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

[imafan26]

My ginger is blooming now. It will be time to harvest soon. It is blooming a little earlier than normal for me.

Ginger is sensitive to day length for me. It will always bloom at this time of year and the tops will die down a couple of months later.

I have to harvest ginger after the tops die down or they will be all over each other. I put the pieces in a bucket or tray with some sand or peat moss and I water it only to keep it damp. I was watering my orchids earlier this year on the table and forgot the bucket was under the table and it got filled with water and drowned my leftover pieces.

I was told that it was possible to get two harvests from ginger here. They actually only need 5 months to grow. The first harvest would be mid year when the pieces are big enough, the top won't die down. It only blooms once a year.

Seed pieces should have good eyes and I made the mistake of putting too many pieces in the container. I spread them out in 4 container this year and I oriented them vertically to see if they will grow down. When I plant them with the hand flat, it just grows sideways until it hits the side of the pot and the space in the bottom of the pot is not used. I need to get a wider but shallower pot so it has room to spread out. One 7 gallon pot already is having the side being pushed by the root.

[thanrose]

Interesting observations, imafan. I always thought it was something I was doing wrong to get blossoms on edible ginger so late in the year. I know the alpinia genus gingers bloom a couple times of year. Zingiber zerumbet (awa puhi) blooms mid summer with the red cones starting in September.

[rainbowgardener]

So somewhere after the last post, my ginger plants died back and I spaced out and forgot about them. One of them, as you would expect, died and is rotten. The other one over-wintered and is now growing and leafing out!

It was a colder than usual winter, with a number of nights in the 20's. I didn't know it could do that.

[applestar]

So somewhere after the last post, my ginger plants died back and I spaced out and forgot about them. One of them, as you would expect, died and is rotten. The other one over-wintered and is now growing and leafing out!

It was a colder than usual winter, with a number of nights in the 20's. I didn't know it could do that.

...late in responding but... I didn’t know they were that hardy either. Good to know.

Here are my Ginger and Turmeric (in the clay pot) among the other tropical container plants clustered in the shade of the neighbor’s overhanging pine tree branches. Ginger is sending up flower stalks. Can you eat them or use them for something, I wonder?


The ginger roots in the big pot is pushing at the side again. I will need to harvest more and repot.

[webmaster]

I had some ginger sprouting the other day. Should have planted it!

[rainbowgardener]

My ginger that over wintered has put up a flower stalk and bulb. I assume that means it will be flowering soon.

[imafan26]

Turmeric puts up a flower stalk and usually has a green and white flower.
Ginger flowers bloom at the base just above the rhizome. I usually smell them before I see them.

[applestar]

I’m going to cross-post this here

Subject: Myoga - Zingiber mioga (Japanese Ginger)

I started clearing the weeds around the myoga (Japanese ginger) patch and discovered they have already started to bloom from the sunniest side of the patch. You only eat the flower buds (preferably not yet blooming) of Japanese ginger, although the delicate flowers are great garnish that can be enjoyed if you grow them. The fragrant and antiseptic leaves can be parboiled and used to wrap and cook foods or to serve them. I just found a recipe for making myoga leaf wrapped, steamed sweet rice flour dumplings filled with white bean jam filling.


...it’s interesting that the true ginger (left) is also blooming at this time...

[HoneyBerry]

I didn't think that ginger could be grown in a pot. I thought that ginger root needed lots of room to spread out. I would love to grow ginger for the root but didn't think that I could without a big greenhouse. I like to make fresh apple ginger juice with my juicer when people give me free apples from their trees.

[rainbowgardener]

Mine is growing quite well in a pot. I will bring it in this winter.

It has a flower bud like this:



at the top of a six inch or so tall stalk.

I don't know specifically what kind of ginger it is, but it is from a ginger root that I got at the grocery store, spring of 2017. Definitely not turmeric. Besides the flower stalk, it has four tall leaf stems.

[applestar]

Oooh HoneyBerry, please post the recipe for the apple ginger juice. Yours is looking good @rainbowgardener

This thread goes back to 2010, so mine has been growing for at least that long. I can see from the photos that I did uppot once after starting in a black ‘3 gallon” pot. I think it’s currently in a wide squat “5 gallon” nursery pot with handles. This is a good size for me, still able to lug around without help. I harvest throughout the year when I want some (about 1/2 Inch at a time) and refuse to buy any, but I probably don’t use ginger as often as some.

For us in the northern cooler summer (night temp in the 60’s) gardens, I suspect they do grow better in the black pot for warmer roots. (I need to uppot my “baby” clump in the grey 2 gallon pot)

I still keep my main clump in the dappled shade on the ground among grass and weeds (keeps them from drying out during the summer drought), I water them with sprinklers or hand held hose as needed, about once a week with UCG soaked water (plus a rotation of vermicomposter leacheate every so often) ...and they grow with benign neglect. I suspect in more rainy areas, you need to acclimate them to somewhat more sunnier location for the summer, and elevate for good drainage.

[applestar]

...replied to ginger question in my garden thread. Will copy them here for coherence —

Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden

I have tried keeping/saving harvested roots before, but either they dry out or they get green mold on them whether in the pantry or in the refrigerator. Imafan has mentioned she keeps them in sand outside where they are in regular rain/humid Hawaii winter environment.

