What a great description! You really make me want to try them, but I
just don't live in the right place. I'm in Zone 10. I hope lots of
others go for them.
Shirley Meneice.
Dennis Kramb wrote:
>For those of you that try the growing the Nelumbo lutea from seed, I'd like
>to offer a few comments / observations / suggestions.
>
>I live to the north of Cincinnati, Ohio on the Zone 5 / Zone 6 border. I
>planted the seed in spring (I think in April) and they germinated quite
>readily sown in my pond in submerged pots. A thin layer of gravel on top
>of the soil helped to keep the water clear.
>
>The seed has a thick protective shell, so to accelerate the germination I
>prepared them by using a metal file to scrape away a few millimeters
>deep. You'll know when you get there because the new layer is a much
>lighter color. A comparable analogy is probably like a peanut M&M
>candy. The hard shell is much thicker on the Nelumbo seed. You want to
>file that down till you expose the "chocolate layer". If you get to the
>"peanut", then you've gone too far and probably killed the seed.
>
>The seeds also want to float... so the gravel on top of the pots helps to
>keep them from "escaping."
>
>Just for fun I tried growing some in my tropical fish aquarium. The seeds
>all germinated but died very quickly (less than 1 week). I strongly
>suspect that cold water in an outdoor pond is essential to success. The 68
>degree F temps in my fish tank were probably too warm.
>
>My plants are thriving 4 years later in my pond. They are
>aggressive!! They send out runners or stolons, trying to establish new
>plants all around the pond. They did not bloom the first two years, but
>have bloomed reliably the last two years.
>
>This plant should be fully hardy up to Zone 4 or Zone 3. It will probably
>struggle in extremely warm (tropical) climates.
>
>I took pictures of the seedlings. At first I mistook the young leaves as
>debris floating on the surface of the pond. I almost killed them trying to
>fish them out! If anyone would like to see the photos I can send them by
>email. I also have photos of the flowers themselves, which are HUGE and
>GORGEOUS.
>
>For additional information and/or photos I recommend the following sites:
> http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/aqua/apis/…
> http://www.holoweb.com/cannon/american2.htm
> http://www.floridata.com/ref/N/nelu_lut.cfm
> http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/nelupic.html
> http://ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/…
>
>Wow, this message turned out much longer than I expected. :-)
>
>Have fun!
>
>Dennis in Cincinnati
>
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