Growing ginger root at home is easier. This is a commonly used ingredient for many food recipes and uses it as a herbal. It can easily plant indoor and outdoor. If you are planning to grow for your home use, better grow ginger in containers. For commercial uses, better plant them in outdoor raised garden beds.
Zingiber officinale is the scientific name. This plant grows well in tropical environment condition and it requires over 68 Fahrenheit temperature. So you have to plant them in early spring. In summer it starts growing. It’s the best climate for ginger. This plant originated in Southeast Asia but can plant them around the world if you can provide correct warm climate conditions and correct soil mixture. No matter if you live in the USA, UK, Australia, Africa.
For farmers or home gardens, whos live in cool temperature area have to plant ginger in indoor pots. This is a seasonal plant. This plant requires good moisture. Like other root plants, you can propagate it using the eyes of the root/rhizome. Using this ginger care tutorial you can grow a healthy harvest in 8 to 10 months.
How to Grow Ginger in Pots / Best Containers.
This plant requires considerable space to grow properly. Recommended ginger containers depth is the 15-inch and 24-inch diameters. These are the best pots sizes for ginger plants. But you can select slightly different pots. But never go for below the 12-inch depth/diameter pots.
It is not necessarily used pots, you can use waste containers like 5L buckets or fabric or plastic bags. But these ginger containers’ depth and diameters should meet the above requirement. The main thing you have to remember when growing ginger in pots its soil should looses. In loose soil, roots getting larger.
Soil Recipe for ginger.
The best soil for ginger is well drain and loose mixture. It perfectly growing in moist soil. It requires 60% of organic compost, 10% of sands, 10% cocopeat, and 20% garden soil potting mix. Your ginger container should keep enough moisture, that is why we use cocopeat. In a loose soil mixture, roots grow well. When growing ginger in pots always make sure that you have a loose potting mix.
How to Plant Ginger Root.
Get a fully grown alive ginger rhizome and bury it in 2 or 3 inches deeper soil in your pot. The selected rhizome should be fresh, if it’s dried it will not sprout. Few days you can see ginger eye buds pointing upwards. Normally this plant grows around 2 to 3 feet tall. It loves partial sunlight all day. Alternatively, you can cut off a rhizome into several pieces and make sure that each section is around 1 -2 inches (2.5 to 5cm). Then bury it in 2 or 3 inches deeper.
The rhizome size doesn’t matter, once it sprouts it gives more new baby plants in every bud. On average one root can give at least 3 or 5 new plants, but it depends on the situation. If you can see several ginger eyes, then each eye sprouts.
Watering Requirement.
This plan requires moisture. In a normal situation, you will need to water several days per week. But before watering always check, if the surface dries up. Also, you can use a chopstick to check the soil moist level. If it has enough moist, don’t water. Too much moisture will rot the rhizome. When growing ginger in pots you have to carefully water. Never kept too much moisture on the pot. It will rot the rhizome.
How to Fertilizer.
You can use organic fertilizer. Alway recommend using organic compost mixture. If you use chemical fertilizer, always use a low-nitrogen mix. Too much nitrogen will reduce rhizome yields. After 3 or 4 months add compost, regular fertilization not require. If the soil rich in nutrition (used compost) no need to add fertilizer.
Sunlight – Lighting Condition.
This plant grows well in partial shade all day. Give at least 2 hours of indirect sunlight. Overexposure to direct sunlight not good. It is OK exposure to direct sunlight for around 2 -3 hours, but never more than that.
How to grow Ginger in Cold climates season?
Growing ginger cold climate is easy. This is a seasonal plant. If you plant in the early spring, when it comes to winter, you can start harvesting. So always try to propagate it at the right time. In the winter season, you have to give warm. You can move your ginger pots to a greenhouse or artificial lighting environment. The ideal temperature for sprouting is 70 °F (21ºC), always give more than 10ºC or 50°F temperature. Ginger grows well in USDA zone 9 or higher area.
How to Grow a Ton of Ginger at Container?
You can harvest tons of ginger at home if you give correct growing conditions.
- Loose loamy soil: Using loose loamy soil is giving much nutrition to this plant. When the potting mix getting loose enough it gives much freedom to grow the rhizome.
- Moisture: Adding cocopeat to ensure that you keep moisture for a longer time. Which is essential for grow larger ginger roots.
- Mulch leaf: Adding mulch leaf prevent weeds from growing on ginger containers. Not only that it also keeps the surface moist.
- Bright Light: Exposing the plant to bright sunlight helps to get a bigger ginger rhizome.
- More NPK fertilizer: Adding Nitrogen, Phosphorus, potassium-rich fertilizer to ensure root growth. Adding manure rich organic compost more beneficial. Chicken manure is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Also adding banana peel powder increase phosphorus, and potassium level.
How long does it take to grow and harvest ginger?
Ginger harvesting can be done by digging up the plant. The best time to harvest ginger is 8-10 months after the planting. Once you harvested them, you have to wash them properly. Then wrap the washed roots using black polythene and store them in a refrigerator. When the plant matured, its leaves beginning to die, that is the right time to harvest ginger.
If you use ginger for your everyday cooking recipes, you don’t need to dig the entire plant, instead of that, you can break a small part of the root and use it. Then the rest of the root will keep alive with the plant.
