The Tricolor Lotus is a miniature lotus flower cultivated in pots and bowls. It is a particularly valuable variety within bowl lotus plants. The flower buds are elongated peach-shaped, with red petal tips, a pinkish-white middle, and a yellow base.
The flower diameter is 10-12cm, blooms densely, and flowers early. The pistil develops normally, and it bears many seeds. The plant type generally divides into leaf type, stem type, panicle type, and root type.
The colors of the flowers are gorgeous gradient colors, mainly consisting of three colors: a light yellow base, a white middle, and a pink top.
The Tricolor Lotus is petite and exquisite, with a stunning appearance. It’s often used as an office ornamental plant to beautify the work environment.
The bowl lotus loves abundant sunlight. If it receives less than 6 hours of sunlight daily, it cannot form flower buds. During its growth period, it should be placed on a sunny balcony or windowsill to receive full sunlight.
When the floating leaves cover the surface of the pot, they should be pressed into the pot’s mud in time to avoid blocking ventilation and light.
The bowl lotus plant is delicate, and in the summer and early autumn, it needs appropriate shade around noon to avoid direct sunlight, which can cause leaves and petals to scorch.
The bowl lotus thrives in the hot summer. It sprouts at 8℃-10℃, the lotus whip begins to extend at 14℃, the growth and development temperature is 23℃-30℃, it flowers above 28℃, growth slows above 35℃, growth stops at 40℃, and it could even die.
It dislikes sudden exposure to sunlight after rain or strong winds. It grows new tubers at 25℃. The bowl lotus likes strong light, which benefits its development. It also likes water but can’t stand flooding.
Leaves easily rot in deep water, so water should be shallow in the early stages and gradually deepened later on. It likes fertilizers but can’t tolerate them well; too much fertilizer can easily rot the stem.
The base fertilizer should be sufficient, and top dressing should be less. It is not strict about soil, preferring fertile, slightly acidic, clayey soil. Any fertile river mud or vegetable garden soil is suitable. From planting to flowering takes about 60 days.
The Bowl Lotus is a miniature type of lotus, a perennial aquatic plant with tuberous roots. Its underground stems, known as rhizomes, grow horizontally in the silt. The stems produce roots and leaf blades at the internodes.
The leaves are entire, shield-shaped, deep green, rough, and covered with small blunt spines. There are waxy white powders between the spines. Numerous stiff spines grow inversely on the leaf stalk.
Based on the sequence of growth and morphology, the leaves are classified into three types: “coin leaves” (the leaves initially produced by the terminal bud), “floating leaves” (the leaves that grow first from the rhizome and are larger than the coin leaves, floating on the water surface), and “erect leaves” (the later leaves that grow out of the rhizome and rise above the water surface).
The flower is solitary and grows at the top of the flower stalk, peach-shaped or cylindrical. The plant generally blooms without producing fruit. It reproduces through its underground stems (rhizomes). The flowering period is from June to September.
This variety has long, peach-shaped flower buds. The petal tips are red, the middle is pinkish-white, and the base is yellow. The flower diameter is 10-12 centimeters.
The plant blooms densely, blooms early, and the pistils develop normally, making it fruitful. With its rich flower color and dwarf plant type, this variety is a treasure among Bowl Lotuses.
The first step is to crack the seed coat. The seed coat of the lotus seed has a firm and thick special structure. After the seed is fully mature and dry, it is difficult for water and air to penetrate, and respiration is very slow, putting it in a forced dormant state.
Therefore, lotus seeds can be buried in the soil for hundreds or even thousands of years without germination or decay, which is the reason for the longevity of lotus seeds.
To make the lotus seeds absorb water and oxygen and break the forced dormant state after sowing, and enter the germination growth, the seed coat must be cracked before germination.
The lotus is an inverted ovule, and the embryo is attached to the top of the seed. When cracking the shell, the base of the seed, that is, the end of the seed attached to the torus, or the indented end of the lotus seed, should be cracked.
You can use scissors or pliers to break it. Before sowing, generally you only need to wear through the pericarp (i.e., the hard shell of the lotus seed) until you see the brown seed coat; when cracking the shell, you only need to make a 2-3 millimeter crack at the base.
Be careful not to clip too deep to avoid damaging the embryo. After soaking the seeds for a day, when the embryo absorbs water and the embryo swells, and the pericarp absorbs water and becomes soft, you can peel off 1/3 of the pericarp along the cracked shell to expose the embryo for the growth of the bud.
Please note: the cracked part cannot be too large or too many. If all the hard shell of the lotus seed is removed, the bud will lose its protection and is likely to rot and die.
