Purple Lotus Plant – The Ultimate Guide to Growing and Caring

The purple lotus plant (Nelumbo nucifera) is one of the most beautiful, cleanest and most spiritual plants on Earth. With large, purple gently on idyllic steams and lakes, the purple lotus surely gave birth to many myths surrounding its symbolism, including ideas of purity, beauty and spiritual awakening. It has long captured the interest of cultures across the world and it continues to fascinate today. But besides its alluring aesthetic, the purple lotus is packed with health benefits, not to forget how easy it is to grow them in your own garden. If you read to the end of this article, you are sure to feel the same fascination about purple lotus plants that others have for centuries. In this article, we will take a closer look at the different aspects of the purple lotus plant – its symbolism, cultivation and health benefits.

The Symbolism of the Purple Lotus Plant

The purple lotus (Nymphaea caerulea, or the blue Egyptian lotus) comes in shades of blue and purple; it is considered the most beautiful of all lotus flowers. It is also symbolically rich, containing various associations and meanings. In ancient Egypt, the flower was associated with the sun, with creation and rebirth. It was believed that the sun god Ra rose in the sky like a lotus flower. The symbolism of the lotus then ties in with the notion of life’s perpetual resurrection, standing as a symbol of unconditional regeneration. When the lotus unfurls its crowning petals, some interpreters take it as an uplifting metaphor for purity and higher consciousness, rising from the mud of material existence and overcoming the suffering imposed by a difficult existence.

The purple lotus in Buddhist and Hindu traditions is a symbol of spirituality, connected to mysticism in the loamy mud, the root of the Buddha, and to the flower of awakening of the bodhisattva in the world. ‘When our soul, like the mystic lotus, has unfolded all its perfumed petals, when it has observed all its laws, and bloomed into being, it ascends to the spiritual world,’ writes Leo Tolstoy in The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894). On the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, alive flowers, brown fragile roots, and brown shapes of dead flowers can be seen piled high around trees that swell in the mud where bodies of cremated loved ones become a retribution for the impetus of the soul. Here, the colour purple is compelling. Some histories of the colour assign purple to the mystic realm, as the pathway to the acquisition of esoteric knowledge. It is often presented as the access to the divine world, to brake the process of death and rebirth. ‘Purple stood as the one symbol of sacredness that God introduced on earth,’ writes the late psychiatrist Carl Jung in Man and His Symbols (1964).

Cultivating the Purple Lotus Plant

Anyone can observe this plant in nature and cannot help admiring its beauty. But for those who like to grow and take a plant’s care small patch of earth is royal purple, as long as you understand its demands occupies an important intellectual and Buddhist thought. Owing to its enchanting nature, it has become an object of devotion and symbolises the ultimate goal of every being who treads this path. While strong and resilient, this small purple plant possesses the most delicate appearance of any flowering plant.

Choosing the Right Environment

From choosing the right environment to caring for the purple lotus, here’s what you need to know: 1. Plant placement: The purple lotus is native to tropical and subtropical climates, and it thrives in temperatures between 24-32 degrees Celsius (about 75-90 degrees Fahrenheit). The lotus needs plenty of sunlight, and needs to be planted in a body of water that is still or very slow-moving (faster currents will disrupt the plants). The water should be at least a foot (30 cm) deep, and broader than the plant itself. The lotus can be planted in a pond, a water garden, or in a large container.

Planting the Lotus

First, choose a pot (no need for soil) or section of a pond anywhere from 6-8 inches deep and wide enough for the plant to eventually grow. Lotus roots run long, so it will need the length to spread out comfortably. For an in-water scenario, you’ll likely want to use a container at least 18 inches wide and 6 inches deep.

Put in a thick, loamy soil, but no potting soil! This is too light and it may float while the lotus tuber sinks – not good for anybody. The lotus tuber (the plant’s tap root system) goes in horizontally with the growth tips facing up. Cover the tuber with a little soil so that the tips are exposed but not submerged. Add a few inches of water to the tub. Make sure the water covers the soil but doesn’t cover the growth tips.

Care and Maintenance

After planting, the purple lotus requires no work apart from some details. Keep the water level low enough that the soil is covered but not over-submerged. If there is enough sun, the plant will bloom during a typical growing season, which runs from late spring to early fall, an average of six to eight hours a day.

Once established, frequent fertilisation with a water-plant fertiliser feeds the plant and promotes flowering without it growing too rapidly or taking a lot of time out of the water to trim. Over-fertilising your lotus plant can cause algae to grow in the water, which will eventually kill your lotus plant.

In colder climates, where temperatures fall below freezing in winter, the lotus plant needs protection. If growing in a container, bring your lotus indoors to a frost-free setting, or insulate the pond sufficiently with a thick layer of mulch to prevent the water from freezing.

The Health Benefits of the Purple Lotus Plant

Beyond its symbolic meaning and aesthetic qualities, there are also health benefits to the purple lotus, making it a valuable addition to everyone’s home garden or natural medicine chest. Lotus parts such as flower salt, root and stem powder have long been used in herbal medicine cures, and modern science is finally helping us further research its uses.

Relaxation and Stress Relief

One of the best-known properties of the purple lotus is its sedative action: some of the purported sedative and relaxing effects of the plant are thought to derive from its content in compounds such as nuciferine and aporphine. For all of these reasons, lotus flowers have historically been used to prepare teas and infusions to make the body and mind calm down, playing a traditional role for natural remedies of distress and insomnia.

Enhancing Cognitive Function

Recent research has demonstrated that purple lotus might therefore also possess cognitive-boosting properties. The same compounds that improve relaxation appear to also aid concentration and mental clarity, with cultural traditions followed by some in which lotus flowers are consumed (in various forms) to aid meditation, and enhance concentration. This is an area where more research is needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn; however, these findings point to an intriguing potential for the plant to naturally enhance one’s cognitive capacities.

Antioxidant Properties

The antioxidants, including flavonoids and alkaloids are top-notch players to ward off free radicals that harm our body. Due to their unique features such as electrons to give away, these free radicals are highly unstable and react with oxygen and other molecules in the body much more quickly than the antioxidants do. As these reactions occur, cells are damaged, leading to chronic diseases and the ageing process. All these reactions are generally known as oxidative stress. But, when the purple lotus plants are consumed, the antioxidants neutralise the damage caused by free radicals, reducing the chances of chronic conditions and diseases such as cardiovascular ailments, diabetes and cancer.

Skin Health

Apart from that, the lotus plant has found extensive use in traditional medicine for enhancing skin. Lotus antioxidants shield the skin from environmental damage, preventing skin ageing and skin cancers, while its anti-inflammatory attributes soothe irritated or inflamed skin. Besides providing a general aesthetical delight, lotus extracts are also incorporated in many skin-care products, targeting advertising claims that range from lesser redness and better skin tone to preventing the visible signs of ageing.

Aiding Digestion

The lotus plant’s seeds are also consumed in some cultures as a digestive medicine, perhaps because they are astringent – thought to have a drying or tightening effect on mucous membranes, and may be helpful in diarrhoea and other complaints of the digestive system. Lotus root is popular in Asian cuisine, thanks to its fibre content and its usefulness in aiding digestion and dispelling toxins by promoting a healthy gut.