# Tiger lotus is growing like mad, Now what



## lumpyfunk (Dec 22, 2004)

My Tiger lotus is growing like mad, the leafs are the size of my hand and are going towards the surface. It is my understanding that once one hits the surface they will all go towards it. How should I care for this plant? Prune it or let it go.

Thanks for your input


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## PeteyPob (Apr 26, 2004)

Ill send you mine and you send me yours and you do to them what ever you did to yours :icon_bigg ! Mine arent doing to well..very small leaves. I would prune the surface leaves to stop the others from following. My 2 cents
-Pete


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Just prune the the leaves as they stray too far from the nest. Prune the stem down near the root ball.


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## anonapersona (Oct 19, 2002)

*prune and fert*

the one that is not growing needs root ferts, and may be planted too deeply. 

the one that is growing needs to be pruned, or the leaves will cover the surface of the tank, plunging the submerged plants into twilight.


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## lumpyfunk (Dec 22, 2004)

Anona, you hit it on the nose, I put a third of a jobes stick under it and it went crazy!!. I will trim the top two or three leaves off today! 

Thank you all


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## lumpyfunk (Dec 22, 2004)

If I leave the trimed leaves in the tank will they root?


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## pma (May 23, 2005)

> "If I leave the trimed leaves in the tank will they root?"


lumpyfunk, my Tiger Lotus took off just like yours did after I added some Flourish Root Tabs and quickly took over the 29G tank...blocking light etc. I "hacked" away at 'em.

Back to your question, I understand from here that their propagation methods are by "dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (including offsets)." 

I threw my cuttings away happily!!!

_______________________________________________________
:icon_bigg "Cut Cut Cut"!!! - Miss Birdie (Teresa Wright) in The Rainmaker


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

lumpyfunk said:


> If I leave the trimed leaves in the tank will they root?


They will rot, not root :icon_bigg


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## lumpyfunk (Dec 22, 2004)

That is what I thought, but not hoped for. Thanks for confirming it


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## gonzobluefuzz (Dec 8, 2005)

m.lemay said:


> Just prune the the leaves as they stray too far from the nest. Prune the stem down near the root ball.



Just a quick newb Q. 
Does the same pruning method hold true for Aponogeton type bulbs as well??. I've got a couple sickly lookin' tall guys that are close to getting pulled and tossed into the great compost heap in the sky  . Hoping to find a way to save 'em.


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## medicineman (Sep 28, 2005)

Well... if you ever get bored with the lotus in an open top tank, have few plants surrounds and it grows like crazy then it is the time for you to go into the second phase. Let them shoot out several aerial leaves and make them flower. Sure to be a nice spectacle to witness and worth the time.


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## turbosaurus (Nov 19, 2005)

I always clip off my aerial leaves (you can tell because they are rolled up when they start to grow and don't unfold until they get near the top) to encourage more submerged leaves, which are unfolded from the start. It has been my experience that once a single leave hits the top it stops growing submerged leaves and sends them all up to the surface, but if you clip them off before they get there it will continue with the submerged growth. 

Its up to you what you prefer, but like everything else, you can't have your cake and eat it too. The surface leaves are beautiful, but I cut them off because with my hood you can't see them and all they do is shade the other plants. If you don't have a surface that you can easily look down on, I'd say clip 'em.


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## otter (Oct 22, 2005)

I've let mine hit the surface and flower since I went topless. The leaves are beautiful. From one Red Tiger Lotus the leaves vary from deep burgundy red to green with speckled red, to all green on top. The bottoms of the red leaves tend to be green, and the bottoms of the green ones tend to be red or irridescent purple... it's really cool. The problem I'm having now though is the leaves hit the surface and quickly rot away. Is this normal for these plants since they're being replaced so quickly, or is something wrong here? I have fert sticks under tha plants, so I doubt it's starving. I'm wondering if they're too close to the light.... 
Also, does anyone know how long the flowers last? Ever since the one plant flowered, the second flower stalk (from the same plant) that was on its way to the surface seems to have stalled out and not grown very much if at all. Can a plant only support one flower a time at the surface!?
Here's some of my typically blurry pics:


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## eds (Feb 12, 2003)

Well, I'm topless with the TL in the front corner.
Tank pretty much looks like crap, so I might as well see if this sucker flowers - maybe it will distract folks from the rest of the mess!


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## oceanaqua (Nov 24, 2005)

If you want a lotus that grows by stems cutting, get a Nymp. 'Taiwain'.


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## kakulo83 (May 23, 2005)

Dan, enjoy the flowers while they last. Mine only lasted a few days and then they started to dry up and die. I fertilized my lotus heavily with root tabs and jobes and it was sending up two to three flower stalks at a time. I noticed no slowing in the subsequent stalks.


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## eds (Feb 12, 2003)

oceanaqua said:


> If you want a lotus that grows by stems cutting, get a Nymp. 'Taiwain'.


Anyone who wants N. Taiwan, let me know.


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## otter (Oct 22, 2005)

eds said:


> Well, I'm topless with the TL in the front corner.
> Tank pretty much looks like crap, so I might as well see if this sucker flowers - maybe it will distract folks from the rest of the mess!


that was kind of my theory too. I made a deal with the wife though, I'll maintain the conditions and she can scape the tank (because I can't!) that should improve things.


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