For me, it’s easier to just leave them potted and harvest as needed. I have found that if I don’t bring them in before the night temperatures fall below mid-50’s, sooner or later they go dormant — leaves yellow then dry up, then they pull/fall off from the roots. I harvest some of the green leaves to use as herbs (culinary/tea) but allow most of them to remain, assuming the nutrients/energy is reabsorbed. The dry leaf smell terrific and I use them to extract fragrance for personal products like shampoo and soap.

They don’t need light while dormant and can be allowed to be barely damp/nearly dry, left in the back corner of the room — upstairs or downstairs. I have been told the roots are hardy to zone 9 and can take frost and some light freeze, but I don’t dare put them in the unheated garage where it can stay in low 20’s in the depth of winter when it’s in single digits and negative single digits outside.

^^^
This information was from a Florida gardener who lives in Zone 8/9 border. She said she has them in the ground in a sheltered bed with a building to the north, and mulches heavily when winter is overly cold. She said the roots did die one year when it got too cold.

Her replies led me to this link when I asked about eating ginger blossoms:
https://wimastergardener.org/files/2018/02/Zingiber_officinale.pdf


...in the winter...

Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Garden

I haven’t been bringing them in until the last minute lately. It looks like 2013 was the last year I brought the ginger in early enough Subject: Good thing I'm growing Ginger in a container this year
Later posts indicate I wait until well into October. I’m not as concerned since I have learned the green leaves turn yellow and die off no matter what I do.

I have a cavalier attitude about bringing in bugs into the house. The soil bugs mostly stay in their individual pots/microcosm and don’t bother anybody. Sowbugs/Rolliepollies, millipedes, occasional centipedes and spiders (welcome predators) are common as are slugs (eliminated as discovered) and earthworms (intentional). So I don’t repot the dormant ginger until I’m getting ready for spring, and sometimes not even then.

I let the well-draining potting mix dry on the surface, but water before completely dried out, keeping it on the dry side after leaves start to yellow and even drier after they have come off of the roots (They are like tulips after leaves start to dry, if you know what I mean). I harvest from the stem on/younger fingers for tender roots to be minced in, and from the older fingers for fibrous ones for juicing.

[imafan26]

Ginger grows laterally and not much vertically unless you turn the rhizome so the fingers are vertical and plant it with the buds facing up. Plant them in hills and hill them up. Otherwise the rhizome almost always goes sideways in the ground it keeps going without going very deep. In a pot, it will deform the sides of the pot when the roots push it.

After the flowers bloom and the top starts to dry at the end of the year, it is important to harvest all off the roots. If you leave them in the soil and it rains too much they will rot. If the pot or ground is already packed with roots the new roots will add to the old and it will be hard to get the ginger hands to come apart nicely. You only need a few pieces to start with. 2-3 pieces will be enough in a ot. Turmeric on the other hand will spread out in tiers of roots, Turmeric comes up a couple of months after they bloom around Sept-Nov. Turmeric and ginger bloom in response to the shorter days and cooler weather. But in reality while you must harvest after gingers flower, you can optionally harvest ginger anytime once the roots are large enough. For me it is about 5 months after the new leaves come out. I store my roots in a bucket with some moist sand or peat moss. I water only enough to keep the media damp but not so damp that the roots rot. I peel the ginger with a spoon and cut the pieces into 1-2 inch chunks and put the pieces in a clean jar with a tight lid. I cover the pieces with sherry until they are submerged and keep it in the refrigerator until needed.

[HoneyBerry]

applestar wrote: Oooh HoneyBerry, please post the recipe for the apple ginger juice.
Actually, I don't use a recipe. But you can find lots of recipe variations online. It is certainly my favorite healthy drink. I don't make it very often because juicing is expensive if you buy the ingredients. I like to do it when so many apples are falling off of the trees that people just give them away. There are a variety of different juicing recipes with a ginger kick. My favorite is Apple-Ginger-Lemon. (I prefer Myer Lemons). It is also good without the lemon. Carrot-Apple-Ginger is very good too. I have a hard time throwing away the pulp when I use my juicer, there is so much of it. But that's how juicing goes. It is a nice healthy treat.

[applestar]

Thanks! I’ll look around.


@imafan, that’s a good point. Definitely something to keep in mind. I guess mine grows much slower because it’s only growing actively for about 5-6 months of the year — folks with longer growing season should pay more attention — and I don’t fertilize conscientiously. I find it an “easy” plant to keep growing, but do repot (or divide and repot/pot up) when the actively growing end of the rhizomes start pushing the side of the pot (although I can slow down the process by harvesting the new fingers from that end). I suspect there isn’t much disease issues (that might blow in through the air) here either?

I should mention I typically just cut a piece off with a sharp knife, avoiding harvesting if I watered immediately before and not watering immediately after to allow the cut end to dry and callus over.

I’ve kept extras — sometimes a whole finger breaks off from undue force while cutting or simply weak link — soaked in sherry in the fridge after you posted about it before — saves the trouble of having to go dig some up when I need some immediately.

...oh, for comparison’s sake, how long do you think yours stay dormant? Since you re-plant from rhizomes, does it depend on when you start them? Do they go dormant around same time of the 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.