Ginger

Clarington

In my bargain bin rummaging around Homebase early this summer I found a rather bashed and heavily reduced "grow your own ginger". Well curiosity got the better of me and since then its been in a pot in the greenhouse. The label has since been lost and with the cooler nights I'm considering lifting the roots to see what has happened (about 30cm of green growth up top). Should I stop watering it completely and be waiting for it to wilt?

Also - If we have anything under the soil is it possible to harvest and then save some for planting next spring or is it better to start afresh?

Welshonion

Frankly I find it's easier to buy a large section of rhizome in the supermarket and keep it in the freezer! You can grate it from frozen and return the rest to the freezer.



It is of interest to grow it but not very practical to rely on if you have to dig it up to use it. Bring it into somewhere frost-free and light and you will be able to keep it going for years as a house-plant.

Clarington

WelshOnion - it was definitely a "curiosity and 50p price tag" that led to my buying it rather than any ideas of it being my saviour in self sufficiency. It is that naive young concept of enjoying learning where things come from that is the reason between a lot of the plants in the garden and although time and physical restrictions would no doubt muchly prefer the option of growing up taking the easy & practical way out I do end up devoting far too much resources to those that take my fancy.

 

Clarington

Thank you Philippa.

I'm aware that in terms of the practical side of stocking my cupboard homegrown ginger isn't the sensible way to go. But in terms of the pot of mud currently sat in my greenhouse with a potential ginger root in it I'd be terribly grateful for some advice on HOW to harvest - should I be letting it dry out before I lift it, does it need time to dry out before we consume it...

Daintiness

I've thought about doing the same as you to show children at school where ginger comes from. I cam across the following article which answered most of my questions and hopefully yours too as it is on my ' things to do' list!

http://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/growing-ginger.html

Hope it is helpful 

Tootles

Good luck Clarington! Sounds like a fab little gardening adventure. Good on you. Pls do let us know how you get on. I love the idea of having a go!

Pete.8

I grew one for 2 yrs a few yrs ago. Lots of leaf in the summer in the g/house. Brought it inside for winter - leaves got a bit raggy, but picked up the second year again and made more leaves.

When I decided I'd had enough, I lifted the root to find it was barely any bigger than when I planted it.
I wouldn't bother again. Guess it's not keen on the UK weather for some reason...

I believe the best way to keep root ginger fresh is to keep it in sand in a cool dark place

Clarington

Daintiness that link is fantastic!  I'd tried searching the web but hadn't found one anywhere as clear as that. Thank you ever so! It looks like you wait for the leaves to die down so my little pot of inefficient kitchen goodies gets a stay of execution for a few weeks as it's looking very vibrant (it lives in the greenhouse) at the moment.

(We don't actually use ginger very much in our cooking - in fact I can only think of it in our German Christmas biscuits! But now I've learnt it isn't space hungry and seems to survive when neglected I'm definitely going to grow it for a few more years and see how it develops).

Clarington

Pete. That's a shame you didn't have much luck with yours - tropical plants do seem to be a little bit more tricky for UK growers. Perhaps I'll strike lucky,