harms the leaves and is caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia solani, and spot blight disease, which also harms the leaves and is caused by the fungus Alternaria.

The symptoms of both diseases are very similar, both manifesting as spots expanding to patches, causing the leaf tissues to fade from green to yellow. These diseases usually occur during the rainy season due to factors such as high temperature and humidity, weak growth of the lotus, and poor lighting and ventilation conditions.

In severe cases, an 800-fold solution of mancozeb or propineb can be used. Prevention is the key, timely removal of diseased leaves, and reasonable adjustment of density.

Pests generally include aphids, beetles, and moths. Aphids are quite severe, with more than 20 generations a year, with the larvae and adult aphids clustering on the leaves, leaf stems, and tender buds, sucking the sap and causing harm.

They can be killed by spraying with a 1000-fold solution of imidacloprid. A small amount can be killed by hand or by frequently spraying the leaves when watering daily.

3. Winter storage methods.

In the Beijing area, lotus generally enter a full decline period in mid to late September. The leaves gradually turn yellow and wither, at this time, the dry yellow leaves should be cut off in preparation for storage.

For pool storage, around the “National Day” holiday, the potted lotus can be placed in the pool. Fill with water to maintain a water temperature between 0℃ and 8℃ for winter storage under the ice layer.

For cellar storage, from late October to early November, the potted lotus can be placed in the cellar, maintaining the cellar temperature between 0℃ and 8℃, and keeping the pot soil moist, it can safely overwinter.