Yiliang Thousand Petals Lotus (Bare Root)

Product Description

Yiliang qianban

Nelumbo nucifera

HUGE FLOWERS!

Yiliang Thousand Petals has a large flower with an extremely high petal count averaging 880 per flower that often produces multi-hearted flowers. The rose red color has a definite purple cast to it. It is an 'all-double-petalled" flower which means it does not set seeds. The flower lasts much longer than a normal lotus flower due to the density of the petals and takes several days to open completely. The tubers are long and thick when given plenty of room to grow and are considered desirable as an edible variety. This variety blooms best when the temperatures get really hot.

Flower Color:

Plant Height: Tall, 48" and taller

Flower Type: Thousand Petal, many more than 50 petals

Pot Size: 20" and wider, 12"-18" deep

Large lotus varieties need large pots! This is a large lotus variety that needs a pot at least 20" or wider and 12" or more in depth. Be sure to fill the pot at least half full of soil to help offer support and stability for the leaves. Deeper soil allows them to withstand strong winds and keeps the heavy flowers and buds from falling.

HOW TO FERTILIZE LOTUS

For conventional fertilizer (tablets or loose prills) which releases quickly when water is added:

Wait until the lotus plant has several floating leaves or begins to put up aerial leaves before adding fertilizer.

Choose a good fertilizer such as Waterlily World Tablets, Pondtabbs or Landon's Aquatic Fertilizer and follow the instructions carefully. The amount of fertilizer to use is usually based on the size of the pot and the amount of soil in the pot. For example, most of the small tablets are added at a ratio of 1-2 tablets per gallon of soil in the pot. Once the lotus has started to grow vigorously tablets can be added every 2-3 weeks. Stop fertilizing in late summer to allow the lotus to use up all the fertilizer in the pot before going dormant. This encourages the lotus to form better rhizomes.

For SLOW-RELEASE FERTILIZER like Nutricote 14-4-14, 100 day fertilizer:

*follow amount directions on package. Place fertilizer around the bottom of the pot then add soil. Plant rhizome in the soil at the top of soil layer and let it grow down to find fertilizer. We use slow-release fertilizer but begin adding extra Pondtabbs after 3 months when growth gets vigorous and we continue adding extra fertilizer until late summer.

Do NOT use 360 day fertilizer because it will release fertilizer for too long and the lotus will not form as many rhizomes when it goes dormant.