Good thing I'm growing Ginger in a container this year

[HoneyBerry]

Re: apple-ginger juicing:
Ginger works the juicer hard, but it will juice. Sometimes large slices will fall through. I reuse those. It only takes about a 1 inch piece per recipe. I use more than 1 inch because I like my drink to be really hot. The first time I made Apple-Ginger juice, I thought it was the most heavenly drink I had ever tasted. There is alot of pulp which seems wasteful. I have a hard time with that, so I just juice as a special occasion. And cleaning up the juicer is not a small task either.

[HoneyBerry]

Have you ever had Ginger Lemonade? That's really good too. I like to use agave for the sweetener.

[rainbowgardener]

I make lemonade with mint or lavender.

[HoneyBerry]

Never tried mint or lavender lemonade. Sounds like fun.

[imafan26]

I think the ginger bloomed, the tops are starting to dry.

[digitS']

I am needing to move quite a lot of ginger roots out of the pots as the greenhouse cools and I refrain from turning on the furnace in there until spring.

Besides, we can use some of that ginger harvest . However, using it all fairly quickly won't be easy.

What are ways to preserve ginger? I might be willing to make ginger candy because I like it but ... it is more often used in stir-fries and such. Can ginger be frozen or dried or pickled or ..?

Steve

[applestar]

I always grate some and dehydrate on parchment for spice. I don’t buy ground ginger anymore, but you need dried ground ginger for baking since the flavor is completely different from fresh.

Imafan has mentioned keeping peeled ginger in jar of sherry (in the fridge I think). I’ve tried something similar by putting all the scraps in a jar of seasoned better quality (no msg) brewed cooking sake+mirin for seriously lazy grab and use purposes.

Hm... you know, you can make garlic soy sauce by putting peeled whole cloves in a jar of soy sauce — you can later use the garlic flavored soy sauce as well as the soy sauce-soaked garlic for cooking.... Maybe you could make ginger soy sauce, or even garlic-ginger soy sauce. I wouldn’t do this since I’m allergic to soy, but with a right ratio, this could be another time-saving tech. since so many recipes call for those three ingredients together. I imagine you could also pre-sautee, then add the soy sauce?

Oh! I wonder if you could make a ginger dressing base.... I’m going to go research that.

[digitS']

Thank You, AppleStar.

I talked with DW about freeze drying on parchment. I think we may try that. I don't see why it wouldn't work for stir-fries.

Keeping it frozen should limit the chance of loss if I mess up. I should have some time to experiment since ginger keeps for weeks just sitting in a basket on the kitchen counter. We might have enough for the next 12 months. The pots stayed in the greenhouse through their growing season, this year. That looks like it was a good idea.

Steve

[rainbowgardener]

So all the house plants came in today -- night time lows are mostly in the 40's now.

I dug up the ginger plant, harvested a thumb size piece of root and then replanted it. Last winter I forgot about it and it stayed out all winter. So maybe it could have stayed out again, but then maybe that was just luck.

[Vanisle_BC]

What should I do with my ginger? I'm so happy to have it growing. It's in a 12-inch pot that was in my unheated greenhouse; was late started but I have 5 shoots up to 18" tall. I haven't dug down to see what's in the ground. I'd like to harvest some root but keep the plant going. (I've had trouble getting store-bought roots to grow in the past, don't want to have to start again from scratch.)

Nights have been close to freezing but look like above 5C (40F?)for the next while. I've moved it into the covered patio against the house wall. it's very shaded there; I believe it has stopped growing. Would it be be OK to cut some root for the kitchen but leave the rest in the ground? If I do that will the plant go dormant & revive next year; will it withstand some frost (zone 7) or do I need to move it indoors? (It would get little or even no light.)

What if I dig it up and store some root, dry, for replanting in spring?

[applestar]

What is little to no light? Mine is in the “Green Room” which used to be my children’s playroom. It has a SE facing window but is not very bright due to woods in that direction. Winter low sun won’t clear the trees even though they are bare, and the sun RISES from the SE during the winter so duration is very short. The room is well-lit... I keep it bright enough to read anywhere from sun-up until I go to bed, and my ginger pots have been positioned in probably about medium light level in this room. It’s away from the active-use rooms in the winter so it’s on the cool side — about 55°F during the depth on the winter.

