What's this??

[SarrissUK]

Yeah, actually, it could be a knobbly Jerusalem artichoke that's sprouting

[veggiechicken]

Snoop - you were right. Its ginger!

I've been trying for years to find ginger with sprouting bits - shops must chuck it when it gets to that stage. This time I bought some organic ginger, put it in an unsealed plastic box and sprayed it with water every few days. Can't believe how well its worked.

I'll give them a few more days and then plant them.



Thanks everyone for humouring me.

[Jay-ell]

There was me thinking you were playing around with a Hand of Glory again.

[self-contained]

Interesting. It looks very different to my ginger plants. I must have had mine under the soil before the side roots came out.

Here it is recently:

My turmeric is also producing some proper little shoots and will get planted in some compost this weekend I do like growing less common things.

[mothhawk]

That's what mine looks like too, SC. trust VC to find some that grows funny.

....

And here's one ready to pot up - no hairy spider legs at all



Most ginger in shops has been sprayed with growth inhibitor to stop it sprouting so it needs to be well rinsed to remove that before it will sprout.

[self-contained]

I had no luck with the first lot of Tesco ginger I bought, but the stuff I picked up at Lidl did really well. Lots of their ginger already had the pre-shoot nobble (sorry, not sure of the technical name!) so perhaps their supplier doesn't spray?

Never any luck with pineapples though, and I have tried several from Tesco. They look fine, but never seem to root no matter what technique I try. The ones from Aldi have usually had the growing tip cored out (presume it stops them from going manky in transport or something) so maybe I should try Lidl for that as well.

[veggiechicken]

Thanks for your photos, SC & MH. Something for me to aim for
I was intrigued by the "spider's legs". I assume they're roots, like the ones you get on potato chits.
They remind me of starfish on a rock, spiders on a log and.............

[Thelma Sanders]

Sulk, grumble grumble.
'Twasn't fair to keep us giving suggestions when someone had already given the right answer

[Jay-ell]

Thanks for your photos, SC & MH. Something for me to aim for
I was intrigued by the "spider's legs". I assume they're roots, like the ones you get on potato chits.
They remind me of starfish on a rock, spiders on a log and.............

It's nose looks vaguely like a Dragon - I wonder if its bogies are flammable?

[veggiechicken]

Sulk, grumble grumble.
'Twasn't fair to keep us giving suggestions when someone had already given the right answer

Haha!!
It would have been a very short guessing game if I'd said Yes to Snoop.
I started typing "Doh, that was easy............" then decided you should all have a chance. At least you didn't have to lose sleep wondering what it was - although Jay-ell's guesses would give anyone nightmares.

[Lumpy]

Oh it’s ginger then.
I thought you had bought yourself garden themed n1pple protectors so you could go topless in the heat.
Mind you that idea became a little ruder after seeing the second pic.

[Snoop Puss]

Well, that was a surprise. I was expecting to be wrong.

Oddly, I've never had any trouble getting ginger to sprout, wherever I've bought it from. Buy a big piece, use some up as and when, keep it in the fruit bowl, forget about it, come back weeks later when it's all shrivelled and sprouting. Then start again.