The Life Cycle of Ginger Plants

The rhizome is the part of ginger that we eat.

The ginger used to flavor many Asian and African dishes is officially known as Zingiber Officinale. Grown for its spicy tuber, ginger flourishes in containers or in a sunny garden spot and regrows each year from its existing structure.

Structure of ginger

Ginger is a rhizome, which means that the main body grows horizontally underground. The rhizome sends out roots below ground and foliage above ground. Although usually referred to as a "ginger root," the rhizome is what we actually eat.

Life cycle

Rhizomes are perennial growers. Dormant in the winter, they begin their life cycle in early spring. In late spring or early summer, the leaves send food to the rhizome to help it create the buds that grow into new, self-sustaining plants.

Rhizome reproduction

Ginger reproduces asexually, meaning it does not use flowers, seeds or the pollination process to create new plants. Instead, a stem from the rhizome forms a bud that becomes a complete plant--in essence, a clone of the original plant.

Lack of flowers

As an asexual plant, culinary ginger usually does not produce flowers. Ornamental varieties of ginger create lovely, dramatic blooms, but these varieties are not used in cooking.

Fall harvest, winter rest

Ginger is usually harvested in fall. The above-ground foliage will die off, but the remaining rhizome will return to life in spring.

References

• Biology-Resources: Plants: Introduction to Vegetative Reproduction
• Life Through the Cracks: Growing Ginger Root
• Bonsai Gardener: How to Grow Ginger