Nelumbo Nucifera, Lotus ( Mix Colors) - 0.5 kg Seeds

The Sacred Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, is India's revered aquatic perennial, sending its large round leaves and magnificent pink, white or mixed-coloured flowers above the surface of ponds, tanks and slow waters. Deeply significant in Indian culture and religion, it is also a useful plant: the rhizomes and seeds are edible (the seeds eaten fresh or as makhana), and the flowers, leaves and seeds all feature in traditional medicine. It is grown ornamentally in garden ponds, tubs and water features as well as commercially in shallow water bodies.

• Family: Nelumbonaceae
• Native region: Tropical and subtropical Asia, including India
• Mature height: Leaves and flowers held 0.3–1.5 m above water
• Growth rate: Moderate to fast in warm water

Lotus seeds have an extremely hard, impermeable coat and will not sprout unless it is breached, so scarify each seed by carefully filing or nicking through the shell at the rounded end to expose the cream interior. Drop the prepared seeds into a jar of clean, warm water kept in a bright, warm place and change the water daily; they swell and sprout within one to two weeks. Once each seedling has a few floating leaves and short roots, pot it into a loam-filled container submerged under a few centimetres of water, gradually increasing the depth as it grows.