Tiger Lotus tips needed

[Fishnut]

I bought a nice tiger lotus from charlie a few months ago and since I have added it to my tank, the leaf stems have rotted away at the base and fall off.  The leaf and the rest of the stem seem fine.  Now I'm left with the bulb and 4 teeny leaves.  Since the vals in my tank had taken over that area, I took it out and put it in a 1 gallon tank with no filtration or heat, but lots of fertilizer.  It's not going to last long in there, I'm sure, so I want to figure out what happened to it.  From what I've read about the plant, I should be meeting it's needs. 

Any advice?

[kennyman]

culture the bulb and root system if you can. This plant is doing really well in my low-maintenance system under 1.5W/g and I feel that is due mostly to the depth of substrate and the fact that is it mostly soil. I was told when I got mine this spring that it might drop all its leaves as it acclimates to my tank and to focus attention on culturing the bulb.

In terrestrial plants that would be phosphate and potassium which are most important to crown development and healthy root systems. I don't know so much about aquatic ecosystems but those macros are cations and will bind with sites in substrates with good CEC. From there they can be exchanged directly with plant roots.

[Zoe]

Do you want another plant? Mine is shooting off plantelets faster than I can figure out what to do with them.

[Aquaviewer]

Just to clarify, are the stems rotting at the base (close to the roots/bulb), or the base of the leaf (node)?

[charlie]

I was told when I got mine this spring that it might drop all its leaves as it acclimates to my tank and to focus attention on culturing the bulb.

I would venture to agree with this theory, you might want to put it back in your main tank with a root tab under it  & see what happens. Plant do have set backs when going from one tank to another & that would vary how much of a difference there is from one to the other.

The tiger lotus is not a hard plant to grow & they propagate easily.
Regards

[Fishnut]

The stems are rotting at the base, near the bulb.  I had such an easy time with this type of plant the last time I had it.  It grew like Zoe is describing!

Thanks for the offer Zoe, but I think I'll try to get this one going again before trying a new plant.  My tank is getting pretty full of fish and plants (see the pic in freshwater).

So in order to culture the bulb, I should put a root tab underneath it?  The bulb seems very healthy and the roots are in great shape.  I'll grab some root tabs to try that out.  What's the best kind to get?

[Aquaviewer]

I'll grab some root tabs to try that out.  What's the best kind to get?

I've had good success with Seachem tabs.  However if you think that it has just died back because of tank shock, I'd leave it and it should come back, especially as you describe the roots and bulb are in good shape.

[sas]

I use Seachem tabs also on my plants that have a larger root system.
         I've also had a lovely red lotus plant that I got from another member that I managed to destroy. Actually I just left it, in fact forgot about it for a couple months, thinking it was gone. Low and behold  just a few weeks ago it started putting out new leaves so I moved it to a tank that has smaller sized gravel and it's holding it's own so far.

[PaleoFishGirl]

Tiger lotus plants are weird, though - sometimes they will sit dormant or growing slowly and then all of a sudden growth will take off.  Mine always grew in cycles like that.  I would have a dozen bulbs lying around for months and then they would all germinate and grow like crazy.

[Fishnut]

That's very interesting!  I'll stick it back in the tank and see what happens with a  fertilizer tab under it.