How to grow ginger at home with simple methods

Ginger is highly appreciated both in the kitchen for its particular aroma and flavor, tending to spiciness, and for the preparation of herbal teas, compresses and mixtures to take advantage of its many beneficial properties such as promoting digestion or calming coughs.
Ginger can be used fresh or powdered and many think that, being an oriental spice, it is difficult or even impossible to grow indoors: ginger in fact, apart from a few small tricks, does not require any special care and can be grown in pots without danger.

Sowing
The best time to plant ginger root is between the end of winter and the beginning of summer using a rhizome (root) that preferably has a few shoots: it is good to buy it in stores specializing in organic products rather than using the one from the supermarket that may have been treated with substances to delay its germination.

The roots need space to develop so a fairly large and deep pot is recommended, to be filled with well-drained clayey-sandy soil and compost because it is a crop that needs a lot of food.

If the rhizome has several shoots, it can also be cut into several pieces (each with at least two shoots) so as to obtain more plants from a single root; a 35 cm diameter pot can accommodate up to three plants.

Growth
The rhizome must be buried a few centimeters from the surface of the soil with the shoots upwards and watered regularly, at least once a day, without however overflowing with water to avoid creating stagnations; the pot must be placed in the sun even if it is able to vegetate even in shaded areas and, loving the hot climate, the ideal is a temperature never lower than 15 degrees.

Flowering
Usually, after 5-6 months, the ginger plant flowers (in the shape of a yellow or red ear) but it is good to cut the flowers that steal the food from the rhizome. The flower is very beautiful!

Collection
The Ginger collection can be done after this time but, in general, it is better to wait until the leaves become dry.

Once part of the rhizomes have been harvested, they can be reburied (they do not require water and special care until the temperatures rise again) and another is used fresh in cooking.

The harvested rhizome must be cleaned of soil and secondary roots and, if not used fresh, it can be dried naturally in the sun and then ground into powder: in both cases it can be used to exploit all the beneficial properties of ginger.

Throughout the summer the ginger jar can be kept on the balcony or terrace and then brought home, away from low temperatures, during the winter when it needs less water