growing ginger in a container

[Lonesomedave]

my wife came to me tonight and told me she had a discussion today about growing ginger, and that it is easy....

went on youtube, and sure enough, several videos about growing ginger and some in containers

apparently, all you need is some fairly fresh ginger, with lots of little nobs, and plant it in fairly good soil, either in a container or out

I think I am going to try this...they said now was the best time to plant, and by sept or oct, should have a good harvest

anybody know anything about this

/s/ dave

[applestar]

Yep. I have ginger growing for the past 5 years or so. Judging by some failures reported here, it's best to pick fresh ginger that have points starting to grow or have fresh looking points. Organic might have better chance of growing --apparently sometimes ginger is treated with inhibitors to keep from sprouting in storage.

This is probably a good time to start since my ginger goes dormant every fall even though I bring them inside by the time outdoor lows fall to 50°F -- leaf stalks all dry up and die one by one -- and don't start growing again until just about now once indoor temperatures are low- mid-70's and higher.

You want sandy loose and well-draining potting mix. Fairly large container -- maybe 2 gallon. Ginger should be planted near the surface with tops barely showing or just below surface I believe -- kind of like German iris -- at least that's the way mine are planted.

(Did you intend to put this thread in the raised bed forum? -- maybe Herbs would be better?)

[imafan26]

Ginger goes domant around January and starts sprouting around now. It can grow in any deep container. We grew them in 5 gallon buckets. I am using a 15 gallon bucket now. You do need ginger pieces that are not dried out and have some plump eyes. I grow mine in MG potting soil and I wait until they sprout to start feeding them. They can be harvested anytime after the roots are big enough, so I just break off a piece as I need it. I don't water for a day after that to callus it off a bit. After the ginger blooms in the fall, the tops will start to turn brown. I usually don't cut them down until most of them are dry around January. You have to dig everything up then and save some of the pieces in a moist sandbox until you are ready to plant them again. I use new soil every time and bleach the container to sterilize it . Ginger needs to be in soil that does not have nematodes. I start with new potting soil, if I have vermicast I add that in too and plant the ginger pieces. While they are dormant the pot needs to be moist enough to keep them alive but not so wet as to rot the ginger. The new shoots will start to appear around the end of March- April. If you live in a frosty zone, you will need to bring them inside as they are not hardy.

[Lonesomedave]

applester- to tell you the truth, I didn't know where to put it

anyway, I bought a cheap, big pot at home depot today, filled it up with leaf compost, watered it down good with some of my manure tea, and then placed a big, healthy looking piece of ginger on it

then, filed up the remaining three inches or so with some leftover garden soil that I had, making sure to pack everything in tight around my ginger root

then, watered real good again, so as to make sure not to have any air pockets...will water it good and see what happens

/s/ dave