Nymphaea Lotus (Zenkeri)

[DaveA76]

bought this as a plant from my lfs with 2-3 small leaves, it now has 6 leaves at the bottom but is sending long stems (with leaves) up to the surface every 4-5 days i know have 4 leaves on the surface and 1 just started today, is this normal behaviour for this plant ?

 

[RadaR]

Yes because it is a lily.
If you notice, the leaves at the bottom (the ones that stay at the bottom) are a different shape than the ones at the top. Therefore, when you see that particular leaf shape that tends to shoot for the surface you can cut it off straight away. The plants starts to learn and stops producing that type of leaf.

 

[DAlmond123]

Well I heard people say you need to cut it if you want the plant to continue growing because after the lily shoots up the plant goes dormant for a while.

 

[DaveA76]

well i cut of thhe pads as advised then the rest of the lowere leaves died off 1 by on until it was all gone, then it started to shoot again and is back at the size i bought it at ut looks good

 

[ChilliPepper]

bought this as a plant from my lfs with 2-3 small leaves, it now has 6 leaves at the bottom but is sending long stems (with leaves) up to the surface every 4-5 days i know have 4 leaves on the surface and 1 just started today, is this normal behaviour for this plant ?

Perfectly normal behaviour for a lilly. I have some red Nymphaea bulbs which are fantastic. Despite being nibbled at by barbs and cichlids, they just keep growing back Very nice, hardly plant which doesn't need much maintenance.

Well I heard people say you need to cut it if you want the plant to continue growing because after the lily shoots up the plant goes dormant for a while.

Most plants benefit from pruning, however it isn't necessary to cut all stems off in order to encourage new growth. Mine grew nicely with marginal pruning.