On Thu, 6 Jul 2006 20:21:01 -0500, "Koi-Lo" ¤?¤@ö½.Õ..Õ¢ wrote:

I can't see why topsoil would have harmed your lotus. Could you have buried
it too deep? I just laid the original tuber on the muck and added enough
over it to hold it in place. It moved itself down to the bottom (?).

Directions that came with it said not to bury it, but lay it on top of
the dirt and hold it down with a rock. That's what I did, but it
didn't like something I did, because it just never grew big. It put
on three or four leaves about 3" diameter that looked pale yellow
green for about a week and then shriveled up. I may have been just
plain bad luck. Anyway I put water hyacinths and rush in the barrel
until next year. I'll use garden soil next year.

Regards,

Hal