Nymphaea lotus - Tiger Lotus. Problem with surface leaves

Hi guys,
I have a Nymphaea lotus which is growing very strong, it has great colour and growing quite fast. It looks like a very healthy plant but for one issue. When the leaves break the surface as they're supposed to, they rot or melt where the leaf is on contact with the air. As they're supposed to float on the surface, I don't understand what is going wrong. The rest of the leaf will look fine but the part not submerged disappears and looks like it's been eaten by caterpillars.

 

I keep mine trimmed to not reach the surface. You can train these to grow where you want. If you just keep cutting off anything that grows higher than you like, the plant will eventually learn it can only grow that tall and stop trying to reach the surface.

 

I was told by a member here that they grow leaves to the surface when they are not getting enough light. I found that to be the case with mine.
If I let the duckweed get too thick, the lotus starts to send up to the top.
It just happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I removed most of the duckweed and trimmed the leaf heading for the top and the next new leaf stayed low.

 

Yep, some of the new leaves will naturally grow to reach for the surface. Not sure what type you have, but mine are Red Tiger Lotus, never really had the issue you described. Surface shooters can be snipped close to the base and the plant will eventually become more bushy and send out substrate runners and occasionally shooters. As you can see in the pic, more bushy with it still sending out the shooters.




Good Luck!

 

Thanks for your help, guys. The one I have is this one... Nymphaea lotus I was under the impression that surface leaves were an option and I actually wanted that as I think it looks good but if they won't stay healthy on the surface I may as well prune them and keep them looking good at lower levels. Out of interest, have any of you had them flower?

 

Oh! If you want that surface growth then you're fine. Before I trained mine, they'd eventually die off and fall apart at the surface too. Not sure what causes it, maybe excess moisture? But the plant would usually have 2 more halfway to the surface by the time one fell apart. I wouldn't stress over it too much, just give it some time and a root tab and it will grow like crazy.

 

Oh! If you want that surface growth then you're fine. Before I trained mine, they'd eventually die off and fall apart at the surface too. Not sure what causes it, maybe excess moisture? But the plant would usually have 2 more halfway to the surface by the time one fell apart. I wouldn't stress over it too much, just give it some time and a root tab and it will grow like crazy.

Thanks, Mimo. I do use root tabs and they seem to do the trick. I'll leave things as they are for a while and see what happens.

 

I’ve never had mine flower. And I have no idea what the Latin name is. I purchased mine from a private aquarist.