growing ginger

[mothhawk]

Everyone out there growing your own ginger, what do you do when the plant gets too tall for the shelf (echoes of "My Grandfathers Clock" )?

One of my ginger plants sits on the kitchen windowsill and has reached the top of the window. It has 3 strong stems so as a test I cut out the top three inches of one stem. Result? It has simply put up another leaf from the point I cut it, and carried on growing upwards so neatly you can barely see where the top was removed.

As all my windows are the same depth moving it to another windowsill won't change anything, and I don't have a greenhouse. If I cut it radically, say by half its height, am I going to stunt the root growth? After all, it's the root I'm growing it for.

Does anyone know how it grows in its natural habitat? For instance, does it have a "dry period" when it would naturally die back and rest, or does it grow continuously, as in tropical rainforest?

I know Gingerninger had a thread on growing ginger, I've read it through but there are no posts on there about what to do once the plant is up and running.

Thoughts, please, and advice, especially if you've grown one to the point where you've harvested the ginger root

[Runtpuppy]

Not sure if this is the sort of information you need, but here you go...

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/trim-ginger-64057.html

If it isn't, I'm sure someone who knows more than me will be along!

[keat63]

I tried growing Ginger last season.
I had mine in a huge garden planter in the back of the greenhouse behind my tomatoes for sun protection.
Whilst the grass type foleage grew niceley, the fruit I harvested was only margionally bigger than that I put in.
I was rather dissapointed.

[Runtpuppy]

The issue with growing ginger (and the main reason why I haven't tried growing it) is that you need a space of around 1m x 1m and you need to leave it to grow for 2 years before you can harvest it. Then you take out half and leave the rest to grow on for next year, and harvest yearly.

However, with the winter temperatures here, I can't leave it outside and don't have a greenhouse to try and grow it in. I guess you had the right idea with the huge garden planter, but you need to leave it to grow on longer for it to be worthwhile. Plant it and forget it for 2 years.

[Paulie]

Have you got a window where you could have it on the floor in front of the window, or on a small table in a similar place?

[burnie]

Monty was doing a bit on it tonite on GW, catch it on iplayer?

[mothhawk]

Have you got a window where you could have it on a small table on the floor in front of the window, or on a small table in a similar place?

That's a good idea Paulie. At least it would grow fairly happily till next summer when I could put it outside for a few months.

[mothhawk]

Monty was doing a bit on it tonite on GW, catch it on iplayer?

OK, thanks for telling me, Burnie. I've just watched it and now I'm depressed. The SIZE of those pots he was growing ginger lilies in! That was for flowers though, and the plants were evidently kept year on year.

I have seen people on Utube growing a fair bit of ginger root in 12" pots, and it only takes 10 months from rhizome planting to harvestable ginger so I'm faintly hopeful.

[mothhawk]

My ginger stopped growing round about the end of October, by which I mean no more new leaves or shoots. Then by December the leaves were starting to turn brown so I reduced the watering and thought maybe it was dying. Since the start of the month the leaves and stems have been completely brown top to bottom, so I gave a gentle tug this morning and the stems just came away from the tuber.

The good news is that there are tiny new shoot buds next to where the stems were attached, so evidently ginger dies down over the winter and regrows again, something I didn't know, and goggle as I might, couldn't find the answer to.

So if anyone else's ginger looks brown and dead, don't throw it out!

[veggiechicken]

Thanks for the reassurance MH.
Mine's brown too and thought it was too cold in the GH. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Time will tell.

[MyWifesBrassicas]

I did grow ginger man years ago in my fathers heated conservatory, it grew extremely well!
I planted it in a 3 gallon bucket, after about 18 months the rhizome grew that big, it bent and distorted the bucket eventually splitting it, i had to cut the remainder of the bucket to get it out.
I've been thinking about trying it again in a cold greenhouse this time, see if it'll overwinter if i leave the compost dryish.
Theres another type of ginger I'd like to grow and it's the thai version "Galangal" but I've not yet found a supplier

[veggiechicken]

I've bought galangal roots in a supermarket - can't remember which one. Didn't manage to grow it though.

EDIT - It was Asda - https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...les_70660.html

[MyWifesBrassicas]

Hi VC,

I bought some of the asda galangal last year with an intent to grow it, for some reason the supplier cut off all the growing buds/sprouts, maybe they had an issue with shoots it the packet.
I put it in the propagator thinking there might be a slight chance of shooting, it rotted!

[MyWifesBrassicas]

The pack it came in, also had lemon grass which grew wonderfully on the window sill though

[veggiechicken]

Maybe an Asian store might have fresh stock?