Growing Ginger

[macmex]

I've thought about and toyed with the concept of growing my own ginger, since around 1993. Back then, we lived in the high desert in Central Mexico. When I planted it in my garden it would come up and fizzle, as it couldn't handle the strong sun. After a few attempts I let it rest. I think I may have tried to grow it in my garden, here in Oklahoma, with similar results.

This spring however, my wife took a feed tub and planted ginger, using potting soil as a growing medium. She set the tub at the foot of a large box elder tree, where it received very little direct sun. All summer we observed the ginger plants growing. A lot of times I believe we forgot to water them and then, we forgot to harvest! Last Saturday I spotted that tub and thought, well, we've been down into the 20s a number of times but, hey, let's have a look and see if we at least had some ginger to harvest, even if it's no good now. I dumped out the tub and, behold! We had a harvest of usable ginger!



We use a lot of ginger, so I'm sure that Jerreth is going to want to plant this much, or perhaps twice as much as this in the coming year. It wasn't much work. I'd estimate that we harvested about 4 lb. She says she had three plants in the tub.

Anyone else have experience growing ginger at our latitude?

[heavyhitterokra]

George,

That is so cool!

[amyinowasso]

I have grown it. I had my best luck purchasing a start, because getting it to start growing was the hardest part for me. I grew it on the north side of the house. I don't remember a harvest that good, and I brought it in and put it in a south window when it got cold. It died down in the window.

[chrysanthemum]

macmex, that looks like a great harvest. I’m sure you’ll enjoy using it.

I’m not at your same latitude but much farther south, of course, but the ginger I started last spring is on its second winter inside now. It grew through all last summer and fall, but I eventually brought one planter of it inside before it froze. The greens did die down in the winter for me, amyinowasso, but I left the roots in the soil. I harvested from them when I needed to, and I could tell that they weren’t rotting, so I let them be. I don’t think I watered while they were dormant, but I’m not totally sure. When it warmed up in the spring, I put the planter back outside, and green shoots started to grow again in April. They continued all through the summer and are inside now once again. They’re still green, but I expect that they’ll turn brown again, and hopefully come back after that. I’m linking a thread that has some pictures.

seedsavingnetwork.proboards.com/thread/540/ginger?page=1

@rdback started growing ginger this year in Virginia which should be a slighter higher latitude than Oklahoma if I’m picturing my map correctly in my head. I believe he has his overwintering in his basement now.