I wish that I had some advice for you. My lotus never really did well past the second year and I killed them trying to thin. I kept them in large pots not in a pond.

I remember a woman who used to be on here. I can't remember her name. But she had a fairly large pond built and then showed how quickly all the lotus had grown. It was pretty unbelievable and she would go out in a row boat and try to thin it. I had an in-law who had ponds and put lotus in them, and he curses the day he did that. haha They are terribly invasive, for sure. And it's amazing how the soil completely disappears, and it's all roots. I had good luck with them in 7 gallon pots, but it was a lot of work to thin them, store them over winter, etc. But dang, they're beautiful.

I have the same problem with Lotus, first few years good then a slow decline. A friend has a commercial nursery specialising in broms and water plants. Her Lotus look pretty bad after a few years in the same ponds as well, so I take heart I'm not the only one. You've got to expect Lotus to take over most ponds, the only thing that stops them is dry land or deep water (that is, water over head height).

The best fertiliser I've found so far is 20:4:4:2 + trace elements and comes in 21g tablets. The analysis is:

20% nitrogen as urea formaldehyde (7% water soluble, 13% slow release)
4.5% phosphorus as calcium phosphate (3.6% water soluble, 0.7% citrate soluble, 0.2% citrate insoluble).
4.1% potassium as sulphate.
1.6% sulphur as sulphate
2.6% calcium as phosphate
0.5% iron as sulphate
0.5% magnesium as oxide
0.05% manganese as sulphate
0.05% copper as sulphate
0.05% zinc as sulphate
0.02% boron as sodium borate

My main Lotus pond is rectangular, 3 metres X 2 metres (not sure, something like 10 feet by 6 feet?), depth of water bit under half a metre. I put 6 to 8 tabs in that (21g tabs). My nursery friend said to do that every 3 months but I get a bit slack so 6 monthly or more sometimes). I get a bit concerned as fertilisers aren't pure, they do have contaminants, often heavy metals. Unlike pots, you can't flush the soil in ponds so there's got to be a cumulative effect.

The pond is on the edge of my small dam. The dam goes dry in the dry season and the Lotus are still safe in their pond. Wet season the dam floods over the pond and it looks good, water then is about a metre deep in the pond. That friend gave me a Dwarf Lotus a few weeks back. It's winter here now so it has only grown floating leaves so far. You'll have to post photos of your flowers.

These are dry season and wet season photos of the main Lotus pond.

Hi Tropicbreezent. I just realized you were in Australia. I was thinking it was Florida. What a lovely set-up you have there. You've probably said this before, but is that a lake or a stream/river? Does it ever rise and flood your bog? Does your bog ever dry out? It looks pretty healthy. Is it hard to keep it from expanding into the other water? Are you out in the country? Sorry for all the questions...

Those fertilizer tabs seem so small to do much in a bog that size (and like my stock tank)......but it sounds like it works for you. How many hours of direct sun do you get?

The dam is just a hole in the ground, large hole. When full, at the deepest it's over the height of 2 average people (5 metres). It dries out completely late in the dry season and fills when the water table goes up in the wet season. The lotus pond is concrete, so only needs topping up during the dry season to keep it full. When the dam is about one metre below full it starts to flow over the lotus pond. Then it looks like the pond is part of the dam.

At the moment the lotus doesn't look as good as that photo, we're in the dry season now (winter). And it can't spread any further as beyond the pond it would die during the dry season. So far it hasn't tried to get out.

I only fertilise when the dam water is below the level of the pond, no need to fertilise the water in the dam. This pond only gets 4 - 5 hours of direct sun, and a couple more of filtered sun. I live in the Darwin rural area, so I have a larger block.

Thanks tropicbreeze. Do you lotus make a lot of blossoms on that amount of sunlight?

With my dwarf lotus, I have 2 blossoms almost ready to pop. I'll take pics of them when they do.

Maybe you've mentioned this before, but that water near your lotus tank......is that from a lake?

I'm not getting much out of them lately but earlier on they flowered quite well.

The water near the Lotus pond isn't a lake, it's just the (artificial) dam.

Hi again tropicbreeze. I'm sorry if I'm being a pest. I'm just trying to understand that body of water that is outside your lotus bog area. You said it's just an artificial dam. I'm having trouble understanding what that is. Maybe you're using the term differently than I might. Is that big area of water just a low spot that fills with water in the wetter season?

Ask whichever questions you like, no problem. Particularly in farming areas dams are holes dug into the ground to hold water (unlike most town water supply dams which are usually mountain rivers dammed up to hold water). When I bought my property there was a big hole already in the ground that filled with water in the wet season. I've incorporated it into my garden landscaping. But because it does dry out I've started building ponds around it that continue to hold water (and plants) all year. The plan is for different types of plants in different parts so they look like they're part of the dam during the wet season. People think I'm crazy, but I know I am so I don't mind, LOL.

Okay.......now I get it! You were using a term (dam) that isn't used that way around here and that's why I was confused. Are they smallish/round/deep holes, or is it like the earth gets scraped....from shallow to deeper? Sounds sort of like a vernal pool here, but manmade in your neck of the woods. I don't think you're crazy. Sounds like you have some cool little ponds! (Maybe we're both crazy. haha).

