How to Grow a Ginger
Growing your own ginger is easy and rewarding. Fresh ginger is a great addition to stir-fry cooking and is also useful for a variety of home-made remedies. This article explains two simple methods for growing ginger.
Method 1 of 2: In a Pot
Purchase fresh ginger root from a grocery store or market.
Soak your ginger overnight in warm water.
Prepare a 14 inch (35.6 cm) wide and 12 inch (30.5 cm) deep pot with potting soil, the loose kind that doesn’t pack down when it’s watered, and enrich it with plenty of compost. Make sure the pot drains very well. A pot this size can comfortably hold about three pieces of ginger.
Plant just below the surface of the soil, spacing the pieces evenly apart.
Put the pot in an area with light shade at a temperature of 75-85*F. Cooler temperatures will stunt the plants’ growth, since ginger is from hot Asia.
Water lightly at first, then more heavily when shoots appear. Keep the plants dry in winter while they’re dormant.
In 10-12 months the plant will be mature and 2–4 feet (0.6–1.2 m) high.
Dig up new sprouts that appear in front of the main plants and either replant them somewhere else (they will form new rhizomes) or use them.
Method 2 of 2: In the Ground
Follow Steps 1 and 2 above.
Find yourself an area of rich, moist, but well-drained soil that is protected from heavy winds and from temperatures below 75*F.
Plant your chunk of ginger with the buds facing up.
Follow Steps 5-7 above.
Learn How To Grow Ginger At Home
When I started growing ginger root I expected it to be difficult. It’s not.
I’ve been growing ginger at home for years, and ginger would have to be a serious contender for the title “most neglected plant” in my garden.
(Which is a shame. Ginger is a beautiful and beautifully scented plant. I really should move it. One day…)
I look at my ginger plants exactly once a year, at harvest time. I harvest them, replant them, and then forget about them for another year.
I easily grow a year’s supply of ginger root from them. I also have plenty left over to give away, both ginger root planting material and ginger for eating.
You can get started using store bought ginger root. And you can easily grow ginger in pots or tubs, so growing ginger indoors is a possibility in cooler climates.
On this page I tell you everything you need to know about growing ginger, so you can grow your own fresh ginger, too.
Growing Ginger Root Is Not That Hard…
…provided you get a few basics right. Let’s first look at some pictures of ginger plants and the roots:
The picture on the left shows the foliage of ginger plants. On the right you see a rhizome.
To talk about ginger root when talking about the edible part of the ginger plant is actually incorrect. You eat the rhizomes, and as you can see, rhizomes have roots… Two different things…
But I’ll keep talking about ginger root anyway, that’s what everybody does and you know what I mean.