Ginger is a superfood that we all love to use in our dishes. It’s also great for making different kinds of tea, like weight loss and headache tea!
But did you know it can be grown at home? One way people grow ginger plants is by planting them in containers–here are some tips on how this could work for you.
When To Grow Ginger?
Though many people think ginger is a winter spice, it actually does best in the summer. In order for your root to fully mature and produce juicy pods of gingery goodness, you need to plant during mid-spring or May/June when other crops are finishing up their growing season.
Plant too late though (late spring) and by harvest time you’ll be left with little more than overgrown roots that can still be used but will not provide much flavor.
What To Plant In Containers?
- Get a fat piece of ginger at least 2 inches long and wide. You don’t need to worry about finding eyes on the ginger as you do with potatoes, just make sure it is really fresh-looking. Ginger can be planted in any way and will grow!
- One of the most common mistakes when planting ginger is breaking it into pieces. However, a small piece can be planted without any problems involving breakage and will develop just as well with time.
- Ginger can be grown at home, but it should not be planted immediately after being broken in pieces. After breaking the ginger into smaller segments with a knife or shears, make sure to plant them 1-2 days later so that they have time to heal and won’t get infected by dirt when planting.
- If you are buying ginger from a nursery or any plant store, be sure to keep it in water for the few hours after purchase. If you buy them from supermarkets or grocery stores, they may have been sitting out without being watered and will need time to recover before use.
- Some stores use inhibitor sprays to stop the growth of ginger in order to increase its shelf life.
- If your store-bought ginger is old, wrinkled and looks like it has seen better days you can plant the root in a pot of water. If there are any pieces that look too worn out or have passed their best by date, don’t cook them – toss ’em!
How To Prepare The Soil To Grow Ginger In Containers?
Ginger has a special affinity for loose soil. You can’t use topsoil from your garden, which is compact and drains poorly.
Either get potting soil or make some DIYs to grow in pots; the difference between them being that potting soils are extremely looser than regular dirt, hold more water and contain much needed nutrients for plants to live healthy lives.
How To Select Container To Grow Ginger?
In order to grow ginger, make sure you select a container which is slightly bigger than the plant needs.
A 5-gallon bucket or pot with 12 inches of depth and 10 inch diameter will do just fine. For those who are looking for an easier option, there are also “grow bags” available on the market; these pots can be placed directly into your soil without any hassle!
How To Plant Ginger In Containers?
Growing ginger is a relatively easy process. Simply choose your container, the right soil and plant it!
- Make sure that the container is filled with a loamy soil and that you plant your piece of ginger about an inch deep. Ginger can dry out quickly, so it’s important to keep its roots moist at all times!
- You can plant 2 to 3 pieces of ginger in one good-sized container. However, you should not bury the pieces too deep into the soil as they will never germinate if planted at a depth below its roots’ reach and it may receive no sunlight or water from above ground level when buried under leaves.
- After planting ginger, make sure it doesn’t rot from sitting in water. Planting the roots near a pot of fresh earth is an effective way to keep them well-watered and healthy!
How Much Sun Does A Ginger Plant Need?
If your ginger plants are being cooked alive in the sun, it’s time to relocate them. Ginger is a sun-loving crop but too much of something can be bad – even for an herb! A good rule of thumb: if there isn’t any shade on that side of the house and you’re getting direct sunlight all day long, 5-6 hours should do nicely.
But if you don’t see those leaves turning brown or crispy edges from heat exposure (sunburn) then consider moving into a half shady location because while this plant loves light so does most everyone else and summertime brings us plenty with enough left over to share!
How To Water Ginger Plants?
Ginger plants like to be watered. If you let the soil dry out, they are at a higher risk of getting fungal infections. Always keep an eye on how moist their soil is by checking it regularly and make sure that your ginger plant’s water level never falls below about halfway up its roots for any amount of time!
To give them a shower in the summertime, use some hose with warm or cool water early in the morning before daytime heat can build up on leaves (remember this so as not to cause sunburn!).
How Long Does It Take To Grow Ginger?
There’s nothing like the excitement of planting your first piece of ginger. After two weeks, you can see it breaking through the soil and start to grow! In a month or so, its leaves will have grown thick enough for stir-fry.
Ginger plants need 8 – 10 months before they’re fully mature (if not longer), but if growing seasons are short in your area this might be problematic as well.
How To Harvest Ginger?
In 8-10 months time, your ginger will be ready to harvest. But you can also wait until 6 month old ginger is available if that’s what you want.
Young ginger has a thinner and lighter brown skin than fully mature gingers with thick hard skins so the harvesting process needs to take this into account when pulling out dry soil from their containers before taking away any crops!
