Dwarf aquarium lily from Aquarium Coop

[Maggie]

@gardenmangood idea! I'll try that too if mine doesn't sprout in the next week or so. I do have the lights lower then normal while Cosmo gets used to his environment so maybe that's the key. Spring hit us like a freight train the other day here in Maryland but it's still pretty chilly at night. 

[gardenman]

Whoo-hoo!!! The new lily bulb came today and coming out of the bag it already has a little pink shoot! Nine weeks with bulb one with nothing and this one's growing before it even hits the water! Neat! This one's lighter too and wants to float a bit while the other one was heavier and sank like a rock from day one. I don't know if that means anything or not, but it's good to see some life already. I took it out of the bag, gave it a rinse and there was the shoot. I'm very happy! Nine weeks of staring at a brown blob was getting a bit tedious. Now I've got growth on bulb two!

Bulb one is now under my plant lights in a plastic cup to see if the extra light motivates it to grow. I'm kind of wondering if maybe drying it out and then letting it sit dry for a bit would motivate it to grow? This new bulb was very light in comparison and dry feeling, but growing. Is it possible for a bulb to be too wet? Does it need a dry spell to trigger it to grow? If bulb one doesn't start growing under the lights I might try drying it out for a while and then trying it in water again after it's dried out for a bit. If that doesn't work then we'll hit it with full sun come May/June when the nights are warmer. 

Anyway, bulb two looks like a sure thing winner! Yea!

[gardenman]

That little pink shoot is now an inch tall and growing well and a second shoot has emerged also. These bulbs grow insanely well when they actually grow. The first one is still just sitting there after nine plus weeks. This one is doing amazing in three plus days. Quite the contrast.

[Maggie]

After several leaves sproured and stayed at the bottom over the past weeks, a new one has volunteered to try again for the top. I've had a lot of unknown-cause issues causing massive die-off of my floating water sprite, so I'm going to let the lily have a chance at the top now.

[gardenman]

My new lily is behaving exactly the same as yours. It's growing great and reaching for the top. The old lily bulb is still just sitting there and doing nothing. I think I may try drying it out now. It's been in water since January sixth and has done nothing, so maybe drying it out for a bit will motivate it to grow. It's not rotting which is good. 

[anewbie]

I just left the old bulbs in my tank when they went dormant and for a while i had no lily and then one day poof they sprouted everywhere about 6 or 8 months later and now i have 10x the lily plants i originally had. Given this experience i see no reason to remove the bulbs from the tank (maybe they will resprout faster that way?) as leaving them in the tank they will eventually re-sprout.