I'm new with starting lotus seed also, so I can't answer all your questions. However, I think 2 1/2 feet might be too much for such young plants. I think between 4 and 8 inches is the recommended water depth over the soil the lotus are planted in--probably less for young plants. If you were going to overwinter them in your pond you would, of course, drop the pots deeper at that time. Hope this helps a little. Marcia Here is a link that might be useful: starting lotus from seed

Hi, I dont know how many times I've seen nurseries put the wrong name on a plant. They are most likely Staghorns. Sometimes they act like they dont care at these places, it makes me angry. Go get it! The other fern is probably Polypodium which is any easy fern to grow. They dont seem to require as much humidity as some & a large specimen can look very striking. Jen

get some mulch .. pile it on ... and let ma nature take care of getting rid of the grass below ... by next spring... you will be amazed at how fluffy it is underneath ... forget about the roundup .. its done its job ... its irrelevant .. trust me .. if you need to plant now.. take your saucer or the top of a garbage can ... move back the mulch .... take off the rotting grass ..set aside ... dig hole.. placing soil on the saucer .. do NOT get soil on top of your mulch ... dig a little deeper than you need.. throw the dead grass at the bottom.. put some soil over it .. plant hosta.... reset mulch ... but not within 3 to 6 inches of the hosta ... water .. walk to next spot ... i have done this with bare root trees ... three days after the roundup was applied ... nothing.. nada .. don't worry about it ... roots just don't grow that fast.. and roundup is said to be inert once it hits soil ... any grass that pokes back through the mulch .. just spot spray it .. the hole point of mulch .. is to cover soil and weed seed .... that is why i spray in the mulch .. to avoid bringing soil back on top by pulling weeds ... the least amount of spray you need .. is the best.. i would rather you have to go back in a week and re hit a spot of grass .. rather than see you dump 5 gallons of spray on your mulch to kill a little grass ... besides .. its expensive ... paper if you want ... i think its a waste of time ... mulch should be 2 to 4 inches thick .. AFTER IT SETTLES .... so i put it on about 4 to 6 inches deep ... its early .. maybe i missed something... ken

yep thanks... i normally will fertilize with a standard fert.. like jonathons, or peters/etc... but ran out- as to storage, in my garage i always store my plants/bulbs/etc off the floor... but the garage never goes lower then 55/50f... i have a pretty large greenhouse room (30x20), but between my hibiscus/hot pepper/other outdoor plants, i have little room, and what room i have i really prefer plants that flower.. plumeria,/others that go dormant r a waste of space in the room over the winter...