What's eating my nelumbo 'momo botan'?

Nelumbo 'Momo Botan' is a compact, double-flowered lotus cultivar grown in tubs and small ponds, where aphids on aerial growth are the chief pest. Container growing reduces waterfowl risk but increases aphid buildup. Hose aphids off leaves regularly and hand-remove any leaf-roller caterpillars as they appear.

Dense colonies colonize young aerial leaves and flower stalks, causing puckering, honeydew, and sooty mold that weaken the compact plant. Blast off with a hose; in tubs with no fish, wipe off manually or apply a dilute insecticidal soap spray directly on leaves, keeping it away from the water.

Caterpillars roll and web leaf margins, feeding within and producing brown, ragged foliage that detracts from this ornamental cultivar. Hand-pick larvae from rolled leaves. Bt spray applied to foliage only is safe around pond water at low drift.

When planted in tub water gardens on patios, slugs may climb pots at night and rasp holes in young emerging lotus leaves at water level. Apply copper tape around the outside of tubs. Use iron-phosphate slug bait (wildlife and water-safe) around the pot base, not in the water.