How to plant lotus

Lotus

The planting method of bowl lotus is different from that of ordinary flowers. Because the seeds of bowl lotus are relatively hard, they need to be shelled. I remember an article saying that ancient lotus seeds were found in a lotus pond, and they could even germinate. This shows how strong the protective ability of the seed shell is! Let’s analyze how to plant bowl lotus step by step.

How to plant lotus

The first step is to break the shell of the seeds. The lotus seed peel has a special structure that is hard and thick. After the seeds are fully mature and dried, water and air cannot penetrate easily, and the respiration is very slow, which makes them in a forced dormant state. Therefore, lotus seeds can be buried in the soil for hundreds or even thousands of years without germinating or rotting. This is the reason why lotus seeds live long. In order to allow lotus seeds to absorb water and oxygen after sowing, break the forced dormant state, and enter the germination and growth state, the shell must be broken before the seeds are germinated.

Lotus has inverted ovules, and the embryo is attached to the top of the seed. When breaking the shell, the base of the seed should be broken, that is, the end of the seed attached to the receptacle, which is also the concave end of the lotus seed. It can be broken with scissors or pliers. Before sowing, generally just grind the peel (that is, the hard shell of the lotus seed) until the brown seed coat is seen; when clamping the shell, just make a 2-3 mm crack at the base, and do not clamp too deep to avoid hurting the embryo. After soaking the seeds for one day, when the embryo absorbs water and expands, and the peel absorbs water and becomes soft, you can peel off 1/3 of the peel along the broken shell by hand to expose the embryo, so as to facilitate the elongation of the embryo. It must be noted that the broken shell area cannot be too large or too much. If the hard shell of the lotus seed is completely removed, the embryo will lose protection and will easily rot and die.

The second step is to soak the seeds and germinate them. Soak the broken seeds in warm water at about 50 degrees. The water for soaking the seeds should be clean, free of grease and dirt. Do not use water above 50 degrees, otherwise it will affect germination. The water temperature drops naturally and finally remains at about 30 degrees. It should not be higher than 40 degrees or lower than 20 degrees. If the water temperature is higher than 40 degrees, the seeds will germinate quickly on the first day, but their growth will be inhibited later. When the water temperature is lower than 20 degrees, the seeds will germinate and grow too slowly. When soaking a small amount of seeds at home, you can put them in a thermos bottle to keep them warm. Under the condition of 30 degrees, the seeds will generally germinate after 3 days of soaking and germination, and the embryo will extend from the crack. During this period, the water needs to be changed 1 to 3 times a day, and the seeds that cannot germinate should be removed in time. Under normal circumstances, seeds that have not germinated for 7 days will not germinate. Seeds without germination ability often float on the water surface, the embryo turns yellow, and the cotyledons rot and stink. (You can also soak the seeds directly in tap water, without the need for warm water or heating. The seeds will germinate in about two days.)