I looked up "vernal pool", we do get those types of waterholes around here as well, but only full of water in summer. My dam/deep hole was dug out by an excavator, it's about 5 metres deep (about 16.4 feet according to google).

I understand now. But did you really mean it was 5 meters deep? or is it that wide? 16 ft is pretty deep. If it is that deep, does it start out shallow around the perimeter and then sink to 16 ft?

This is interesting. I never knew about these "dams" before. I suppose they're similar to our "man-made" ponds.....but are made for a slightly different reason. Plus, our man-made ponds don't usually dry up much. Are frogs attracted to them and then is there enough time for the tadpoles to grow into adult frogs, before the dam might dry up?

That's how deep when full. Length is 30m X 28m (98.4 X 91.9 feet). I added an inlet channel, about 35m long X variable 2m to 4m wide ( 115 feet long X 6 to 12 feet wide). And then added an outlet channel about 30m X 5m (98.4 X 16.4 feet). I use it for swimming and canoeing, it's nice being able to paddle through the garden. I just need about another 50 years to get it to the stage I'd like, LOL.

The sides are fairly steep but some are very abrupt. The inlet and outlet channels aren't as deep. I concreted right across part of the outlet channel, that's the main access into the dam for swimming.

I've identified about 15 species of frog on my place, not all breed in the dam, some prefer the swamp that's on my place. The dam overflows into the swamp. Early in the wet season after heavy rain we have what I call "Nights of the Frogs". That's when the frogs go into a mating frenzy and the sound of their competing calls drowns out all other sounds. You can't hear the radio or TV, you have to shout to be heard. Some people hate it, but I love it. Later into the wet season frogs keep calling but with decreasing enthusiasm.

Eventually the the dam level gets high enough to flow into the swamp. The swamp flows into my creek, and the creek flows into the main river. That's when the fish make their way up and into the dam. By that stage most of the tadpoles have morphed, those too slow get cleaned up by the fish. There are some species which know how to evade fish, they're mainly those breeding in the swamp.

A natural cycle, but incorporating an 'unnatural' water body - the dam.

Wow! You have a huge piece of land, with some really great stuff on it! I'm envious of your swamp. I've been thinking how nice it would be here to have a swamp. We have about 35 acres, but seem to be a bit overwhelmed just getting through the days without creating a new project. I am soooooooo envious of your "frog night"! I can't tolerate any human sounds out my window, but I welcome wildlife sounds. We only have 2 types of frogs that usually stay the summer........green frogs and tree frogs. Do you have tree frogs? Those little guys are soooooooo loud. But I keep my window open and listen to them as I'm falling asleep. It's a lullaby to me. In the 35 years we've been here, I've only heard bullfrogs at the bridge down by the creek once. Although for the past 2 summers, they show up in my little stocktank pond at the beginning of spring, but leave soon after. You are soooo lucky with the water around you!

Does your dam every go dry? If so, does it just have bare soil, or do some sort of plants grow in it?

I know what you mean about needing another 50 years to get your property in shape. I would just appreciate having the strength I had in my youth! It's hard letting go of dreams. Wow......what a fabulous property you have! (And here I thought your lotus bog was the best thing of it. So much more than that!!). Thanks for sharing this with me tropicbreeze!

Your land is nearly twice the size of mine. I've got 9.17 hectares (22.659 acres). Bought it about 15 years ago. I was working away in a remote area and decided I should have a place of my own. What was going against this property was that about half of it was a Mango orchard, and the house was one of those transportable dwellings used in remote mining camps. But the dam, swamp, creek (it was just at the end of the wet season) finally swung me in favour of it. So far I've identified 47 bird, 10 snake and 8 mammal species (not counting me or the neighbourhood dogs) on it. Haven't been able to ID all the lizards but have Goannas, Dragons, Geckos, Skinks and Legless (or Snake-) Lizards. There's of course the rather large non-lizard 'lizard' (Crocodile). And also 14 species of native carnivorous plants. And that's not even getting to the insects, spiders, fish, etc., etc. Some people say to me it must be boring not living in the city, you probably get that sort of comment too.

By the way, nearly forgot, the dam goes completely dry late in the dry season. It's overshadowed by large trees and nothing grows in the dry bottom.

Hey tropicbreeze........Be sure to check your private messages. I sent you one.

What a paradise you have there, tropicbreeze. It makes me want to move. :)

Central Indiana here in the U.S. isn't known for its concern for the environment. Most people think more subdivisions/roads/businesses is the most important thing. It's very sad. I love our little property, but it's not the healthiest place......lots of dying trees and invasive vines and bushes........But for now, it's all we've got, so we enjoy the wildlife that still seems to like our area.

You may be using the wrong fertilizer. I've always read (and used) water garden fertilizer pellets with great success. Plus thinning out every spring. May put them all in pots to slow down the growth? They will still flower. Thats what I do in my Stock Tank water garden.

Easier to thin out every spring when they are in pots.