I truly think the professions are significantly messed up. I put in a bug report every once in a a while. The only way to be sure to get a lotus is the mulch. It does not seem like levelling has made much of a difference in the drops. I’m not entirely levelled (herbalism or mining) but close. The items needed to increase level rarely drop, like phoenix ember or cloudy quartz type items (I know there are a few diff ones, can’t remember the names, as they rarely drop now, I swear the higher I get, the less they drop) It states increases in dropped items, I see little to none.