How to Plant Ginger Root

Ginger root is a rhizome--the part of the plant Zingiber officinale that grows underground. The stem that grows from the rhizome has narrow, ribbed green leaves and white or green flowers. The plant is native to Asia and is used both for cooking and medicinal purposes. Growing ginger from roots both indoors and out is easy, as the plant doesn't need a lot of care or room in the garden.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Compost

1. Choose rhizomes that are fresh and have well-developed growth buds. Growth buds are like the eyes on a potato.

2. Soak the rhizomes overnight to flush out any chemicals that may have been applied.

3. Break up the rhizomes so that each piece has a couple of growth buds.

4. Plant the ginger in late winter or very early spring. Ginger needs rich soil, so work compost into the dirt in the area you'll be planting. Choose a bright location without direct sunlight.

5. Put the rhizomes in the soil a couple of inches deep and about 8 inches apart.

6. Water the soil frequently so it doesn't dry out. Mulch the ginger as soon as leaves start to show. Ginger doesn't thrive if it has competition from other plants.

7. Cut back on watering at the end of the summer to force the ginger to create rhizomes.

8. Harvest the ginger after all of the leaves have died back. Dig up the entire plant and break up the rhizomes. Replant rhizomes with good growth buds for a continuous harvest if you live in an area where there are no freezes over the winter.

Tips & Warnings

• Follow the same basic instructions to grow ginger indoors. Plant it in good soil and keep it in a sunny location.
• Ginger can take as long as a year to develop to the point you can harvest it.
• Ginger will not survive cold winters.
• Ornamental flowering gingers are nice additions to a flower garden, but are not suitable for culinary use.

References

• Growing True Ginger
• Growing and Using Edible Gingers from the University of Florida

Resources

• Healthy Ginger Recipes
• Medicinal Uses for Ginger from the University of Maryland Medical Center