Last Harvest Monday, 1/7/13, I mentioned that I will start rooting my ginger rhizomes for growing in the garden mid-February/early-March for transplanting early June when the soil is warm. After doing some research I decided to start rooting my ginger rhizomes now due to our short growing season (ginger needs 10 – 12 months to mature).
Purchased 2 different varieties of ginger from the health food store and divided them into smaller sections, making sure there are 2 or more eyes on each section (the light color bumps). The sections on the left are from ginger with thicker (fatter) rhizome than the sections on the right.
Place each section in a 4-inch pot filled with potting mix
(click on photo to enlarge)
Covered each section with about ½ inch of potting mix
Dated, labeled and watered well
Placed in front of a sunny window awaiting the eyes to break through the soil surface.
Will keep you updated.
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Garden to Wok 
Good luck! I keep thinking about doing this myself. I figure it wouldn’t have a huge chance of success for me in a pot as I’d just forget to water, but in the ground I couldn’t bring it inside when it started to get cold.
Hello Daphne,
I need the good luck. I will be planting 10 of the rhizomes into the grounds and 2 (1 of each varieties) in pots for comparison.
Oh how very exciting Norma. I am looking forward to your update on your ginger.
🙂 Mandy
Hello Mandy,
Yes, I am excited, will post photos as soon as the “eyes” poke through the surface of the potting mix.
I just left my ginger root planted in the container they grew in last year and am hoping they take off and give me more and better growth in this second full year of growing. I need to add some compost and fertilizer to the pot later this spring. Last year was my first attempt at growing ginger. Not sure it is suitable for my climate but I thought it was worth trying.
Hello Laura,
I plan on not harvesting the ones I am going to plant in container and see how they fare over the winter.
That must be fun and exciting!
Hello Angie,
I am anxiously waiting for the “eyes” to poke through the surface of the potting mix.
I hope this is the beginning of a bumper crop for you, Norma! Happy Monday!
Hello Betsy,
I hope so. Happy Monday to you also.
Don’t worry, ginger will root easily if it’s not too old, I had small plants many times but they don’t survive the winter so I give up.
Hello Graziana,
I plan on bringing the ones in the pots indoor for the winter.
Wow, I didn’t realize Ginger was (potentially) that easy to start. I was reading a book last week at the library and thought of you – have you seen “Grow, Cook, Eat” yet? I think you would enjoy it!
Hello Alyssa,
No I have not read the book, should check the library, thanks for thinking of me.
That sounds awesome my friend, good luck in your ginger endeavour!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hello Uru,
Thanks, I hope all my ginger sprout and grow well.
Goodness you’re going to have a lot of ginger, Norma! Hope it all grows well for you! 🙂
Hello Celia,
I truly hope they grow well for me, our growing season is so very short.
I will be watching this experiment with interest! I’d love to be able to grow my own ginger! Good luck with it!
Hello Patsy,
I think your growing conditions are similar to mine, may be you could try rooting 1 or 2 pieces now and we could compare notes.
I, too, will be interested to read how this works out.
Hello Lisa,
Will be posting photos as soon as I see growth poking through the potting mix.
How exciting. I can’t wait to see how this works out and how long it will be before you have your harvest. Looking forward to updates as I’ve never grown ginger xx
Hello Charlie,
Ginger is easy to grow but requires a long growing season. You could probably grow it successfully where you are as you have a much longer growing season than I do.
Is there anyone more optimistic than a gardener in the process of planting something?
Good for you, Norma! I can’t wait to read your progress reports.
Hello John,
Gardeners are the most optimistic bunch. When reading gardeners blogs, notice when a crop fails, the phrase: “next year will be better” always follows.
Will surely be posting progress reports.
[Laughing in ‘answer’ to Chicago John: no, definitely not – what would get planted otherwise?] Norma, we are mid-summer, but with a growing season another four months – am beginning with a few this coming weekend: and we’ll see where we go! Thanks heaps for all the tips!!!!!!
Hello Eha,
Read Maureen comment, are you in the same growing zone as she is? Your ginger rhizomes may sprout faster than mine. It is winter here and the days are shorter.
