Wow, thanks to both of you Pauls! Vanossi, that's very encouraging to think I may have a newer cultivar here. The corms are a really nice size, nearly 2in. on the largest one and it has taken me some restraint not to peel and eat any of them. (I did have my choice from a fair sized bin at the Asian market, so of course I looked for large ones, and also for any that had potential sprouting growth.
We shall see. They are out on my patio sitting with just the bases in water, in bright shade, and our night temperatures are not going below about 75F these days. No frost is expected before at least January.
I will post some pictures here if and when we have sprouting! I do have some fair sized goldfish in my pond but they don't have access to the top area of the waterfall so the water chestnuts will be safe at least for this year. Once they grow, and really get going, I do have an old bathtub like yours that may be pressed into use for growing my delicious food crop.
