all lotus overwinted in large buckets died during the winter im in zone 9a.

by lynnette
(bakersfield California,kern county)

I live in zone 9a. I had ten lotus growing in large buckets and two growing in my small garden pond. All the lotus in the buckets died this winter and the ones in the pond survived. We never get below 32 degrees in the winter. No freeze. So what do you assume happened to the lotus in the buckets? Why did they die and the ones in the pond survive? Please help?

Doug says it's a good question. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head to take them all out is some sort of cultural thing - bad water or too much fertilizer or a cultural issue that would have been the same for all plants. In other words, the way they were grown. Given the pond ones survived, you're doing something with the buckets that's not working

They do want a down-time, a dormancy of no-growth but the lack of this wouldn't have killed them, just stunted them back somewhat. And even your "winter" should have given them a rest.

Gotta go with something in the water, feeding or the way they were handled. And I don't know any of these things so can't really help.