How to Plant Taro & Lotus

Taro, also known as dasheen, is a tropical plant grown for its edible corm that's a lot like a potato. Taro needs a seven-month growing season with warm temperatures and no frosts. Lotus likes being planted in even wetter soil than taro and is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 11. The deep pink, white or yellow lotus flowers can brighten up any pond or water garden.

Things You'll Need

• Soil testing kit
• Spade or shovel
• Compost
• Fertilizer
• Container (half barrel, plastic pot or water gardening basket)
• Dark plastic sheeting or heavy-duty pond liner
• Marine grade paint (optional)
• Cork or rubber stoppers (optional)
• Silicone sealant (optional)
• Heavy clay garden soil
• Commercial topsoil
• Water gardening soil
• Pea gravel
• Bricks

Instructions

Taro

1. Find a site in partial shade with fertile, rich, moist to wet, slightly acidic soil. Taro will tolerate sitting in water up to 12 inches deep for short periods of time.

2. Test the soil from the planting site for fertility levels and pH with a kit from your county extension office. You can also purchase a soil testing kit from a nursery or garden center.

3. Remove sticks, rocks and trash from the planting area. Till the soil to a depth of 8 to 12 inches with a spade or a shovel two to three months before the planting date.

4. Amend the soil with organic matter such as compost, fertilizer and other amendments based on the results of the soil test.

5. Dig a hole 3 inches deep as soon as all danger of frost has passed in hardiness zones 8 to 11 and place the taro tuber into it. Space the tubers 2 feet apart in the row and space each row 4 feet apart.

6. Water until soil is evenly moist to slightly wet.

Lotus

1. Line or seal containers with holes in them before preparing to plant. Line half barrels with dark plastic sheeting, heavy-duty pond liners or paint with marine grade paint to seal them. Plug holes in pots with stoppers made of rubber or cork, then use a silicone sealant if the pot still leaks.

2. Fill a 6- to 12-inch-deep and 1- to 3-foot-diameter pot two-thirds full of damp heavy clay, commercial topsoil or water gardening soil.

3. Place the lotus tuber in the center of the pot. Cover the tuber with 2 to 4 inches of potting soil, but leave the thin growing tip sticking out of the soil.

4. Spread a 1/2- to 1-inch layer of pea gravel on top of the soil without covering the lotus' growing tip.

5. Stack bricks in the water gardening container or the edge of the pond. Lower the pot slowly into the water until the pot has 4 to 6 inches of water covering it. Adjust the bricks to get the proper depth if needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Plant dwarf lotus in 6-inch-deep, 12-inch-diameter pots.

• Plant lotus tubers as soon as water temperatures reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit or above.

• Do not put fertilizer into the hole when planting taro to prevent burning the sucker.

• Never handle lotus tubers roughly to avoid damaging it.

• Avoid planting lotus in soil containing vermiculite, peat or perlite.

References

• Floridata: Colocasia Esculenta
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Taro
• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Tropical Root Crop Production in Florida
• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Dasheen -- Clocasia Esculenta
• University of Illinois Extension: Planting Aquatic Plants
• Maryland Cooperative Extension: Basics of Planting Aquatic Plants

Resources

• Utah State University Cooperative Extension: Water Features for the Garden
• University of Illinois Extension: Constructing and Caring for Container Water Gardens
• Floridata: Nelumbo Lutea
• Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden: The Potato of the Humid Tropics
• Floridata: Alocasia Macrorrhiza