Ginger

[Lil Stinkpot]

I guess I bought more ginger root than I could use before it sprouted.


So, how should I plant it? What kind of soil, temperature, water....??

 

[seedjar]

I've got one of those! Most of the year I think it's dead. Mine is in a mix of peat, perlite, and orchid bark, mostly because those were handy when I decided to pot it up. I think I also threw some Osmocote in there. It should probably be repotted by now.
From what I've read, I think common (true?) ginger likes warm temperatures and moist but not waterlogged soil, but I keep mine with my highland Neps because the lights are raised higher on those shelves and my lowlander area is too crowded. It seems to go dormant during the cold season, but that suits me just fine. So far it's come back three or four years in a row.
~Joe

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

How tall can it get?


Most important, when and how much can I harvest?

 

[seedjar]

I think you'll need to use more favorable conditions than mine if you want to harvest. Mine has grown to two or three feet tall in the past, but I've never seen it try to flower so I suspect it can get bigger. The nodes that it grows over a season are much smaller than those you see in the store, so I'm pretty sure I'm either restricting its growth period too much, or I need to fertilize more. As far as I understand, it's an understory plant, so I don't think it needs especially intense light. Anyways - the way I grow it, the old nodes seem to die and dry out after a year or two. So my method may not work for you if you want to cultivate it. But down in SJ, you might have better luck. One thing I'm pretty sure about is that it should have an occasional dry period. I can't imagine a tuberous/rhizomatous plant able to withstand being totally uprooted and unwatered for weeks (and even sprout new buds and grow) that doesn't make use of that tolerance in its natural lifecycle.
~Joe

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

Good point!

I'll pot it up and see what happens. The worst that will happen is that I'll have to go buy more at the store.

 

[seedjar]

Exactly.
Don't expect to achieve ginger-self-sufficiency any time soon. It's a slow grower. On the other hand, I know a lot of Zingiber species besides Z. officinalis are kept as high-light houseplants and, in tropical areas, as flowering landscape plants. So I doubt it's very hard to grow.
~Joe

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

Explains why it's expensive.

No, I never expected to be ginger self-reliant, but I do like an occasional home-grown treat.