In this post, we’ll be talking about how this Tiger Lotus plant grows, the color you can expect, bulbs, and how to propagate it.
But first, before we get to that, I just wanted to say that I’ve been growing Tiger Lotus plants for about 3 years now, and I have to say, they are one of the most beautiful plants that I grow.
The Color of The Plant
So first let’s talk about the color of this plant. This plant develops really nice coloration, but it’s only till the leaves reached the surface of your aquarium or your pond, that you’ll really start to see those really nice colors.
When the leaves are below the water you can expect more of like a greenish little bit of reddish tint to the leaves and a little bit of speckle coloration, but nothing compared to once those leaves reach the surface of your aquarium.
I love the color of the leaves, once the leaves reach the top of an aquarium, once the sunlight really has a chance to hit these leaves, they develop this really beautiful speckled coloration that just is so eye-catching.
And especially if you do grow these plants in a pond, they’ll definitely be a nice conversation piece, whenever somebody comes over to look at your pond.
The colors that develop from the leaves of this plant are just so beautiful, and I think you know you can’t really avoid it. So that’s one thing I just really like about Lotus plants.
The Plant Roots
Another cool thing about Tiger Lotus plants, something that you won’t really see, but you’ll see if you pull the plants out of your aquarium, is the purple roots. I don’t know what it is about this plant but once this plant really establishes itself and grows a really nice root system, if you ever have the chance to take this plant out of your aquarium you’ll notice that the roots are purple.
When I first saw that, This is one of the few rare times that I wish actually that this plant grew with an exposed root system, because a lot of us when we grow stem plants foreground plants we don’t like to see the roots, we like the roots to be where they’re supposed to be – down in the substrate.
But in this case, because the roots have a nice purple coloration it would be nice if this plant grew as an exposed root system kind of like an Anubias plant.
Growing Conditions For Tiger Lotus
Another thing before we get into what this plant is all about, I just love how easy these plants are to grow they’re not challenging at all, they don’t really require Co2, they don’t really require too many nutrients, they don’t even really require great lighting.
They just need a little bit of light. You can probably rely on the waste from your fish to give this plant the nutrients that it needs.
| Care | Easy |
| Temperature | 72-83℉ |
| pH | 5.5-8 |
| Light | Medium |
How To Propagate Tiger Lotus?
Next, let’s talk about how to propagate this plant. The way that I propagate Tiger Lotus plants is, I buy them as a bulb first, I let them sprout and grow and then I remove that sprout from the bulb.
The bulb actually will shoot out this little root, or stem that’s probably around a 1 -1.5 inch long before it finally starts to develop in another Tiger Lotus plant. It doesn’t grow another bulb but it just grows the actual tiger Lotus plant with the root system, it kinda looks like an Amazon sword growth structure or it’s more like a Rosette plant where it has the plant growing and then the roof structuring.
It’s attached to the bulb with a 1.5-inch small stem. So what I do is I just remove that, after the plant has had a chance to grow and then I replant the bulb back into my substrate.
And believe it or not, the bulb will grow a whole another stem, and red tiger lotus plant again. and I’ve just been repeating that cycle over and over again, and I’ve been able to grow my own tiger Lotus plants.
There might be some other methods out there, that I’m just not familiar with.
How To Plant Tiger Lotus?
So it really depends on what type of tiger Lotus plant you buy. And what I mean by that is it depends on if you buy a bulb, or if you buy a plant that’s been separated from a bulb.
Plant Tiger Lotus Bulbs
So I’ll discuss the bulb first. If you buy the tiger Lotus plant as a bulb, what you want to do is to plant the bulb so that it’s exposed a little bit from your substrate. You don’t want to bury the bulb entirely. Although I will say that I’ve done that and I’ve still grown Tiger Lotus plants like crazy.
So you could give that a try but as far as I know, a lot of people recommend that you don’t do that because the bulb could rot and just fade away. People say that you need to expose this bulb to a little bit of sunlight. So that’s why I recommend partially inserting it into your substrate just leave it a little bit exposed, so that bulb can get some nice sunlight.
Pretty much after that, the bulb will shoot out a little stem and grow a whole another Tiger Lotus plant, and that’s pretty much all you got to do.
If you grow a Tiger Lotus plant from a bulb, and the bulb really doesn’t establish a root system, it can’t anchor itself into the substrate.
Growing Tiger Lotus In Fish Tank
This is not the plant that you want to grow with goldfish, cichlids, or any fish that likes to dig in your substrate. Because it’ll only uproot the bulb and it’ll just take so long to grow the tiger Lotus plant, or the bulb just won’t grow at all, because it’s being moved around so much.
So this plant is best grown with fish that just won’t disturb it.
Plant With Already Established Root System
If you receive a Tiger Lotus plant with an already established root system separated from the bulb, it’s very simple. All you got to do is plant that tiger Lotus plant, leaving the part that’s not the root system exposed.
You shouldn’t bury the tiger Lotus plant beyond where the roots actually end. You want to just bury the root system and leave the rest of the plant exposed. and that’s pretty much all you got to do. And as far as nutrient goes and sunlight, this plant is very easy to grow.
Plant Tiger Lotus With Other Type Of Plants
Something I will add though is that you don’t want to grow this plant with any foreground plants because it does tend to block a lot of light coming into your aquarium, once those leaves reach the top of your aquarium.
Similar to banana plants, Ludwigia, and dwarf aquarium lilies, they’re just not the plants to grow with foreground plants, that require a lot of good light. So if you want to grow this plant with foreground plants, I would suggest plants like Anubias, or maybe some Pennywort. Stuff that really doesn’t need a lot of light, because the Tiger Lotus plant leaves, they don’t really get that big. So they don’t block a lot of light.
But if you are growing a lot of tiger Lotus plants in your tank, it’s gonna block a
lot of light. So I would just say, to minimize the risk of wasting your money and your foreground plants, just fading away because they’re not getting the light that they need, just grow Tiger Lotus plants with really low demanding plants as far as lighting goes. Pretty much plants that are similar to the growing needs and health requirements that a tiger lotus plant needs.
Hi, my name is Sean, and I’m the primary writer on the site. I’m blogging mostly about freshwater and saltwater aquariums, fish, invertebrates, and plants. I’m experienced in the fishkeeping hobby for many years. Over the years I have kept many tanks, and have recently begun getting more serious in wanting to become a professional aquarist. All my knowledge comes from experience and reading forums and a lot of informative sites. In pursuit of becoming a professional, I also want to inspire as many people as I can to pick up this hobby and keep the public interest growing.
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