Nelumbo nucifera
Ruby Gardner is a classic, single-wing lotus that thrives in a very large pot or an earth-bottom pond in order to live its best life! Collected by Steve Stroupe in an heirloom North Alabama pond, the name had long been forgotten so Steve named it after the pond owner, Mrs. Ruby Gardner. Whatever the name, this lotus is beautiful and definitely needs to be saved!
Flower Color: Bicolor - pink and white
Plant Height: Large, 4’ or taller - LOTS taller
Flower Type: Few-Petal, less than 25 petals
Pot Size: 18” or wider, 14”-20” deep
HOW TO FERTILIZE LOTUS
For conventional fertilizer (tablets or loose prills) which releases quickly when water is added:
Wait until the lotus plant has several floating leaves or begins to put up aerial leaves before adding fertilizer.
Choose a good fertilizer such as Waterlily World Tablets, Pondtabbs or Landon’s Aquatic Fertilizer and follow the instructions carefully. The amount of fertilizer to use is usually based on the size of the pot and the amount of soil in the pot. For example, most of the small tablets are added at a ratio of 1-2 tablets per gallon of soil in the pot. Once the lotus has started to grow vigorously tablets can be added every 2-3 weeks. Stop fertilizing in late summer to allow the lotus to use up all the fertilizer in the pot before going dormant. This encourages the lotus to form better rhizomes.
For SLOW-RELEASE FERTILIZER like Nutricote 14-4-14, 100 day fertilizer:
*follow amount directions on package. Place fertilizer around the bottom of the pot then add soil. Plant rhizome in the soil at the top of soil layer and let it grow down to find fertilizer. We use slow-release fertilizer but begin adding extra Pondtabbs after 3 months when growth gets vigorous and we continue adding extra fertilizer until late summer.
Do NOT use 360 day fertilizer because it will release fertilizer for too long and the lotus will not form as many rhizomes when it goes dormant.