I’ve brought my ginger pots inside while still green and vibrant this year — before they have had Too much exposure to 40’s temperature. With any luck, I will be able to give them another month of growth before they realize the days are getting way short and turn yellow. I think longer “fall” period helps the plant store more energy into the rhizomes.

But no matter what you do, the ginger will eventually go dormant. Once they have yellowed and dried up, I will move the pots to the darkest corner of this room, but with access so I can dig up the roots as I need them. (I once made the mistake of putting other plants in front of the ginger pot — never again!)

[applestar]

When I was a college graduate in an apartment, I set up a few glass shelves in a deep window for small plants, used up-canister lights for big plants, and hung yard sale aquarium lights in bookshelves for medium plants. I was in process of working out a way to hang a 24” fluorescent light fixture under my computer desk when I ended up moving....

[Vanisle_BC]

What is little to no light?

The options are; in the house where there is little room available, especially near windows; or (preferred) my workshop which has no windows and is dark and cool except sporadically if I'm working there. I don't want to burn lights in there through the winter. (or fit lights under the computer desk! )

But no matter what you do, the ginger will eventually go dormant.

So I guess I'll put them in the workshop once they wither. I still wonder how it would be to store dry roots for starting in spring. Maybe I'll see if I can cut a piece to try that with.

[imafan26]

You can grate ginger first, it is easier to juice.
Ginger can be kept in the freezer, but it does dry out over time
You can also keep ginger after harvest in a tray of damp sand in a warm place so it does not freeze. What you don't eat, you can plant.
I do cut and peel ginger into thumb size pieces and place them in a clean jar topped off with sherry. It will keep in the refrigerator for a long time as long as the ginger remains covered. If the pieces are not submerged then mold will grow. The sherry will have a ginger flavor and you can use that for cooking too. It does not work to top it off. I tried, the ginger will mold up.

[Vanisle_BC]

Ginger.....will keep in the refrigerator for a long time as long as the ginger remains covered. If the pieces are not submerged then mold will grow.

Yes, mold. I cut a piece of root from my dormant plant, tossed it into the kitchen dish beside my store-bought root. A few days later both have mold. So I wonder how commercial growers deal with ginger for retailing - what's the trick to prepping it for open-air keeping in the store - and in my kitchen, where it eventually just dries out.?

[digitS']

I don't have an answer for you, Van_Isle. I was commenting to DD yesterday, as we drove by front-end loaders moving big piles of grain, that when I worked for a farmer with a grain elevator, a fungicide was used on stored grain. It is likely that it's use was approved without the requirement that it be noted as an "ingredient" in any finished product. We rely on government regulation and science everywhere.

Homegrown ginger is still in the fridge. My harvest wasn't quite as much as I thought it might be, so I didn't make use of the freeze-drying as I otherwise intended.

A quick and significant use came this fall after I caught a cold in mid-September. A lingering cough was a result so throughout the ordeal, DW made ginger tea for me with fresh, grated ginger. It really helped with the cough and might have lessened the incident of sinus headaches, as well.

I have used a slice of ginger rubbed on the face before, also. I'm not sure if that helps with the sinuses or just acts as a distraction from the discomfort. If you try this, better plan on keeping your eyes closed for an hour or so ...

Steve

[applestar]

Unless covered in some kind of preserving liquid like imafan described, I have not had much success keeping harvested ginger in fresh form for any length of time. I think digitS is correct in assuming some kind of treatment is used — it’s likely that this is why storebought gingers sometimes fail to grow?

Temperature, humidity. I can keep a little piece of ginger for use by thoroughly (washing and) drying and allowing the cut end to callus. So far, best place to keep it has been in the butter compartment (top of the door), wrapped in a dry paper towel. The piece will continue to dry up so when I use, I might cut off the callused end. I often put this callused end slice in a separate refrigerated jar of ginger scraps and peelings in cooking wine. Sometimes, the cut end will mold, then I cut off and discard the moldy slice, and let new end callus. Eventually this piece of ginger will shrivel up if forgotten... I might toss it in a pot of soup or stock.

Mostly, I cut off a piece from the pot of ginger as needed — I only take a larger piece if I know I’m going to use the extra right away.

