Red tiger lotus pads finally reaching the surface, do you trim the floaters or let them shade?
The sprouted bulb I planted shallow a few weeks back now has two pads touching the surface in the 120. Pic below of the hydrocoleus clumps I keep for shade, not the lotus, sorry. Lower stems underneath are starting to look pale so I think the lotus is shading them. Do you trim the floating leaves back or leave them to feed the bulb?
4 comments
pete i trim the first couple of pads and leave the rest, the bulb keeps pushing new ones so it won't starve. shaded stems are the bigger loss in my experience.
mossboss same here. pete, if the bulb goes quiet after a trim just give it a couple weeks, mine sulked then came back with bigger pads.
riverina good to know, that's the sulking I was bracing for. i'll give it the two weeks before I panic.
pete, i'd leave the floaters through the first month and only trim if the stems underneath keep paling. lotus pads shade a lot more than people expect once they're a few inches wide.
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