thurkun
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Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 12:38 pm
Location: Chattanooga, TN

Harvesting Ginger from garden

We are growing ginger in the garden for the fist time am are wondering the best time to harvest it. I have read that you can pot some of the ginger to overwinter inside and enjoy the rest. We're still a month or so away from possible frost so there is time to get some input. The ginger did very well and it will be back in the garden next year but I'd love to not have to buy more by saving some of this years.
Thanks,
Pat

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I think the PDF link imafan posted here will give you a good idea of when to harvest.
:arrow: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 49#p314149

My container of ginger will come inside sometime this week.

thurkun
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Posts: 24
Joined: Sun May 16, 2010 12:38 pm
Location: Chattanooga, TN

Thank you for both the swift reply and not mentioning the grammar errors ( one should read their posts and not just let the Spell-checker run amok, many words are spelled correctly but are not the correct ones to use ), the use of fist instead of first or 1st makes my gardening activities a tad suspect. I think I'll go outside and water the garden since the front and the tropical storm seem to have fizzled and left us dry here.
Pat

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Ginger roots can be stored in a tray of damp sawdust or sand (the usual way). It should be kept slightly moist but not soggy. It will keep the rhizomes from drying out and you can still eat them.

During the growing season when the roots are big enough, you can break off pieces as you need them. Just wait a day for the cut ends to callus before watering them again.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

It is that time of year again. The ginger tops are drying and it is time to harvest. I pulled up some ginger yesterday from the 25 gallon pot. I am going to try to wait another couple of weeks to pull the rest. My other three pots are blooming and will be close behind.

Although I can start breaking off ginger once they are big enough (usually about 5 months of growing), I have been preserving ginger for the last two years in dry sherry. I just get a clean jar and fill it with thumb sized pieces of scraped ginger root and cover with dry sherry. I have some that are still good from 2 years ago. It can also be stored in the freezer, but it does dry out. I will put the seed pieces I plan to grow in a bucket with a little bit of peat moss and just keep them in the shade and just damp to keep them from drying out. Around March or April they should be ready to plant out again.

Some people recommend starting with new seed pieces every year and not saving any just in case of diseases. I grow mine in containers in potting soil, and the plants look healthy so I do keep some pieces for growing. It has to be in a container for me because ginger is not only intolerant of viruses, it also is not nematode resistant, so I have to keep it isolated from the soil in my yard. I haven't noticed nematodes in my yard, but then I plant mostly nematode resistant varieties or plant things like heirloom tomatoes in containers instead of in the ground.

thanrose
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Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:01 am
Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A

I didn't know, or didn't recall that ginger is sensitive to nematodes. But the edible ones I've always grown in pots. We have some really annoying soil bugs and diseases in most of Florida, as with anywhere hot and humid. When I plant it again, it will certainly be in a pot.

I've put my ginger, peeled and cut in knuckles, in vodka in the fridge. There used to be a dry white wine from a common California vintner (Gallo maybe?) that was similar to Chinese white wine which tastes a bit oxidized like a sherry. I might try that next time.



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