If there is a reason for not alocohol-soaking them to preserve, I’m guessing for fresh-use, you might have more success freezing them — this is assuming you never intend to grow from them)...better yet, grate and freeze in small portions? Use a candy mold maybe. I think I would also make ginger/garlic/soysauce jar to keep in the fridge if I wasn’t allergic to soy sauce, since the combo is often used in recipes. (I think I mentioned this before). I prefer naturally brewed soy sauce with no preservatives.

[Vanisle_BC]

Thanks, Steve & Applestar

It does seem logical to suspect commercial ginger root has been chemically treated, if fresh is so susceptible to mold. I hadn't paid attention to the other 'evidence' - that it's been so difficult to get it to grow.

I have no objections moral, ethical or culinary, to submerging it in alcohol or other tasty liquids. But at this point my main ambition is to use these home-grown roots as 'seedstock' in the coming year. So I assume I'd be best to leave them in the soil where they grew, until It's time to re-plant in a bigger container; maybe wait to see if they put up new shoots, then divide them? At present they are still in the soil, part of a withered potted plant kept at a low-light window in a cool room.

Any further advice is welcome.

[imafan26]

Ginger needs to be fresh and plump to plant it. If it is old and starting to dry out, it does not grow well. Now, through January is the best time to get fresh ginger pieces. The best place to get them is in Chinatown where they usually sell out fast so are not sitting around for awhile. Best selections are usually in the early morning between 8-10 a.m. for practically anything in the market. Look for plump eyes. Some dealers here have been starting to cut off the eyes deliberately, those pieces won't be any good.

When I have more ginger than I want to preserve, I keep it in a bucket of moist but not waterlogged sand, peat moss, or sphagnum moss on my lanai. It is not in direct sun. My bucket does not have holes in it so I have to make sure it does not fill up with water when I water my lanai plants or the ginger will rot. It will keep for months and even start to grow in the buckets/which usually is my hint to plant them out.

I am reminded, my ginger leaves have gone down and I have to harvest them.

[applestar]

I’m always intrigued to hear your reports @imafan — the reason being my big container of ginger has just recently browned and dried up all their leaves. It’s fascinating that mine are behaving in relative synchronization with yours.

For some reason, the little division pot of ginger is still somewhat green — but that one definitely needs to be Uppotted at some point since the top of the pot is completely deformed into elliptical shape from the rhizomes pushing on it.

Last of my turmeric leaves dried up a couple of weeks ago.

I have been thinking about what, if anything, I could do with these spent leaves and flower stalks — they have strong lovely fragrance to them: I’ve decided to use them for foot bathes in combo with Epsom salts and sesame oil, and also for adding natural fragrance to some handsoaps and shampoos.

Because it’s not easy to repot big containers once the winter is here —no space to throw dirt around in the house where it will be warm enough — I have not been able to try your storage method. So I will take the easy way out again and leave them in the current containers for now, watering them just enough to keep them from going bone dry — I think the turmeric seems to need to be kept drier than ginger. Maybe I will have a chance to test with the division pot — I think that one is maybe a nominal 1-gal. and easier to handle.

[imafan26]

I did not take my ginger out of the pot last year and it started growing again in April, so I am expecting a mess of little ginger fingers. Pieces that are very small are hard to process. However, I have learned that deeper pot did not work. The ginger still went wide instead and started to pack and deform the pot as soon as it hit the sides. I was told to try not filling the pot up and plant the rhizomes deeper, fill the pot in to encourage the roots to grow upwards. The other way to do it will be to harvest the ginger every 5 months or so when the roots are big enough to eat but not crowding the edge of the pot, The bottom of the pot was pretty much rootless so,I will just not fill the pot all the way and save on the soil. I am using a 25 gallon tree pot so that will save a lot of soil.

[Raymeow]

Thank you for the article! I'm a complete newbie in herbalism but ginger is a long favorite of mine. Always comes in handy.

[imafan26]

My ginger came up really late this year. It did not stop growing until May. I did not harvest ginger from the pots last year so there was 2 years growth in the pots. What a mess of tangled roots. No big pieces when they are so tight. I am taking a friend's advice this year and planting the ginger in the tree pot, but not filling the pot all the way up since the ginger only wants to go laterally and does not really go very deep. He told me I could add soil to the pot as the roots start to emerge to encourage vertical growth. I still have some left over ginger to plant. I need to find more pots.

Ginger will mold faster in the frig than in the freezer. In the freezer it does dessicate unless you use a vacuum sealer.
Preserving in sherry or shaoxing wine is best. That has lasted a couple of years. The other way to preserve ginger roots is to keep it in a box of moist sand in a shady spot. Eventually it will grow.

