Hey, there. I am not an expert in lotus propagation but I have managed to get quite a few growing before the raccoons invaded. They do take a lot of light. Your plant lights may not be enough. I have had success with those lights by adding reflective mylar to the mix. Some people prefer halogin lights.I started mine from seed and had good luck only after I soaked the scored seed in 1/2 water and 1/2 hydrogen peroxide. It took several weeks to get to outside size and water had to be changed frequently. I'll come back tonight after I get time to locate some expert instructions that were in my favorites until DH gave me a new computer system. Sandy

I've been following the directions on the page below; I think it answers most of your questions. And your lotus looks great! Here is a link that might be useful: growing lotus from seed

Why thank you Brenda! You give me too much credit! :) Hi Judy.......well......I'm not quite sure what to say. I think you should have left them in their pots. How big were the ones you started from seed? How many leaves did they have? Are those the ones you cut up? How big of pots did you have them in? Had they been in your pond all summer? How old was the bigger one? How long had you had it? I've never thinned in the fall.......but if I did, I would harvest a good sized tuber and put it at the bottom of a pot of soil, where its protected, and I would keep it wet. Is there water in your kitty litter? It needs to be wet/moist all winter. Are there any additives in your kitty litter, or is it pure clay? Some of my lotus I just bury in the yard for the winter. That's probably what might have worked best for you and all your lotus. If you couldn't tell a difference from a tuber or a runner, chances are you had mostly runners, which don't have alot of food stored in them.....so I'm not sure your's will survive. And I would never trim roots. If you're sure it won't get below freezing, I think I would just push the whole tuber/runner down to the bottom of the pot. I'm not sure about the kitty litter though. If it has additives, it could be harmful to the tuber. And definitely don't wrap it ever in plastic. It will surely rot. (Been there, done that!). Tell me again how you're handling the 3 smaller ones? Also.....next time.....leave your lotus pots in the water until mid-late November. You want them to get pretty cold. The cold will help them move to the bottom of the pot....where they like to be in cold weather. Sorry I have so many questions.......just trying to understand better. Also.....I'm a little concerned that the 60 degree weather might cause it to break dormancy. I think colder would be better.

Something lost in translation here? Lotus are not house plants and if I had an apartment, there wouldn't be a pond inside with lotus in it. That isn't a good idea! Any sane person would do their water gardening in the back seat of their automobile or maybe tried as a vertical outdoor garden, but in an apartment? That's just crazy.