Can lotus be grown without mud?

The main reason why you can only use mud to grow bowl lotus:

When the flower buds are differentiating, their roots should be kept in a lightless environment. At this time, the roots should not be exposed to light. For example, if you use a glass bottle as a flowerpot for growing water lilies, you must ensure that the soil can cover all the roots of the water lilies without any exposure.

Additional knowledge about growing lotus with mud only:

Many friends wonder: Can’t we just use water to grow bowl lotus because the water is always turbid when mixed with cement, which seriously affects the mood of viewing bowl lotus? If you think dirty water will affect the appearance, you can directly use soil to grow it. But when planting bowl lotus, you should soak all the soil in water for a period of time, the longer the better. Then you can take it out and plant the water lily, but every time you water it thereafter, pour the water slowly along the edge of the pot, and don't rush.

In fact, there is another little trick. You can sprinkle a layer of sand on the surface of the mud, and then pour water on it. This not only keeps the water clean, but also achieves the effect of growing bowl lotus in water. The sand can suppress the dirt in the mud below, and the sand can also sink steadily on the surface of the mud.