Unless the eyes are cut off, most ginger is not treated to prevent sprouting. Ginger will only sprout when it is ready, you cannot get it to sprout until the temperature or daylight hours is just right. Normally ginger will bloom Sept-November and the tops will die down. The roots will go dormant until April. Ginger will not grow where there are nematodes.

[applestar]

I was going to uppot this ginger, but it was already starting to deform the plastic pot in spring and it was impossible to remove the tubers today without breaking them. I gave up and harvested.

... the grey pot is equivalent to 1 gallon actual, and the pot was almost entirely filled with ginger.

—eta— I see in a 2017 post I said this is a 2 gal trade/1.5 gal actual pot. Presume I looked it up back then.

[Gary350]

I was going to uppot this ginger, but it was already starting to deform the plastic pot in spring and it was impossible to remove the tubers today without breaking them. I gave up and harvested.

... the grey pot is equivalent to 1 gallon actual, and the pot was almost entirely filled with ginger.

—eta— I see in a 2017 post I said this is a 2 gal trade/1.5 gal actual pot. Presume I looked it up back then.

I want to know how to grow ginger? Where do you buy your starting root? Are there different types? When to plant and when to harvest? How long does it take to grow?

[applestar]

Maybe I’ll try making this —

【万能作り置き】材料３つで作れる！新生姜シロップ／手作りジンジャーエールの作り方【kattyanneru】 - YouTube

New Ginger Syrup



・ New ginger 200g
・ Johakuto 180g (White granulated sugar)
・ Lemon juice 2 tbsp

[applestar]

I still have the ginger container, but I’ve neglected it for the past couple of years. Last year, I reached limit during the summer and tried replanting in a raised bed after determinate tomatoes, and then dug up and reported in container just before frost.

This year, I want to get serious and see how much I can harvest.

This video by a couple (Maro and Maro-o) living on Shikoku Island in Japan was inspirational.

I suspect their climate is equivalent to maybe Miami or Gulf coast — Zone 8b, 9? They did get some snow this winter.

In the video, they showed their ginger grown from grocery store ginger. The roll up blind I believe was cut in half to be narrower and used to protect from intense summer sun and fall typhoons.

Early in the video, they explain that “Nobody digs up ginger like this, normally, but!” Maro-o wanted to become an archeologist or a paleontologist and insists on trying to carefully excavate and dig up root vegetables in a single mass and carefully remove dirt to present in entirety



They are “excavating” in December (planted 4/9 ~ harvest video date 12/10 = 245 days) and said normally they wait until leaves die down. So I do still have to grow in containers, But seeing just how much new ginger can potentially grow above the “seed ginger,” I need to plant them in deeper container or have a way to “hill” and add more soil as they grow.

—- eta

Experiment— 7 methods for storing best ginger root for eating and for seed until spring planting

[imafan26]

You don't really need a deep container, it is better to go wide like a kiddie pool if you have the room. The other way to grow ginger more vertically is to use a five gallon bucket and start the ginger about 5 inches from the bottom and plant the ginger vertically. Fill in the bucket as the ginger grows. Ginger grows laterally but not very deep. They will be restricted if they hit the wall of the container so I usually only put 3 ginger pieces in a container. They don't really sprout until April or May. They can take anywhere from 5-7 months to mature. Around September - November, they will start to bloom. P.S. After 5 months you can start to harvest pieces of ginger as needed, but once it blooms and the tops start to die you need to harvest all of it. The ginger flower is very small and brown, you will smell it before you see it.

I preserve ginger in Sherry. This way I have ginger and infused Sherry for over a year.

Ginger tea is used for fever, colds, nausea, motion sickness, reduces pain of arthrities, and upset stomach.

I have been replanting my ginger for years from the previous years' harvest. My ginger was pretty small this year. It is not hard to find fresh ginger here in the market, there is a problem because there is a disease in ginger root in commercial production which I would not like to bring into my yard. If I have to get fresh stock, I will have to find certified ginger.

The main reason I grow ginger in containers because it is easier to harvest and ginger here can become quite invasive. I also have nematodes in my yard and ginger is not nematode resistant so it does need to be planted in a bleached container and new potting mix.

https://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gingerwilt/Management