mega lotus

[admiral]

I'm back on the forum after a 7-month hiatus, and it's great to be here again. Fishlore has been keeping me pretty busy. I recently revived my 10-gallon planted tank, and I have to say, my experience with saltwater has been a real game-changer. I had no idea, however, that my "dwarf lotus" would grow so massive - it's a Nymphea stellata, I think. It's already produced a few offsets and surface leaves, with one leaf nearly half the size of the tank. Since my tank gets some natural sunlight from the window, I'm hoping that'll encourage it to bloom, as my 5000k LEDs might not be enough. This thing grows ridiculously fast - I have to trim it almost daily. Has anyone else had success getting a Nymphea stellata to flower?

[coltin]

Lotus and lilies flower towards the end of the growing season. From my experience, it seems like they require pretty specific conditions to bloom. I've found that a water temperature of around 28C is necessary, and they also need at least 12 hours of light per day. If they don't get that amount of light, it's unlikely they'll flower, which might be why your 5000k LEDs alone aren't doing the trick.

[coltin]

I'm going to take a guess that your lotus is still young, did you start them from seed or a rhizome? If it's from seed, it could be a couple of years before you see any flowers. On the other hand, if it's from a rhizome, you should see some flowers this year. Since you're already giving it 13 hours of light, I'd suggest bumping it up to 16 hours if you don't see any flowers.

[admiral]

Lotus and lilies flower towards the end of the growing season. From my experience, it seems like they require pretty specific conditions to bloom. I've found that a water temperature of around 28C is necessary, and they also need at least 12 hours of light per day. If they don't get that amount of light, it's unlikely they'll flower, which might be why your 5000k LEDs alone aren't doing the trick.

Actually rhizome

[coltin]

They've been in the tank for about a month, I think they're still building up their reserves. I've been trimming the leaves pretty regularly, almost daily, but I didn't realize I was hindering the plant's energy. I'll try to leave more leaves on now, but I also don't want the plant to overtake the tank.