Probably not so helpful, for you can see I am still exploring this matter, myself. I have a sneaking suspicion that once a rhizome initiates a bud internally and sends up a stalk, most of the mother rhizome's energy for bloom has already been expended and it has hollowed itself out in the process of making the bud. So it's going to be a "mother" rhizome, no matter what. It will never bloom the next year anyway is what I'm saying. Might as well see it bloom and fertilize it to encourage new start(s). It's a gamble, but I'm 74 and with age 74 comes a certain impatience.
