Bonsai Lotus Seeds for Planting

I was honestly a little worried about buying these because of all of the reviews saying not many of these seeds have sprouted. That is clearly not the case for me. I counted when I got the seeds and received a total of 39 in my order. The add says 30 so the extra seeds are a bonus in my book. Especially considering these are some of the less expensive Lotus Seeds on Amazon, it is a deal for sure. Anyway, of those 39 seeds: 30 have already begun to grow, 3 had to be thrown away due to going bad (moldy), and 6 have not begun to grow yet... they are in another cup with water and I'm waiting to see if they do anything. I am hopeful the 6 seeds will grow and do something because, as you can see, they are not all sprouting and growing at the same speed. Hopefully the 6 are just late bloomers and can join my other seeds soon. I did watch a couple different videos on YouTube and read a few articles about Lotus seeds so I could learn the best practices for getting these to grow and attribute that extra work in how well these seeds are doing. Main things I learned that should help anyone wanting to get these. 1. When you first get the seeds one end has been sanded down a little already. Sand them down just a tiny bit more to get a little white showing. This makes it easier for the seed to sprout as the seeds start dry and have to fully hydrate before anything can happen. Roughing them up a little exposes the living portion of the seed so the water can reach it easier. 2. You need to change the water daily. Everything I read and watch was repeating this multiple times because it is so important. The water needs to be room temperature, don't make it hot or cold. The new water should be as close to the same temp as the old water as possible before adding it to the seeds. 3. Partial sunlight not indirect or full sunlight. If you have a window that let's some sun in for a few hours use that one. 4. Be patient, sometimes it may look like the seeds aren't going to sprout but it can take more time than advertised on here. That is okay. Don't quit and don't give up on your seeds. I am so pleased with how well these seeds are growing and can't wait to give them out as the gifts I intended them to be, and keep a few for my home as well. I will, hopefully, remember to update once the plants begin to bloom so you can see the variety and how they are looking and doing.

We bought these seeds last fall, in the early spring we planted the seed inside following the instructions the seeds came with and they germinated just fine. Around May 1st the large pot was moved out to our patio where it gets about 8-10 hour of sun a day where it continued the grow all summer( see attached picture). Well here we are 9/15/25 it was 46 last night and the forecast is going to be the same in the near future and to date WE HAVE HAD 0 BLOOMS :-( ... Very disappointing!!! We live in Eastern Oregon so fall is just a few weeks away so we'll winter the seeds over and try next year.

All I can say is that after watching a few different youtube video about how to grow these little guys I went with the hammer method. And it WORKED! I put 9 in 2 separate different containers with water (18 total)- only one batch I used sandpaper and the other batch I hit with a hammer. In about 20 min of being submerged - the hammered ones started to germinate. At first I thought only 1 - 2 were opening up -then about 2 hours later: 8 of the 9 were opening and I could see a tiny sprout forming. It's been about 24 hours since I started them, and the ones I used sandpaper on are still not showing any signs of germination. I still have half a bag of seeds left and I will definitely be using the hammer method for the rest of them. Totally worth it! Can't wait to see them grow!

I tried getting the seeds to sprout and used a little less than half of them on my first try. They sprouted pretty quickly but I was never able to get them to bloom. Also, the water got really dirty often and had to be changed every second or third day because the smell was unbearable. I would not buy these again. Maybe they will work for someone else in a different climate. I live in a hot desert climate but tried to get these to bloom inside.

I bought these at the end of May, it’s august now. I immediately put them in my pond. They grow extremely quickly. However I haven’t gotten a single flower from them. If you’re looking for shade, they’re great. If your looking for flowers,they are a flop.

Out of the entire pack only 5 didn't make it- 3 weren't viable. With the extras that were in there we had 94% germination- thats stellar! That is extremely good seed viability. I threw half package each in a mason jar with tap water- set on a seed germination heat mat, indirect light. Changed the water once or twice a day (it gets CRAZY stinky.. the water smells like swamp fart juice after part of 1 day, they sprouted within 2 or 3 days. And grew quite fast. In 3 weeks before I moved them to my pond the stems (most had multiples growing) were 3+ feet long, the lily pads had started opening and they are very small currently. Like 1" across- hopefully they get much larger but I suspect these will be small and the flowers, prob nothing whatsoever like the pictures but we will see how they do. Our goal was to use these as landing pads for our beehive to drink water from our pond. I guess they don't flower the 1st year so if THATS what you're after and in a place like me where everything gets buried in snow, you'll have to plan to bring them inside in the winter and deal with water changes and whatnot. Overall- I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome- infinitely better than some other reviews (the heating pad or warm water Is NECCESARY for good germination and growth) I'd bet most of the bad reviews were people not following neccesary steps and just tossing them in cold water and expecting miracles.

Cool experience for the kids, but we never got blooms. Would not purchase again. Got these in April for my girls as they really wanted to grow water lotus flowers. We soaked 10 of the seeds in a paper cup for a few days, changing out the water daily. We used a paper cup because the soaking process leaves a dark brown stain and it was easier to toss the cup after the germination process. 9 of the 10 seeds sprouted, they were placed in a shallow birdbath and placed on our windowsill. This window faces north, so lots of soft morning sun and is shaded by the afternoon. The water was partially changed daily. We watched the little leaves unfurl and pop up on the surface of the bird bath. My girls were mesmerized and waiting excitedly for the flower to make an appearance. Nope. Slowly the leaves wilted. I pinched those leaves off, hoping it might sprout another stem of sorts. Nope. Then mold started appearing on a seed, then two; and on some leaves. I took all the moldy stuff out. The water was fully changed at this point on a daily basis-also ran water through the seeds to make sure there was no slimy film. All that effort and we just had little Lilly pads-nothing else. I had left for a weekend and came back to a puddle of slimy, moldy plants. Two and a half month of diligent care gone. My girls were disappointed. We won’t be trying again soon with the rest of the seeds. Buy it for the germination experience, like what teachers do in class with the kidney/lima beans, but be prepared to dedicate daily attention to these plants in the hopes you might get blooms. (Kidney beans would be way easier and cheaper to teach kids about plant germination.) If you are a novice-these seeds are not recommended. If you have planting experience and want a challenge-get it and I wish you the best of luck (also please share how you got these seeds to bloom). And of course for any horticulturist-please accept this polite challenge to grow these seeds and share with us how you got them to not mold, not get slimy, and more importantly to bloom. Thank you in advance.

Planned to early frost destroyed my plants

No result, no flower growing