Homegrown ginger - the plant - how to grow them

in #gardening6 years ago

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#nofilter
Before I share anything about our ginger plant I had to share this sunrise from a couple of mornings ago. Minielf woke me around 5, she was hungry but needed her diaper changed first. As I got up I noticed the colours on the wall from the rising sun and we went into the kitchen and saw this.

Okay. So ginger plants.
Both me and Brock likes ginger but it is expensive and we never seem to use all of it before it gets old. When we started learning about regrowing food scraps one article said it could be done with ginger. I got super curious about this and looked into it some more.
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We bought ginger from a health food store - two reasons, it was labled as organically grown (hopefully less pestecides) and two - not sprayed with growth inhibitor to keep it from sprouting before it’s purchased.
This one here is a piece we didnt use to re-grow I noticed the other day that it had sperouted so I decided to plant this one too.

Ginger grows very slowly - takes about 10 months to mature. But the cool thing is, once you have the plant you can harvest small pieces of ginger from the outer part of the roots and it will keep on growing. So, you harvest what you need and you will always have a fresh supply. And they grow well in partial to full shade. But, they dont like frost at all. So we are keeping this one indoors.

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These are the 3 pieces we stuck in the soil the 9th of april. Since then it has grown three green grass-like stalks that smells like ginger when you rub it between your fingers.

How its done (or atleast how we did it):

  1. Soak the root over night

  2. Fill your pot with rich but well draining potting soil.

  3. Place the ginger root in the soil with the eye bud pointing up. Cover it with 1" to 2" of soil. Water it well.

  4. Place the ginger in a spot that stays reasonably warm and doesn’t get too much bright sunlight.

  5. Keep the soil moist, using a spray bottle to mist it, or water it lightly.

  6. Ginger is a slow grower. After a few weeks, you should see some shoots popping up out of the soil. Continue to water the plant regularly by misting it with a spray bottle and keep it warm

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One of the guides I followed said :
"Small pieces of ginger can be harvested 3-4 months after growth begins. Pull aside some of the soil at the edges of the pot to find some rhizomes beneath the surface. Cut the needed amount off a finger at the edge of the pot and then return the soil.

Ginger can be harvested in this way endlessly, and as long as it is well cared for, it will continue to produce roots. If you need a larger harvest, you can uproot the entire plant and re-plant a few rhizomes to start the process over again."

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That same guide also said: "ginger loves shallow, wide pots. The roots grow horizontally so be sure the pot you choose will accommodate its growth"
As you can see i didnt quite follow that last part. But i replanted it in a much bigger container now.

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Ah yes, I have seen many a sunrise with the mini renegades as well. As for the ginger, that is so neat! I had no idea. I will be bookmarking this to try later. Thanks! -Aimee

I love how you get to be so in the moment with the little ones, so precious :)
Yeah, I hadnt either but got quite excited when i read about it. And so far, so good :)

Such a helpful post! Your plant is looking good! Ginger is also expensive here in South Africa but we, sadly don't have the option of buying organic from the health store so I've just bought from the supermarket. I get them to an inch or two green stem and then they die. I suspect it's the pH (maybe assisted by our free ranging chickens) but I'm going to try again this Spring. Have you grown tumeric? The actual root is finally in SA so I'm nursing a couple to plant in a month or two. So excited! Did you know you get a ginger bush and a plant. Apparently the bush/shrub is mild and I guess you use the leaves. But mine is currently in bloom

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Thank you! :D its so great to hear that ones posts are benefitial to others <3
Oh no, i havent grown tumeric but i will certainly look into it ! I take tumeric capsules daily to help with my chronic pain, so growing my own would be amazing!
Wow thats a beautiful picture!

Sorry to hear that you have chronic pain. But tumeric is an incredible natural anti-inflammatory. I make golden paste which we take as needed. I often use it for my animals. They are wonderful little patients!

Yeah adding tumeric to my daily vitamins made a big difference! Oh i never thought to use it for the animals

Wow, stunning sunrise. Really rich colors.

Also, ginger! My wife doesn't enjoy it as much as I do but i could certainly benefit from having a renewable source! Thanks for the post!

Yeah im happy i was able to capture it :)

Oh thats great, yeah the renewable aspect really got me intrigues to try it! Thank you :)

Wow look at those awesome roots! Super cool, glad it's working for you :)

Thanks :) i was quite pleased when i saw it was working!

What a good idea, and the plant looks attractive, too.

Yeah i too really love the look of it, and it smells so good too when you touch it!