Actually two questions.
The first: is this tuber coming out of dormancy?
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I don't recall the little pink-purple cone being there before, but I also haven't paid a lot of attention to the Amorphophallus konjac since unpotting it last fall. So I'm not sure if this is new, or just something I've failed to notice for several months.
The second question: is this thing on the bottom of the tuber an offset I can divide off, or is it something else?
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I ask because when I went searching for pictures of offsets, it looked like several small offsets is the usual way of things: I couldn't find pictures of any single large ones. Also it's sort of weird because I think it shrunk? Or else the parent tuber grew during dormancy. Which doesn't make any sense. Here's what it looked like in October:
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5 comments:
Yes, the pink cone is the first new growth as they come out of dormancy. I THINK the bottom lump is last year's corm. Gladiolus and crocuses do that, each year growing a new corm while the old one shrivels up. If so, it should feel kinda soft and deflated.
Maybe the shrunken tuber is the parent one, and the full one is the new tuber? It certainly looks like it's coming out of dormancy. Hopefully someone knows more than I do...
The bump on the bottom is indeed last year's corm. It simply has not been fully absorbed yet. Don't bother removing it.
There's still no need to rush planting the corm. Many a time the pink new growth is visible even in the fall after digging the corm up. Mine all look like yours currently does. If you wish you could pot it up but considering your space issues there simply is no reason to bother. Wait until late May/early June when temps have warmed up enough to pot it up and stick it outside in a sunny locale.
The previous commenters are correct. The corm will make branches that can be separated eventually. Warning: a few years back I let a species of Amorophallus flower in my house; the corm was about the size of a volleyball. The inflorescence grew to about 4 feet tall; the spathe and spadix making up about half the height. It smelled like we had a very ripe cow's carcass in the house, but very cool anyways!
Oh, Phytophactor. You live the glamorous life, don't you?
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