leaf type of my red tiger lotus

[HelplessNewbie]

I didn't know there were two types of leaves that this plant can grow. Please look at the photo on my post, and let me know what kind I have?

Edited June 27 by HelplessNewbie

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/27/2024 at 8:36 AM, HelplessNewbie said:

I didn't know there were two types of leaves that this plant can grow. Please look at the photo on my post, and let me know what kind I have?

I just snapped this quick, glare-y, too snail-y picture of my tiger lotus:

(The whole tank is mid-transition, it normally looks better, I swear!)

Anyway, yes, I have found that my lotus will grow low, bushy, submerged leaves for a while,and then it will send up a lilypad leaf, which you can see shooting up to the surface there (I don't know how to add arrows, sorry).

If I let it send up lilypads, soon enough that's all it wants to grow, which makes sense because those leaves have access to atmospheric CO2 and are a lot closer to the light. But I don't want it shading out the other plants, and I want the low, bushy look. So I just trace down the lilypad leaf, uh, stem (?) and pinch it off as close to the bulb as I can. As long as I stay on top of it, the lotus stops trying for a while, then eventually tries again.

[HelplessNewbie]

@Rube_Goldfish,so, does it looks like mine hasn't sent up pads? It looks like all its leaves want to reach the surface.

Why do yours look so much more pretty and delicate?

Edited June 27 by HelplessNewbie

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/27/2024 at 12:05 PM, HelplessNewbie said:

@Rube_Goldfish,so, does it looks like mine hasn't sent up pads? It looks like all its leaves want to reach the surface.

You know, on second viewing, no, it doesn't look like any of those leaves are pads. In my experience, the pad leaves stay sort of curled up until reaching the surface, then they unfurl.

Reposting your picture here for convenience's sake:

I do think there can be more triangular and more rounded leaves, though, from the same plant, and some are more green and some more red. I've never really wondered why, now that you've got me thinking about it.

But your original question is what kind of plant is it? It looks to me to match mine, more or less, which was sold to me as a bulb by my LFS as a "red tiger lotus". How was yours labeled?

[HelplessNewbie]

@Rube_Goldfish, my plant was sold to me as red tiger lotus. Thank you for the tip. I will keep trimming.

[HelplessNewbie]

Here are better photos, I hope. This is in the 20 gal long. With flash, looks red. Without flash, more rust brown.

 

Here are pics of our other 2 red tiger lotus in our plant "nursery"/qt:

Edited June 27 by HelplessNewbie

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 6/27/2024 at 6:50 PM, HelplessNewbie said:

Here are better photos, I hope. This is in the 20 gal long. With flash, looks red. Without flash, more rust brown.

 

Here are pics of our other 2 red tiger lotus in our plant "nursery"/qt:

They all look very nice! I'm pretty quickly getting past the point of knowing what I'm talking about. The only explanation I can think of, other than that they may be different cultivars, is that there are a ton of variables from tank-to-tank and even in different spots of a tank, so it could be any of a number of things making them look different.

Incidentally, there's nothing wrong with letting the lily pad leaves go, if that's what you want, but in my experience, once the plant has "found" the surface, it sort of loses interest in submerged leaves (if you'll forgive me the anthropomorphism). Plus it may cause shading issues with your other plants. That's all I meant, really.

[daggaz]

My lotus only sends up surface leaves.  Either they are curled up and unfurl near the surface, or they open early but the stem still keeps growing and they (rather quickly) reach the top anyhow.  I have to cut this plant back an astonishing amount, or it quickly blocks all light in over half of the entire meter long aquarium, despite being planted way off in one corner.