How to Grow Ginger for Flowers

The tiny "horns" on ginger sections are growth buds.

While perhaps better known for its rhizomes, the specialized underground stems that resemble roots, and the source of the spice ginger, the ginger plant does have another use. Ginger is also grown as an ornamental plant, producing attractive foliage and a beautiful spike of orchid-like flowers, colored creamy yellow with lines with dark red. Raising ginger for flowers is not difficult and the plant can be grown in the garden in areas where the temperature does not typically drop below freezing.

Things You'll Need

• Ginger rhizomes
• Plastic container
• Razor knife
• Sand
• Potting soil
• Medium plant pot
• Time-release fertilizer

Instructions

1. Purchase healthy, fresh and preferably young ginger rhizomes from a grocery store, farmer's market, plant catalogs or garden center. The rhizomes should have small "horns" on each section, which are the growth buds of the plant.

2. Soak the rhizome overnight in a plastic container filled with water to re-hydrate it and to wash away any pesticides or growth retardant sprayed on when harvested.

3. Cut the rhizome into 1- to 2-inch sections with the razor knife so that each section has at least one growth bud. Place the cut sections in a cool, dry place to allow the cut ends to dry and callus over.

4. Mix an equal measure of sand and potting soil. Fill a medium-sized plant pot for each section you want to plant with this mixture. Water the soil thoroughly.

5. Insert four or five ginger rhizome sections so each section is from 2 to 3 inches below the surface. Position each section so the eyes face upward. Cover the sections with soil and water them in thoroughly so the soil is moist.

6. Set the pot with the freshly planted ginger rhizomes in a warm sunny area. Water the sections regularly to keep the soil moist. Once the ginger sections sprout, spray the plant every other day with water to keep the plant well hydrated.

7. Grow the ginger either as a house plant or --- if you live in USDA hardiness zones 9 through 12 in an area that has high humidity --- transplant your new ginger plants outdoors in a well-lit area with fertile soil away from direct sunlight in early spring. Set the sprouted sections 12 to 15 inches apart.

8. Add a good all-purpose, timed-release fertilizer into the soil as the sprouts become well-established. Cover outdoor plantings with about 2 to 3 inches of mulch. Water the plants regularly, to keep the soil moist.

9. Remove any dead stalks and leaves at ground level with a pair of pruning shears at the end of the first growing season. Look for ginger to flower in the second or every third year of growth.

Tips & Warnings

• While the flowers of edible ginger are rather small, others members of the almost 1,300 species of ginger produce flowers in a range of colors, shapes and sizes. These plants can be propagated and grown in a similar manner as that of edible ginger.

References

• Kemper Center for Home Gardening: Zingiber Officinale
• University of California: Zingiberales in the Spice Market
• HortChat.com: Grow Edible Ginger
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Zingiber Officinale
• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Ginger --- Zingiber Officinale Roscoe; James M. Stephens; Rev. March 2009