Tiny Red Elf Lotus is a sweet little pixie with light-red color washed over the pretty, pointed petals with a saturation of color at the petal tips! Sweet, multi-petal blooms are accentuated with creamy-white anthers and yellow-gold receptacles. This little sprite will delight the lotus enthusiast! This is an Exquisite Of Bowl Lotus and grows to 13 inches tall in a ten inch container.
Planting Instructions
Plant your small lotus in a ten inch wide container using loam soil. Add an inch or two of water above the soil and place in sunny area where your lotus will receive 8 - 10 inches of sunlight daily. Do not fertilize your lotus until you have aerial leaves growing out of the water.
Fertilizing Your Lotus
Once you have aerial leaves you may begin to feed your small lotus with 1/2 a dose of fertilizer. Fertilize your small lotus with 1/2 a fertilizer tab for the first feeding. Thereafter you may fertilize every three weeks with 1 or 1 1/2 fertilizer tabs throughout the growing/blooming months.
We recommend Waterlily World Fertilizer Tabs for best bloom and optimum growth.
*Please see our 'Complete Lotus Growing Guide' included with your lotus purchase!
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!
