Worth knowing:
Its ability to roll off any dirt, made the Sacred Indian Lotus in Asia to a symbol of purity and enlightenment. In Hinduism it symbolizes the centre of the universe, and the Buddha appears on a lotus leaf. Botanically the Sacred Indian Lotus is merely a herbaceous aquatic plant that grows runners and thick, fleshy rhizomes. Other than the water lily, it develops up to two meters upright standing, long-stalked and flawless leaves, and up to 25 cm big, fragrant flowers that host the somewhat bizarre inflorescences that contain the hazelnut-sized eatable seeds.
Natural Location:
The Sacred Indian Lotus has its natural habitat in Asia, particularly from Japan to China until Nepal, and to the West it can be found until the Caspian Sea.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase the germinability, you can slightly roughen the seed with a soft file or a piece of sandpaper until a white-coloured layer shows. Then, place it for about 48 hours in warm water for priming, where the seed can become almost as twice as big since it will absorb the water. After that, plant the seeds about 1 cm deep into moist potting compost and cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25°Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. The germination usually takes between one and four weeks.
Place:
The Sacred Indian Lotus wants to be kept in a sunny place.
Care:
Plant the Sacred Indian Lotus in compacted clay soil and sink the pot about 30 to 60 cm deep into the water. The spectacular stalks and blossoms will come up in summer. You may give organic fertilizer every two weeks during the summer months.
During the winter:
Even though the Sacred Indian Lotus is limited frost-resistant up to -10° Celsius, it is recommended hibernating the rhizomes indoors in a darker and cool place. Wilted leaves and stalks can just be cut off and the rhizome is best carefully be kept in a box with sand.
Picture credits:
- © © Radomil - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Romain Guy - CC-BY-SA-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
- © Frank Fg2 Gualtieri - Public domain - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
- © Shin-? - Public domain - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
- © KENPEI - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © KENPEI - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Lord Koxinga - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
