A lotus "happening"

1475 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by trenac, Dec 1, 2004

C_perugiae

Discussion Starter · Nov 29, 2004

While I was at my parents' house for a few days, my green tiger lotus blessed me with a few offspring. I was really excited to see them, but also very surprised at their location... didn't know that our lotus friends could throw plantlets from the middle of their leaves. That's right, folks. The middle of the leaves... go figure.

There are three or four, each about an inch tall with two or three leaves. They're already developing a bit of color and what looks like some roots. This is the first time I've really dealt with these plants personally, although I talk to a few people who have them and none can tell me anything about this. Of course, I have the usual propagation questions that I couldn't find within a few minutes of online searching.

*How big should they be when I separate them from the mother plant?
*A couple of the leaves around the "babies" are looking pretty translucent; is it okay for me to remove most of the leaf?
*Does the plant's reproducing in this manner mean anything significant? I'm hoping she's not going to croak... I'm getting fond of her.

I think that's it for now. Please chime in with any info or links you have on this. I'll try to post a pic in a few days, just in case anyone wants to see what I'm talking about... it's pretty neat. The babies are really cute.

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HeyPK

· #2 · Nov 29, 2004

Although I have not had experience with tiger lotus babies, some general guidelines should be applicable. If you are not sure when to pull off the babies, leave them attached to their parent leaves and see how they grow. They may detach on their own, or they may get bigger and bigger and get their own roots in the gravel. In general, they can be detached when they have both roots and leaves. The production of new plants very likely does not mean that the parent plant is about to croak. Instead, it means that the parent plant is healthy.

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C_perugiae

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 29, 2004

Thanks for the reply. You confirmed my guesses and experience with other plants, so I feel better about this one. I guess I shouldn't have used the word "croak" because I was actually wondering if the plant was indicating that it was going to go dormant. Didn't think so, but again, I've never kept a tiger lotus before this one. The lotus in question has been sending up really thick streams of bubbles and producing huge leaves, so I'm not too concerned about the health of the plant.

Pictures will be here soon, I promise!

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trenac

· #4 · Nov 30, 2004

I went to move my Tiger Lotus and bam two baby plants fell off the mother plant, did not know it was even producing. They where very tiny maybe a inch tall, one has survived & is growing but is hard to keep rooted, the other one got eaten by my shrimp.

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dennis

· #5 · Nov 30, 2004

In my limited Tiger lotus experience, I have learned that if you leave it alone for a bit and have good nutrient levels for your lighting, then th eplant will reach a piont where it begins to produce plantlets frequently. Mine reciently has begun throwing out a now "bulb" wich quickly develops roots and small leaves. I seem to be getting one of those every week or so. No more though, as I just aquabid it

I kept lots of babies though. Biggest problem was it was getting so darned bid and my largest tank is a 15 gallon....I did discover, that in pruning the large leaves frequently, it was beginning to develop smaller leaves on shorter stems. Maybe that was only a temp. condition though, I don't know....

Anyway, well done

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C_perugiae

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 30, 2004

Here's a pic of a baby that I took off the mother plant tonight. The leaf was rotting and I couldn't leave it like that in a store display...

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trenac

· #7 · Dec 1, 2004

Very nice... The baby should do fine mine was about the same size when it got separated from the mother plant.

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