Green tiger lotus bulb not sprouting

[spleenharvester]

I lobbed a few bulbs into my main tank several weeks ago, a red tiger lotus and a green tiger lotus. The red tiger lotus is emerging decently (see background) but the green tiger lotus bulb is just sitting there like a lemon. Any tips on how to coax it out? Tickle with a feather duster? Do I just need a bit more patience?

Tank is 180L, no CO2, just TNC complete once a week.

 

[MirandaB]

I'd lift it out and give it a gentle squeeze to check the bulb is still firm and hasn't rotted.

 

[spleenharvester]

I'd lift it out and give it a gentle squeeze to check the bulb is still firm and hasn't rotted.

Ah yes it is a tiny bit squishy. I might give it a few more weeks and if not I'll launch it.

 

[MirandaB]

Ah yes it is a tiny bit squishy. I might give it a few more weeks and if not I'll launch it.

Could try smelling it too as they are pretty rank when they've rotted.

 

[zozo]

The Nymphaea zenkeri is a tropical water lily, they are distinct from other (hardy) water lilies by the rhizome/tuber commonly known as a bulb in the hobby, it's called the Mexicana rhizome. It has a nose where the plantlet will sprout from, this nose should always point up out of the substrate. It's hard to describe where the nose is, but looking closely you might identify it easily. Then indeed you need some patience and preferably raise the temperature if you want to speed it up +25°C. I tried to find a video and the only one I could find about planting bulbs without foliage is in Italian without subtitles. Maybe the images only will tell you enough without understanding what he says. 🙂

 

[spleenharvester]

Follow up, this never grew and just got squishier. In the bin it goes 🙁