Tropicals & Tender Perennials: What is this, 1 by AuntB

AuntB wrote:
Kell, I got it from Tony Avent down in NC at Plant Delights... I think I paid $28!!!!!!!!.. I think that is a lot for one little 3 inch long finger sized bulb... lol I haven't dug it yet, the pot is drying out on my covered front porch. I'm excited to dig in an see what's going on in there...
I wanted to say I've had one bulb produce multiple stems before. One year I let them die back in the pot... I covered the pot with plywood or something so the soil wouldn't get rained on. One fall day I dug them out.... I blindly maneuvered under the "bulb" and heaved up with it... it didn't "feel" like there was a bulb there, but I pulled a big clump of dirt and "bulb" out and dumped in on a wooden plank I had laying in front of the garage... as I dumped it out... I saw this clump of.... "yuck"... reminded me of a cow pattie... there wasn't a hard bulb..... just the pattie.... it was mushy and I've figured out it is the bulb feeding on itself... it grows a new one, only just a bit deeper in the soil... so if I left them in the pot for 3 or 4 years, they would eventually be sitting on the bottom of the pot. I don't know if my thoughts are correct but it's what I've come up with. I've had mine for almost 8 or 9 years and I'm still learning... wish you could have seen my face when I dumped that shovel of pattie on the board... LOL
They are the easiest plants to winter over that provide such a tropical effect...
Joyce, I've whacked a 4 inch green stem off, dug it up, washed of the dirt and let it dry out... the stem stump will dry and fall off, the roots can be clipped off or left to dry... once dug, I keep them shaded and protected from rain until the stem falls off. Allow the pot to dry completely... I would leave it until January sometime, cause I don't EVER again want to dump one out and see a pattie.. My pattie experience makes me leave the ones going dormant on their own alone until I know they have morphed back into being bulb. I think they are okay as long as they haven't been dormant too long... I'm still learning. Or Joyce, dump it out now and look... if it's mush, I'll bring you some more to the RU. :) This pic was taken over the weekend... the bottom of the stems are bigger than a soda can... (this was my last pot to plant.. so ALL the leftovers went into the whiskey barrel)