Don't know how I missed this post previously. But anyway, you'll probably find that leaf will flatten back down on the surface of the water as it expands.

Here it is, along with another one next to it, pretty cool.

I took only one fertilizer tab and dropped it in the water on top of the soil. I didn't want it to burn the roots. The American Lotus that I ordered from Amazon, the seeds, it is growing really fast too, amazing!

Congratulations! my 2 seedlings are struggling...hope to try again.

Butterfly4u, Congratulations! Your arial leaf looks beautiful!

I also have good news, after all this time, I finally got Arial leaves too. I have 6 seedlings, 2 of them have arial leaves now. Many times before, what looked like arial leaves all fell back down. Today, I am finally convinced that these two are real arial leaves! They are not as good as yours, but I am just happy that they are not falling back Dow.

I would put the fertilizer down in the soil....otherwise you'll end up with lots of happy algae.

Sara,

Wow! They sure are growing! Congrats on your new aerial leaves! The look different when they come up out of the water, don't they? The one in the pic has 6 now, all sticking out of the water, they really grow fast. You will probably get a lot more in the next 2 weeks too.

catherinet, I just dropped one tablet right on top of the soil in each pot that the lotus is growing in. They are also placed in a much bigger pot full of water, next spring I plan on transferring them right into the giant pot, with fresh soil. Probably the end of February here, before they start growing again.

I am so pleased I was able to grow these from seeds, I haven't grown water plants from seeds before and this has been a lot of fun! I think the yellow American lotus seedling is actually getting ready to send up it's first aerial leaf also.

I do have algae in the pot it is in, I squirt it with the hose every other day and it seems to keep the algae down a little bit.

Sara, keep us updated and congrats! Post another pic when it gets multiple leaves.

Update of my lotus: the Arial leaf in my 2nd picture is still standing above water, the one in my first picture unfolded and stayed above water for a couple of days, today it's falling back down:-(

my lotus must have osteoporosis or something:-)

I would put the tabs now, but only one.

Update

Also

Butterfly4u, your lotus looks great! I finally got arial leaves from multiple plants, this time they stayed upright!

Wait for 3 aerial leaves... take the plantabs and push them down into the soil near the last shoot. Add a tab for each flower when it blooms. Stop half way through season. https://www.flickr.com/photos/area53/ Scroll down to see my lotus pics. Click on the pic for a closer view. You should really have 30 gallons (minimum) or more of container. These look too small for any blooms.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/area53/albums/72157594206929596

I get from 8 to 20 blooms in the container in my pics. The lotus I grow are also considered the giants. Not small ones. I grow 10,000 Petals, Russian Red, Giant Sunburst, First lady, & Green Maiden. You can see in the link what pots I use. I buy them online on Homedepot (You have to watch). The last two Menards had cheap sale on in Spring of 2015. I over winter them in the garage. Take them out in Middle of October, put the tubers in the types of Pots you have there, fill 75% with Dirt, place a couple layers of newspaper over soil, then tubers, then another layer of Newspaper. Put soil over the paper/tubers and leave about 3 inches from top to then fill with water. http://www.maccourt.com/products/ponds/pp3814.html

I checked out your link, you have some very nice photos there and some great macro shots. When you say "The lotus I grow are also considered the giants" do you mean the ones shown in the tubs in your photos?

tommyc-how cold can they get? and what is the advantage of the newspaper

What should I do if I don't get aerial leaves even after 2 months

This is my 1st attempt . 25 days update. Is it good??