The second step is to soak the seeds for germination. Soak the cracked seeds in warm water at about 50 degrees. The soaking water should be clean, free of greasy and dirty substances, and do not use water higher than 50 degrees, otherwise it will affect germination.
The water temperature naturally drops and finally stays around 30 degrees. It is not suitable to be higher than 40 degrees or lower than 20 degrees.
If the water temperature is higher than 40 degrees, although the seeds germinate quickly on the first day, their growth is inhibited in the future. If the water temperature is lower than 20 degrees, the seeds’ germination and growth are too slow.
When soaking a small amount at home, you can put it in a thermos to keep warm. Under the condition of 30 degrees, generally soaking for 3 days can germinate, and the bud grows out of the cracked part.
During this time, the water needs to be changed 1-3 times a day, and seeds that cannot germinate should be removed in time. Generally, seeds that have not germinated after 7 days will not germinate.
Seeds without germination ability often float on the water surface, the buds turn yellow, and the cotyledons become moldy and smelly. (You can also directly use tap water for soaking, no need for warm water or heating, soaking for about two days can germinate.)
Bowl lotus is often hydroponically grown in fine bowls and pots, such as small colored tanks, which look very attractive.
Even if using a bowl, it must be about 25 centimeters in diameter and over 20 centimeters deep, because if the container is too small, the growth of the bowl lotus is restricted, and it’s difficult to bloom properly.
After the seeds sprout, they should be hydroponically grown for 5-7 days under conditions of around 25°C.
During the hydroponic seedling period, the root system of the lotus seedling has weak absorption, and growth mainly relies on nutrients provided by the seed embryo, so fertilization is generally not needed.
During the process, maintain a water depth of about 10 centimeters and provide sufficient sunlight; avoid frequent water changes or stirring to prevent leaves from overextending due to frequent changes in their growth direction; let the petioles stay in the water, and let the leaves spread freely on the water surface.
Once the first leaf unfolds and the second leaf is about to unfold, and when white roots grow out, they can be planted. In the bowl lotus container, about 1% of the basic fertilizer should be applied based on the amount of pot soil, then pond mud should be added until it reaches 2/3 of the pot depth.
The bowl lotus has less soil and insufficient nutrients, so fertilization should be frequent, but it must be applied sparingly.
After a year of cultivation, the fertility decreases, and the underground rhizomes become dense, so it’s advisable to overturn the pot and change the soil before the buds sprout every early spring.
When the buds grow to about 10 centimeters, they can be transplanted. According to the needs of bowl lotus planting, after the soil is chosen and put into the flower pot, add clean water and mix the soil and fertilizer evenly.
After the mud water settles, plant the hydroponic seedlings in the center of the flower pot, and bury the seeds completely in the mud, allowing the leaves to spread freely on the water surface.
During transplantation, be careful not to break the petioles, as it may affect growth. After planting, maintain a water layer of 3-5 centimeters, but never submerge the leaves in the water. Bowl lotus loves sunlight, so the flower pot should be placed in a sunny location.
The seedlings are delicate, and some may wither under the scorching sun, but generally, they will sprout and survive. Do not overwater, to raise the water temperature and promote growth.
After 7-13 floating leaves grow, erect leaves can appear. Connect the seed lotus from end to end and plant it in the center of the pot.
After planting, add water until it is 2-3 cm, let it dry before adding water again, and repeat two or three times until the lotus and mud are tightly combined and not easily floating. In summer, water must be added to the bowl lotus every day.
Bowl lotus is prone to aphids, which can be sprayed with a 3000 times diluted solution of chrysanthemum joy and grease.
Around Qingming Festival, choose robust rhizomes. Cut every 2-3 nodes into a section, each must have a top bud and a tail node, then plant them separately.
At this time, pay special attention to protect them from stormy weather. If the leaves are blown and bent, the lotus root will not develop well, affecting the flowering in the second year.
Before sowing, use a file to damage the seed coat, then soak it in clean water, changing the water once a day. Once it has grown 2-3 leaves, it can be planted. During the early stages of planting, maintain a water depth of about 2 cm. After vertical leaves grow, maintain it at 10 cm.
The blooming period of the bowl lotus is in the height of summer, a slow season for flowers, perfectly filling in the gap. Keeping a pot of bowl lotus on a bookshelf lends a unique charm, making it a very fashionable ornamental plant.
It symbolizes steadfastness, purity, innocence, and integrity. Its understated appearance belies its elegance. The lotus is a flower of noble character among all flowers.
Peggie was once a high school mathematics teacher, but she set aside her chalkboard and textbooks to follow her lifelong passion for flowers. After years of dedication and learning, she not only established a thriving flower shop but also founded this blog, “Flowers Library”. If you have any questions or wish to learn more about flowers, feel free to contact Peggie.
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