Well, not quite 🙂 ! Maureen is about 1000 Km N, coastal v my highlands and 1-2 growing zones warmer, but since my max minimum in winter is – 2-3 C, the difference is not unsurmountable 😉 !
I found a “sprouter” from a piece of ginger that had gotten behind the mixer (don’t ask how that happened, I have no idea) but I popped it into a pot and it’s huge! The area I live in is the world’s largest commercial ginger growing region and mine is growing like a weed. I have to figure out what to do with it now. 🙂
Hello Maureen,
How lucky. You could harvest nuggets as needed and leave the plant to continue to grow and flourish, or you could harvest the whole thing (make sure to replant a piece) and make my ginger wine. Here is link: https://gardentowok.wordpress.com/about-ginger-ginger-wine/
Since I cannot “fight” the squirrels, I will be content in seeing your ginger rhizomes grow…
Have a great week Norma 🙂
Hello Juliana,
Know what you mean, yes, wild life can be a “pain”. A great week to you too.
Maybe I should try rooting the ginger instead of letting them sprout then plant later.
Hello Mac,
You always have good ginger harvest, why would you want to change?
That’s a good start I also tried it before and I gatherers gingers a lot 🙂
Hello Cocomino,
Glad to learn of your success, hoping I have the same kind of success.
That looks like a fun experiment, best of luck for success!
Hello Michelle,
Thanks, I hope my experiment is successful.
So much ginger! Yum!
Hello YC,
Yes, if my gingers grow well I should get a lot.
I do grow ginger but I find it takes interminably long to shoot. I have some that overwintered in pots in my garden that is only now making its appearance (and we are halfway through summer….)
Hello Liz,
Yes, the ginger takes forever to make its appearance, my first experiment took nearly 2 months. Anxious to see how long this batch will take.
Looking forward to the results of this one. I’m fascinated by growing ginger!
Hello Kristy,
Will surely be posting results as they occurred.
Very cool Norma, looking forward to seeing how these work out.
Hello Eva,
A pot of ginger will look at home among your other potted plants on your deck.
Thanks for this useful post. I was just thinking how to grow them right! thanks!
Hello Sophie,
You are welcome, glad my post was timely.
I didn’t know this could be done, Norma. I’m looking forward to watching these grow! xx
Hello Barbara,
I was surprised at the large piece of ginger I harvested, that encouraged me to plant more. Hope they turn out as well.
Hi Norma, I love all your gardening posts, and even though I don’t have my own garden this year, I still have a huge interest in it (for the future references: I hope to have a garden next year). Thanks for this detailed post and looking forward to see how ginger is growing. 🙂
Hello Marina,
Thanks. may be you can have a few containers of herbs and tomatoes.
Hi Norma, chanced upon your blog while surfing. I newly acquired a planter box and tried my hand at ginger. Now the plant is growing to about a metre tall, I am not sure when I can harvest my ginger.
Hello Edith,
Thanks for visiting. How long have your ginger been growing? It does take a number of months for the original piece to grow new rhizome. If you live in warmer climate than I do, your ginger may grow faster. Dig around the base of the plant and see if there is any new growth, if good size you could cut off a piece and leave the remainder to continue to grow. Would love to hear about your experience.
Wow a few months, okay I shall wait patiently for it to grow. I live in SIngapore so it is tropical sun for the ginger. 🙂
Let’s hope it won’t die under my hands. Since it is the wet season here, some already cannot make it.
Thanks.
Hello Edith,
In singapore I imagine you can grow ginger year round.
Good luck on the ginger project…it will be interesting to follow the progress.
Hello Karen,
Thanks, will be posting updates.
new at trying ginger, so please instruct me-if you wouldn’t mind what to do with my pieces of ginger that have a shoot coming out of them already. do i put them in water to root-or plant them up? ( they would have to stay in pot indoors if so, as it’s still winter in Wales) & if potting up do i leave the green shoots sticking above soil level ? thank you for any help you can offer.. sky
Hello Sky,
Pot up the ginger with the green shoot sticking above soil level. Keep it in a sunny locaton indoor, plant out when ground is warm. I plant mine in the ground early June.