How to Grow Ginger Plants Indoors

Ginger plants can be grown either outdoors or indoors and are most frequently kept in pots. Ginger plants grow to a height of two to four feet and produce small yellow flowers. The plants are grown and harvested for their rootlike rhizomes, which have a spicy and bitter flavor. The rhizomes are used in cooking and alternative medicines. Ginger plants do not require direct sunlight to grow and with the proper type of fertilization can grow and thrive in and indoor environment.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Glass or bowl of water
• Toothpicks
• Large pot
• Potting soil
• Peat moss
• Plastic bag
• Liquid fertilizer

1. Suspend a ginger rhizome over a glass or bowl of water using toothpicks so that the rhizome is partially submerged. Roots will sprout from the submerged portion.

2. Prepare a pot of soil to transplant your ginger rhizome to. A mixture of peat moss and potting soil provides a good nutrient base for a ginger seedling. The pot you choose should be large enough to accommodate the adult ginger plant and should also provide adequate drainage.

3. Transplant the ginger rhizome to the pot when the roots grow to approximately one inch in length. Plant the rhizome by laying it in the pot horizontally and covering it completely with the potting soil and peat moss mixture.

4. Cover the pot with a plastic bag to hold in heat and moisture. When the rhizome begins to sprout, remove the plastic bag.

5. Water the ginger seedling once a week. As the seedling grows, slightly increase the amount of water you use. You may also opt to water twice a week rather than only once.

6. Place the immature ginger plant near a window where it will be exposed to indirect sunlight for several hours a day. Ginger does not need excessive amounts of sunlight to grow and thrive.

7. Provide your indoor ginger plant with liquid fertilizer rich in potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. These nutrients are most essential to the plant's growth. Fertilize the plant once each week.

8. Harvest the ginger rhizomes after three to four months by digging up the entire plant, removing the rhizomes you intend to use, and planting the ginger back into the ground or its pot. Any remaining rhizomes will bud and produce new growths for repeated harvests.

Tips & Warnings

• If the ginger leaves begin to curl, this means the plant is becoming waterlogged and should be watered less frequently.

References

• It's a Snap to Grow--Ginger!
• "Ginger: The Genus Zingiber;" P.N. Ravindran, K. Nirmal, Babu; 2005