Keeping tiger lotus low

Starry

Starry

Occasionally sighted.
May 15, 2002
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Brampton, Ont
I got a Nympaea lotus about one or two months ago. Of course the leaves were small and low and very pretty. It has been growing well for me, but the leaves are about 4" across and all grow to the top of the tank, shading about half my tank. They're very thick and leathery. Doesn't look too pretty, and not useful at all in such a small tank. I was hoping it would stay lower. Before I try trading it in, I throught I'd ask if anyone has an idea on how to keep it low. But really, I should've known better. :shake:
 
I've got one in a 55gal. with 3watts/gal. NO lighting with leaves larger than your description. I keep chopping off the leaves before they reach the surface, but it keeps throwing them anyway.
I've also got one in a 10gal. with just under 4 watts/gal. that is petite and beautiful and bushy......maybe 6 - 61/2" tall. Tiny, delicate leaves. Can't explain why. Similar fertilization, lighting, etc. May be a different variety.
The big one drives me crazy..... I love the little one.

Len
 
Doesn't that just drive you nuts? I can't even really snip off the tall leaves because they don't even open until they reach the top. It's putting out one huge leaf after another, every few days. I'm trying to keep it nice for when I trade it in, so I'm trying not to cut it too much, but it's shading my struggling Micranthemum, which I care about much more.
Mine is from Tropica, labelled as Nymphaea lotus "Zenkeri." It was really small with thin leaves when I got it, so the difference wouldn't be because it's a different species. Oh well, there goes another 10 bucks.
 
Down boy! Sit! Stay!

good grief! don't return it, just pinch off the leaves that shoot for the surface. Tear off any that begin to get away from the bulb, any stem over 2 or 3 inches has to go. You may be left with 2 or 4 leaves, but that's OK. The plant "learns" that long stemmed leaves don't survive and it goes back to making short stems. After awhile, when you get lazy, it will put out longer and longer stems, then ehen one reaches the surface it grows big and then every new leaf shoots for the surface.

You just gotta train it!
 
Are you sure about this? All of my leaves (well, technically, the leaves of my lotus) shoot straight for the surface before they're even open. Nothing is ever low, except stems, before they've reached the top. So I'd have to cut ALL the leaves, which I did anyway when I got it, because they all rotted really quickly. Has this really worked for you? I don't want to mangle the plant, because I want to trade it in.
 
How much lighting do you have in the tank? If there is weak lighting in the tank, most plants will grow taller (towards the light) in order to increase photosynthesis.

Edit: just saw your tank specs. 2.3 watts is decent for tiger lotus but its probably why its growing taller than staying low. Also, is anything blocking the light from reaching it?
 
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Try the trimming of the leaves routine, Starry.
I have done that with temporary success on the big one I mentioned earlier. Problem is that it grew back tall leaves eventually anyway.

Len
 
Starry,
I just bought one of those a few days ago, so I've been reading up on them. What I found out was that they produce two different types of leaves. One is the water leaf and the other is the surface leaf. The surface leaf acts just like a lilly plant in a pond - this is normal.
I also read that if you dont want the surface leaves, you just snip them off when it becomes apparent that they're headed for the top, and this will strengthen and increase the growth of the water leaves.
Makes sense to me. Mine is just producing water leaves right now, but I'm sure it will eventually put out the surface leaves, which I will just snip off.
Btw, the Banana plant, which is related, does the same thing, and I've seen this happen with mine.
 
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