First TIme Growing Ginger in Canada (From Planting to Harvest 2013)

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We love ginger around here, like LOVE ginger. So of course I had to try to grow some. Turns out that growing a ginger plant isn't really all that tricky. I followed the first years growth on my ginger plant and finished up with a quick harvest of some ginger roots for teas. Will I grow ginger again? Absolutely, planted some of what I harvested at the end of this video in point of fact ... Now I just need to figure out the best way to winter the plant ... do I leave it outside in the cold or should I top it and bring it into the basement .... Hope this helps and if you have any tips for me, feel free to throw those into the comment section below! Talk-qua-ponics Blog at - http://jtbearstalkquaponics.blogspot.ca/

Comments

hello are you still growing Ginger. I hope so because it's very easy to grow I purchase $1.25 worth and I'm still growing the same Ginger from that dollar $1.25 after two years.

looks very nice especially for your short growing season

use a sandier soil and not to much moisture

great info n video !!!

if you have any advice and idea that is practical, pls do share with me by replying.. so that i can get notified thru email...

thanks a lot.
God bless

i am located in germany, the weather here is horrible, shady and cold. growing season only 5 months and the temperature at night sometime will drop below 10 c during these short summer months..

how's your growing season average temperature and sun and at night ?

how's your over wintering ginger.. alive ? mine.. rotten.. because i didn't realize it will rot the rhizome below 15c.

tell me more.. my aim is to grow as much food as possible of those that i use daily.. so. i will keep trying to grow ginger and tumeric in germany. never give up.. until i made it.. and i don't want to pay a bunch of bills for heating or lighting... i want to be sustainable...

i believe canada is as cold as here.. but i believe you guys has got better sun than uk and germany..

pls share with me of your findings.... so i can able to grow ginger that i needed..
i am trying using black square containers and put it on my garden roof and make a mini box (green house) to let more solar beam to heat up the soil to compensate the chill temperature of night...

i worried if the high humidity of that mini green house will cause diseases... and if it will, how should i construct the green house to cater for over heat and humidity that might cook the rhyzome. ?

thanks
andrew

jt bear,

hii,
don't get discourage by any -ve opinions..
you did a good job. as long as one work and try to get contact with nature it is always better.. better than just sitting infront of tv and watching nonsense programs that corrupts ppl's mind.

Did you have to drill some holes at the bottom of the bucket for drainage?

thank you very much . real hands on no muss lesson. much appreciated.

Cool looking plant, I will have to grow some. Turmeric is fun to grow but the plant is so cool I'm not sure I want to dig it up to see if I got any rhizomes in one years growth.

So what did you do for the winter? And how did it work out? I just succeeded with mine (on a balcony) and am really curious to see if there will be something to harvest by the end of summer...

I wonder if you can grow it in Water? Similar to raft lettuce?

Thanks for the video. I have two pieces sprouted in those 3" peat pots full of seed starter. I set them on top of the soil and just pushed them in a little... and kept them watered. They've been just in my kitchen; not always in a window; for about a month. Now that they've sprouted they are growing well/quickly. I too am in zone5, but in Ontario. I plan to plant them into a large-ish pot and keep it inside as a houseplant. I'll put it by a bright window. Now that I've seen how yours are growing at the top of the planted root/rhizome, I'll sink them a little deeper in the soil. I bet you could make a great tea from the bottom part of the "branches" that you clipped and threw away. Now.. I wonder where a person would find a turmeric root...

Ah yes I forgot one important thing. Ginger plants will grow up to 3 feet tall. Also they need to be hilled like potatoes or your new growing ginger will not grow very big. As the plant grows keep adding soil to the pots because the new ginger grows above the old planted rhizome. 6 inches of new soil in the pots is fine. Keep well watered but not sopping & mist every few days. When the plant looks like it is dying back it is ready for harvest.
God bless and happy gardening.

I see that you have a lot of suggestions, however: - Ginger is a tropical plant and does not need to be kept in the basement so that it does not freeze. Being a tropical plant keep it right in the house and enjoy as a house plant since it is already in a bucket. Keep watered but do not soak it. Mist once a week just enough to keep up the humidity. Since you only had them originally in the pot from April to Sept you should have enough fertility until spring. Then fertilize with a low nitrogen fertilizer say 2-10-10 would be good or anything recommended for potatoes plus some compost. I do not know where you are in Canada but when the weather warms up you may put them back outside. Then the next September you may harvest and/or plant some on in pots again same way as above. Ginger is very slow growing and takes 10 -12 months for a harvest. Also growing store bought ginger or potatoes is not a good idea because they are sprayed with a chemical so they do not sprout in the store. Plus they may carry diseases that you would not want in your garden. Always plant certified seed.
God bless and happy gardening

it take 4 to 5 months to harvest fresh ginger....old ginger take 9 to 10 months to harvest. Fresh ginger / young ginger less spice and less hot suitable for soup ......while old ginger is spice and hot suitable for making curry or fried chicken

Are you not using any kind of plant food? Replanting them the same soil in a bucket, I would think that the plant has sucked all of the nutrients out of it already?!?!?

My husband has an indoor gardening shop here in Alberta, and a friend of his works with him -- he likes to try to grow tons of different things from seeds from the store-bought fruit or veggie: they've tried growing dragon fruit, kiwi, mango, avocado, ginger -- everything with success.... right now, I've got one of the avocado trees at home, a kiwi plant (a VERY cool plant to grow!), and I've brought home one of the ginger plants to rescue it from one of our cats (we have 2 that live at the store), he loves to eat the leaves off the ginger plants... so they must be tasty! LOL I'm about to re-pot the plant I have, and also add another piece of ginger I had in the kitchen... it was great to see the progress with your plants! I'll be curious to see what I have by this time next year! :o)

What did you feed the plant?

Okay so soaking those roots I just bought seems like a completely unnecessary thing to do. However, I have to wonder, those small buds (rhizomes) you've shown at the end was the only thing you managed to harvest though the whole summer?

Did you replanted those inside during winter? What happened after, did you get more of the stuff?