Sparaxis corms turned to face cream!

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seanandkaren Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9b) Apr 28, 2008

So, I ordered 24 tricolor sparaxis corms, along with 30'ish other plants/bulbs from eBay, planted them in pots about 7-8 weeks ago and have no growth. So, I dug a few out to see if maybe I had planted them upside-down (I couldn't tell up from down and what goes where) or if they were at least rooting, and they were mushy - literally the consistency and texture of a face cream. Is that normal?? I thought maybe they were too hot, but everything I've read says to plant in full sun... I thought maybe too dry, but I've also read they pretty much thrive on neglect. I have many other bulbs growing just fine that were planted at the same time, so I just don't get it... any thoughts? I left the others undisturbed and still have yet to see any growth.

Also, can anyone tell me what the corms look like? I'm thinking maybe I got the wrong thing - they were dark brown, disk-like and thin, with indents or pits all over them. I could barely make out a belly-button, if you will, on one side and tried to plant those all facing up...?

Thank you in advance!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Apr 28, 2008

Mushy bulbs/corms/whatever usually indicates rot, so it's either too much moisture or you got sent some bad corms. I've never seen Sparaxis corms but most corms are generally roundish sort of bulb shaped but smaller, so flat disks sounds like either they're something completely different or they had already rotted and died when you got them. I googled, and found this site that has a pic of the corm from another species of Sparaxis, I imagine yours should have looked similar http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantqrs/sparaxgrandgrand.htm

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JasperDale Long Beach, CA(Zone 10a) Apr 28, 2008

Your Sparaxis corms should look like little tiny onion shaped bulbs...with a point at the "TOP".

Sounds like you got bad bulbs.

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seanandkaren Phoenix, AZ(Zone 9b) May 01, 2008

They definitely weren't typical, onion-shaped bulbs and there were no points what-so-ever so I guess I don't have sparaxis! Thank you both for the info, and thank you ecrane3 for finding a picture - I literally looked for hours and found nothing (except this great site!)... I'm off to buy again from a more reputable source!

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