[Tryingmybest]

I bought a Red tiger lotus from an aquarium store (it had already sprouted and hard multiple stems and leaves, it also had the bulb still attached; tho there was a part of the plant that broke away from the bulb part) and I needed some advice on how to plant it because I want to know if I planted it correctly.

The first thing I wanted to know was if it was possible to just plant it in gravel substrate and supplement it with root tabs once in a while? I was thinking probably 1 root tab per plant (because I also planted the part that broke off from the bulb)

The second thing was how to plant it. I am literally scared to just insert it too roughly/forcefully into the gravel because I don't want it to die in the process. I just dug a hole and tried covering the roots with gravel so they would stay pinned to the bottom of my tank. This method mainly worked on the part that broke from the bulb, but I have quite some trouble with the plant that still has the bulb attached. I don't want to break the bulb, but if I don't use some pressure, the entire plant just floats so..... For now, the plant is anchored but also because the bulb part is half buried in the gravel and I wanted to know if I could just leave it like that?

 

[justM3c]

I dropped my bulbs in my tank temporarily while I was waiting for my patio pond to get warmer. Within a week they’d already dug roots down into the sand. I hadn’t intended to keep them there but they grew so well that I just left them.

 

[Oso Polar]

The first thing I wanted to know was if it was possible to just plant it in gravel substrate and supplement it with root tabs once in a while?

Yes, it is possible. I have inert substrate and mainly just fertilize the water, add root tabs occasionally. Lotus likes fertilizers and it likes warm water (or it just feels summer somehow?). In winter months it usually shrinks a lot for me, couple of times it even disappeared completely. But then it wakes up and starts growing again. I hope you have a big tank.

I just dug a hole and tried covering the roots with gravel so they would stay pinned to the bottom of my tank.

Sounds about right. For such big plants, in case the roots are very long, I cut the roots to some manageable length, dig a hole, put plant inside, a bit deeper than it should go, cover the roots and the growth point with the substrate and then slowly pull the plant up to the proper depth (growth point just above substrate surface, all roots - below).

the bulb part is half buried in the gravel and I wanted to know if I could just leave it like that?

Yes, you can, bulb doesn't need to be buried completely. I'm not sure the original bulb matters at all at this point - it may just rot eventually and plant will still continue to grow. IMHO it is more important to not bury the plant too deep.

 

[ElleDee]

When the original plant separated from the bulb in my tank, it took the bulb a long, long time, but it eventually sprouted another plant. In the duration I periodically checked to make sure it wasn't going soft with rot and it never did, so I let it be.