This was the standard Manini rhizome I was selling to members on this forum for $15. The box it's in is 11" x 9" and I would grade that as perfect or flawless.
This rhizome would produce leaves regardless what substrate it was planted in but if the aeration was not high enough some of the roots would not continue to grow and if the roots don't grow they'll rot and the tunnels left behind when the root initials rot leads directly to the central cylinder.
The main advantage of starting with a small rhizome is that there are no large roots and the potential of any large tunnels is completely avoided.