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ElizabethB
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Culinary Ginger

In the last year or two I have been using Ginger in my cooking and now in infused water. In the past I have had ornamental ginger in the yard. I know - invasive.

I am thinking of planting a knob or two of store bought ginger in containers. Will this work? Also how long before I can expect a harvest? What are the indicators that the roots are ready to harvest?

Thanks All.

thanrose
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Elizabeth, most of the rest of this board won't find any ginger all that invasive. Hawaii, Florida, US Gulf Coast, Caribbean and other tropical areas: ginger can be invasive. I don't have a problem with it, or maybe I just enjoy the random bits that come up from shredded rhizomes scattered via mulch or lawn mower.

Take a supermarket rhizome, snap it at a knuckle or three, soak it in plain water for a few hours. That's to get any supermarket super-inhibitor or antifungal or soap or anything off of it. More of a soak than a carrot or broccoli dunk because we don't know what it's been exposed to that might interfere with new growth. Then plant it in sandy well drained soil (or that's what I do...) but on the compost rich side of garden soils. People like to say, "buds up" or some other rot, but we, being subtropical, really don't have to worry. You'll notice that they are sort of flattish ovals rather than rounds in cross-section. Place it flat, either barely cover with soil, or cover only part way. When it kicks off, it will bury the relevant bits. I like to be able to see the rhizome a bit so I can touch it to check for rot or for rooting. You don't really have to. It's very likely to root if you just ignore it save to make sure it has some moisture in the soil. That's generally not a problem for you and me.

Now for the bad news. We are not in the tropics, so your ginger babies will have to overwinter in a no freeze area, or you just try again next April or May. Ginger likes it warm to sprout. Culinary or edible ginger seems to like it warmer than some of the others. The leaves will yellow, then the stalks, and then they brown and droop. Mine may not do that at all some years, just a little yellow and brown. At some point, try and break the shoot off the rhizome. If you can wiggle it off or it comes off easily, that's good.

You could use the little nubs right then if you wish, but you probably won't have more than a few fingers if you even get that much. Next year, yeah, totally you'll get a hand of ginger. which is considerably smaller than a hand of bananas, but could be the size of a lumberjack's hand.

Good luck.

thanrose
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Oh, you can eat it at any stage. Even the young shoots. Or the pinkish baby toes that start a stretch of rhizome. Fuller flavor is in the adult hand.

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ElizabethB
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Than you Thanrose,

Easy enough.

We have so little freezing weather that it will probably do fine under the patio cover most of the winter. No problem taking it in is a freeze is predicted.

Thanks again.

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rainbowgardener
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I have two ginger plants that I started from grocery store ginger. It is my first time to successfully get them started, though I had tried a couple times before. You need to not over-water them, the roots can rot easily. And you need to be patient, they sprout and grow slooooowwwwllllly!

imafan26
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Culinary ginger and turmeric both go down every year and are sensitive to day length. Turmeric may be starting to bloom now. Usually most will start to put up spikes by September. Culinary ginger or zingiber will flower Oct-December. After flowering the roots can be harvested, but I like to wait until the tops start to dry. Turmeric will come up fast by about January or sometimes sooner. I usually don't harvest the zingiber until December or January. I put the rhizomes in a bucket with a little peat moss and keep it moist so it won't dry out. I will pickle some for the year, but the rest will be planted around March or when they start sprouting. This year they sprouted early so I planted them earlier.

I don't plant them in the ground because they cannot tolerate nematodes and I can find all the roots in a bucket. The soil should have a lot of compost and drain very well. The bucket should be wide instead of deep. The roots grow sideways but not so much vertically. Mine are watered daily but the buckets drain very well. I use an all purpose fertilizer.

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ElizabethB
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Thanks All!

Lots of good info!

If growth inhibitors are an issue I can get organic at Whole Foods or Rouse's (a Louisiana chain).

I have a large bucket - probable 25 gal. I just have to drill holes in it.

:-()

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Here are mine in 5 gallon nursery pot and a trade 2 gal (1.5 gal) that was divided out last year

Image

imafan26
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My ginger is starting to bloom. It is blooming early this year. I still have ginger from two years ago, I haven't finished. This years' ginger broke early and I planted it in March, so it has been 5 months and that is about right for it to grow.



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