Beautiful Dancer Lotus has many, many blooms and is an early bloomer to boot!
1st day flowers are a cheerful, bright pink changing to white with soft yellows and pink edges. Bright-yellow receptacles and creamy-yellow anthers add to the luminous quality of this delightful specimen. Beautiful Dancer Lotus adds beauty and grace to any water garden setting. Beautiful Dancer Lotus grows 6 - 12 inches tall when grown in wide containers.
Plant in a wide container (at least 10 inches wide) using loam soil. Cover the lotus tuber with 1/2 an inch of soil, while keeping the growth tips exposed. Add two inches of water above the soil and place your lotus container in full sun, outdoors. Always replace water that has evaporated from your lotus container. Soon coin leaves will appear on the surface of the water. A week or so after the coin leaves appear on the surface, aerial leaves will begin to grow out of the water--once you have aerial leaves, you may begin to fertilize your lotus. Lotus are very heavy feeders! For robust plants and best bloom, use Waterlily World Fertilizer Tabs. Simply press a fertilizer tab into the soil near the roots of your Beautiful Dancer Lotus, being careful not to damage the roots. Do this each month during the growing/blooming season, June through early September.
Never fertilize your lotus until you have aerial leaves growing out of the water.
Fertilize with Waterlily World Fertilizer Tabs + Humates during the growing/blooming season, June through September.
What Is Loam Soil?
Loam soil is a good mixture of Topsoil and Sand
If you are lucky enough to have good topsoil in your backyard, by all means, use your topsoil. All you will have to do is add fertilizer. If you are not so lucky--and your backyard is sand or heavy red or yellow clay, you can mix up a batch of loam soil.
You can create your own loam soil by mixing these two ingredients together
- 2/3 Inorganic Topsoil (Little or no organic material added)
- 1/3 Pool Filter Sand
Mix together thoroughly with a little water. Your soil should clump when squeezed. If your soil is mixed properly, it will not muddy your pond water.
You can purchase inexpensive bags of inexpensive / poor Topsoil at Lowes or Home-Depot. Good soil clumps together as a ball in your hand with only a little moisture.
Don't buy brands like Scott's or Miracle-Gro, as they will contain too much organic matter that can foul your water. Buy an unbranded bag of topsoil instead.
You can purchase Pool Filter Sand at any store that sells pool supplies.
Loam soil is well suited for all aquatic plants (except oxygenators). Oxygenators rarely need to be planted, just anchored in the substrate or in a container filled with sand or 1/8 inch pea gravel.
Sand holds little water but does allow for aeration and drainage.
Some DO's and DON'TS regarding Aquatic Planting Soil
DO NOT use potting soils ( as they are too light and will float right out of the pot). Potting Soil has organic material that will rot and foul your water!
DO NOT add too much composted material (as it is too rich in organic matter and it will ferment underwater and destroy the ecology of your pond).
DO NOT use 100% calcined clay as there is no nutritional value in calcined clay.
DO NOT add rocks, stones or pebbles to the top of your planting container as this will inhibit the growth of your plants. Plants do not grow in rocks and stones in nature!
DO NOT purchase API Aquatic Planting Media or Microbe-lift Aquatic Planting Media as these products are NOT suitable for waterlilies, lotus or most other pond plants. They are suitable for submerged grasses ONLY!
