advice on water lotus

Question
I have a half barrel pond with no fish, in good sun... Last year I tried a Momo Batan lotus which never even sprouted. I am guessing that I planted it all wrong.

I intend to try again this summer. I will appreciate  any advice and suggestions you have for me. Thanks!

Answer
How big is the barrel?  About half the years, my lotus don't bloom either so I might need some advice too!  I had a Momo Botan in a tub pond.  In winter, I moved it into my main pond so it wouldn't freeze but after a few years, it didn't survive.  It did bloom though.  You can see photos on my site somewhere (it's a big site, fishpondinfo.com, so it would take even me a while to find it on my pictures page!).  Fill the barrel about 3/4 of the way with clay soil or aquatic plant planting material if you don't have good dirt.  Put in a few inches of smaller pea gravel.  Clear an area the size of the tuber and set it in there.  Cover just the lower parts of the tuber, using some larger rocks to hold it down.  You don't want to bury it but do want parts of it deep enough to contact some dirt underneath. Put in fertilizer pills a few inches away from the tubers so they'll get to them as they grow.  Despite my knowledge, last year, I bought a new lotus to replace my dead Momo Botan, and it never even got a single leaf either.  They are replacing it for me this year for free as it was too weak to start with.  I also repotted my 50 gallon lotus tub pond.  I had a ton of tubers but after repotting, never a leaf appeared.  I don't know if the tubers had died that winter or I messed up the replanting somehow myself.  Normally, new lotus or repottings are done from late March to late April.  There are a lot of water gardening groups who are better with plants than I am.  I have a black thumb in many regards!  I hope both your lotuses and mine grow this year and give us some flowers!  Good luck!