Update: Lotus, White Pitcher, and Venus

Lotus
Both lotus plants now have 4 leaves each and I see a fifth leaf coming up. I currently don't have my camera right now but when I do, I'll be providing pictures.

White Pitcher Plant
Only one of my White Pitcher Plants has survived. The last remaining one looks like it probably won't make it. I will do anything I can to keep it alive.

Venus Fly Trap
I currently have three Venus Fly traps growing.

Update: Lotus and Pitcher Plants

White Pitcher Plant

That grass like thing that I showed a few months prior is still here with no change. However I have noticed something with the other 2 white pitcher plants. I see a little green stem coming out in both compartments, one of them also has a seed attached. I tried to take a picture of them but they are too small. Hopefully in a few weeks they'll be big enough.

As a side note I will be spraying the pitcher plants and Venus fly traps with my homemade fungicide.

Lotus
One lotus plant already has one leaf that has opened completely. The other plant, the leaf is almost completely open. Both plants appear to have second leaves coming in.

Lotus Leaf

Update: Lotus

The lotuses are now peeking above the water. Hopefully in a few days the leaves will show.

Lotus Plant

Other Lotus Plant

I have noticed a minor mosquito problem since I started growing the lotuses outside. On top of that, I've noticed a lot of bugs (probably mosquitoes) floating on top of the water. I bought some gold fish and placed them in the bucket with my plants. The bugs in the bucket have gone down so hopefully so will the mosquito problem.

Lotus Seeds Planted

I put some garden soil in 2 buckets and filled it with rain water that I collected. I waited a few days but the water has not settled yet but I went ahead and dropped the seeds in. We'll see in a few days how the seeds are doing.

The soil I used is store bought garden soil. Online I saw some people just dug some soil out of their backyard. Unfortunately, my backyard is full of grass. If these seeds fail, on my next attempt, that is what I'll be doing.

Both Lotus Seeds Growing

Both of my Lotus seeds have sprouts which means that I will need to plant them soon.

Both of my Lotus seeds are growing

Next Step

I have 2 buckets. I'm going to fill them with garden soil up until 3 inches from the top. I will then fill it with water. I'm going to let the soil settle overnight and in the morning I will plant the seeds.

Update: Lotus

Today I went to check on my Lotuses and one of them has a split with some green showing. Nothing has sprouted out yet but hopefully something will in the next day or 2.

Update: Lotus, Pitcher, and Venus

I checked the weather reports and it looks like it's not going to be warm enough for at least another week. I saw my electronic heating pad in my room and decided to use it to heat up some of my plants. The water lilies were too flooded so I only got to heat the lotus, pitcher plant, and venus fly trap seeds.

I placed the lotus jar and pitcher plant, venus fly trap seed tray on the heating pad and turned it on. There's a safety feature on the heating pad that only allows it to be on for 2 hours. So I had to turn it on several times a day.

So far nothing but I have seen more humidity in the seed tray.

The Lotus jar and Seed Tray

Pitcher Plant

Before I put the seed tray on the heating pad I noticed something that looked like a blade of grass growing out of one of the white pitcher plant compartments. This is the same seed starter that I'm using for my vegetables and flowers that I'm growing. I have noticed weeds growing in those seed trays. However, none of the weeds have looked like a blade of grass. I don't know what the germination of a pitcher plant looks like so I'm going to leave the the "blade of grass" in for now.

Start of a Pitcher Plant?

Possible Delay In Germination

There is possibly going to be a delay in the lotus, water lily, pitcher plant, and venus fly trap seeds. These seeds require warm temperatures and lately it's been cold. Today is the first day of spring and it's still pretty cold so that seems to be delaying my plants.
According to what I read online lotus seeds are suppose to start sprouting within 4 to 5 days. Well it's been 6 days and there's not even a split in the seed yet.

Update: Lotus seeds

There's not much to update except for that now my other lotus seed is lumpy too. So I should be seeing a green shoot within a few days.

Growing Lotus Seeds

I went online and bought 5 lotus seeds. I'm currently growing 2 of them.

Lotus seeds needs to be scarified in order to germinate. Online I found 2 methods. One is to use a knife and cut a slit until you see the white parts. Another is to file the outer coating until the white part shows. I tried the filing method, I gave up after an hour. Cutting a slit is tough but much easier than filing down. (In nature lotus seeds spend 50 to 100 years at the bottom of a pond before they germinate. You can see how tough that coat is)

To get the seeds to germinate you're suppose to soak the seeds in distilled or rain water. I put the seeds in a jar and covered them with rain water that I collected. Place the seeds in a warm location and change the water every few hours when it gets cloudy.

My Seeds

My Seeds Scarified

It's only been a few hours since I started the seeds but I have noticed something. From what I read online the outside coating gets lumpy due to water absorption. That happens after a few days. The one that I filed down is already lumpy. We'll see if that speeds it up in a few days.