How to Grow Ginger

Ginger is an exceptionally good plant to grow indoors, easy, fast and rewarding; and spring is the best time to start. Most supermarkets sell ginger root, the gnarled, brown rhizome which is scraped of it's bark and used to flavor so many delicious Asian dishes. Break off a piece about two inches in length, you can use the leftover from cooking as it dries out, it doesn't have to be fresh. For children a fun way to get started is to suspend the root over a tumbler of water using a toothpick or skewer. Within days small green-yellow nodes will start to break through the rough surface and roots will grow down into the water. As soon as the roots are evident you can transfer the rhizome to a pot.

Bear in mind that this is a fast growing plant so choose a six or eight inch pot about 80% full of moist potting soil. Place the rhizome, roots down, a little less than an inch below the surface of the soil. Water well every day, adding plant food to the water about once a month. After a week the shoots will have broken the surface (up to two weeks if you did not start the roots first.) Stand back and watch as the delicate, almost translucent, light-green stem soars upwards periodically unfurling aromatic darker leaves. This plant rivals the bamboo for speed of growth and should reach nearly four feet high with glossy leaves a foot long! Ginger does not like direct sunlight, it will grow well indoors or on a patio, but strong sun through glass may result in burnt leaves.

When it has reached it's maximum height, after 3 or 4 months, it is time to dig up the root, use some for cooking and save some for the next batch. You will know when the time is ripe as the stem starts to droop, seemingly unable to stand upright of it's own volition. If you started early enough in the year you can get a second and even third cycle. In the house, a ginger plant will survive the winter but will not grow very much. They are very susceptible to frost so that you can only achieve two harvestings if they are outside. Owing to the speed with which they grow they make a fun project for children as well as providing a healthful ingredient at little cost in these straitened times.