How to Grow Ginger at Home?

Do you like cooking ginger and use it almost daily? And would you like to always have ginger on hand? Have you ever thought about growing your own ginger at home?

Growing ginger at home is quite easy as long as you follow a few rules:

The good news is that you don’t need a green thumb to grow ginger. The bad news is that you will have to wait at least five to six months, sometimes even a year, before you can harvest it. So you will have to be patient!

1 – HOW TO CHOOSE THE RHIZOME?

Ginger root can be found in organic grocery stores or simply in the exotic fruit section of almost all supermarkets. Choose a well-swollen rhizome covered with a light beige skin and without grayish or wilted parts, a sign that the root has been on the shelf for far too long.

2 – WHERE TO PLAN OFFICINAL GINGER?

This tropical plant, in principle, cannot be cultivated in our climates, but amateurs do not let this stop them: it is possible to grow it in pots!

Take a deep container of 30 or 35 cm in diameter or side, and install it in a very bright place where the temperature oscillates between 20 and 25°C at all times.

3 – WHEN TO PLAN OFFICINAL GINGER?

The best planting time is at the end of winter, in February-March, but you can try growing it at any time.

4 – PLANTING AND GROWING GINGER

As with planting pineapples, there are two schools. That of letting the ginger rhizome take root in a glass of water in the shade (but nevertheless temperate), or put it directly in the ground in the middle of your Chinese vegetable garden (on the surface, without sinking it completely) and wait for green shoots at the end of the root to develop. The rhizome will then form pretty stems which will perhaps flower…

To put all the chances on your side and be sure to be able to benefit from the taste qualities of your ginger, provide a light and very well drained potting soil. If growing in a pot is planned, a relatively large and deep container (like a planter) is preferable to facilitate root growth.

This perennial tropical plant loves heat (25°C) and constant humidity. However, you should avoid overwatering before the ginger has really taken root for fear of seeing it rot on the spot. It is only once the stems are well established that you can water freely.

5 – HOW TO HARVEST HOMEMADE GINGER?

You will soon be able to harvest the first ginger roots. To do this, lift the soil a little to find rhizomes underneath.

What are rhizomes? These are the underground parts of the stem. Cut the desired amount from the edges of the pot, and replace the soil afterwards. As long as you take good care of ginger, production will never stop and you will be able to harvest it constantly.

In case you need a larger harvest, you can unpot the whole plant and replant a few rhizomes in different pots to grow them in turn. You will have even more ginger at home!

6 – DISEASES, PESTS AND PARASITES

Officinal ginger, grown indoors, can be attacked by mealybugs due to confinement.

• Ventilate as often as possible, when it is not cold, and let it breathe in the garden or on the terrace in summer for as long as possible, when the nights are not too cool.
• If mealybugs attack, dab the leaves with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol. You have to be patient, but the effect is guaranteed!

The hardy mioga ginger lives in the garden without any problem. Apart from poorly drained soil which could encourage rotting of the rhizome in winter, this plant does not risk any attack.