im pretty sure it was rot of some sort. i had them right next to (sometimes above, i moved the pot occasionally)a heating vent from about late november to late december, a seriuosly stupid mistake. this probably set the stage for a fungus fest in their pots. when i realized this, i moved them to a basement window that doesnt get much light in a pretty cool room. come to think of it it may have been too warm, does the fact that the homes heating system is in the room make it much warmer?
the plants were all the way on the other side of the room, and weere close to the window, so i assumed they were cool enough. it was too late however, and the rizomes turned brown. the purp totally rotted, and the other one was just turning rotten when i checked it, by the look of the rizome. i should have put them there to begin with , and probably should have used a fungicide of some sort. i think this is how i will do nekn years dormancy, unless i make an in the ground bog, in which case i will leave them outdoors under pine mulch. oh, i didnt actually see any fuzz or mushrooms or anything, but the peat looks like muck and smells like crap, so i suspect that something was rotting in there.
WOW......LLOOOOONG POST ... sorry about that