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

[thanrose]

I guess it depends on the species. Z. officinale seems to need a little room to spread those fingers, while awa puhi, Z. zerumbet, multiplied in a bucket to fill the entire depth. It didn't come out the holes I'd drilled in the bottom, but was getting close. My Hedychium coronarium, aka Hawaiian White Ginger (smells just like the Avon cologne of the same name), also double and triple depthed in their pots. I still managed to kill them for this year. I hadn't the heart to give the extra away, and also couldn't bring myself to paintball the squirrels who dug them out of the box to desiccate under the workbench.

Anyhow, I depend on the Z. officinale to make my annual attempt at ginger beer for Christmas.

[imafan26]

I just break off pieces when I need it. I was looking at one of the pots today ad I think I may have to find a wider pot for it the side is being deformed by the root pushing against it.

I preserve the ginger by peeling and putting thumb sized pieces in a clean jar and cover the pieces with dry Sherry. It lasts all year as long as the ginger is submerged. If the pieces come out of the sherry, they will get moldy. I have also kept them in the freezer, but you end up with ginger juice when they are thawed and they desiccate in the freezer as well. Ginger can be dried and candied. Sometimes I just keep them in a bucket with a little sand or peat moss outside on the lanai and keep them moist. Eventually they will grow in the bucket and I have to plant them out again or use them.

[thanrose]

Sherry's a good idea for preserving ginger. I usually use vodka and a generous amount of salt. The alcohol should be enough, but what the heck... I do peel the pieces. Some are knuckle sized, some even smaller.

I should have kept the rhizomes in sand. Normally, I'd let them go dormant in the same pots, but everything was overgrown and I knew I'd be moving within a year, so I just knocked the soil off them and let them airdry in a paper bag in a cardboard box. Awa puhi survived that way, mostly, and had a few good sprouts, but not the Hedychium. I had edible ginger and a bit of tarragon left over from last year, but added small market purchased pieces.

I have to stop trying to grow any more stuff at least until after I move. That's all up in the air.

[digitS']

I skimmed the responses and didn't see anyone growing ginger from near the 49th north parallel

Okay, I've cheated a bit. About as soon as the heat was turned on in the March greenhouse, some ginger root from the store went in the pots. Only about 10 days ago, this plant came outdoors. I tried to protect it from our blazing, summer sun but it seems that the leaf tips were burned a little.

Last year, some ginger was started but not quite so early. It stayed in the open greenhouse right through the summer. There were a couple of little rhizomes beside the original root by the fall. That was the harvest - they were nice, fresh and fragrant!

That original, store-bought root looked about the same as months earlier. We were curious. No, we didn't make it into candied ginger, or such . However, cut up and later discarded -- it added a nice flavor to stir-fry!

How's that for economics? No need to toss the original root after months in the pot and producing a couple of new rhizomes. Anyway, it worked last year.

Steve

[rainbowgardener]

This year is my first time succeeding in getting grocery store ginger root to sprout. It has been growing VERY slowly but now has a couple leaf pairs and a new little sprout starting. It is in a pretty shady spot. Would it do better with more sun? It's there because it is in a pot with a house plant, since both of them will have to come in for the winter.

[applestar]

I put mine in full shade at first, then morning sun only. Once acclimated, I move it to about 4 hours noon day sun.

...but it might be different where the sun is hotter?

[digitS']

The second potted ginger was harvested.

The original root from the first looked good enough to use in the kitchen. The original that produced these didn't. Still, I'm pleased how it performed .

Steve

[rainbowgardener]

I have ginger in a couple containers. It was slow getting started, as noted above, but now is doing well.

How low can the temps go before I have to bring it in?

The leaves have very nice ginger scent. Is there some way I can preserve them (drying, freezing?)?

[applestar]

I've dried and chopped up to use for herbal teas. Stems can be cooked for stock if you want. Also not quite good enough for eating could be put in the bath or steeped in unscented shampoo, and worst ones can be tucked under the welcome mat -- I do that with the coir and coiled spring backdoor mat.

I'm bringing mine in before multiple/consecutive 40s' nights and definitely before frost. They seem OK with 50's -- they turn yellow and die off anyway some time in the winter.

Mine are currently sending up flowerbuds, but need to be brought in before Monday night (possible frost/freeze).

[digitS']

Stock .... I was wondering what the leaves could be used for.

Googling: Martha Stewart has a chicken stock with scallions, ginger, and fish sauce. That looks rather like our stir-fries often do. However, I am not too much interested in fish sauce and generally go for a simple soy sauce. Here is what Ming Tsai calls a Master Chicken Broth (link) with lots of ginger root in it.

A bath! I'd rather planned on a bath, tonight. It was something of a difficult day ... and, there is some Dr Teal's epsom salts with Eucalyptus & Spearmint ... . Ginger leaves, huh?!

Steve

[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 ... cinale.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.?