How to Grow Ginger

Did you know that ginger is considered a herb rather than a root even though the root of the plant is what we eat?

This warm climate culinary powerhouse originates in South-East Asia and has some incredible health benefits such as anti-inflammatory properties, blood sugar regulation, and relief from gastrointestinal distress.

If you live in a tropical or subtropical environment, you’ll love growing ginger because it’s so easy and tastes amazing.

When to grow ginger

Ginger thrives in conditions similar to its native homeland of South-East Asia. It will grow throughout spring and summer in cooler climates provided the soil temperature remains around 20-30°C or 68–86°F. For those in tropical climates, this may mean that winter is the best time to grow ginger or if you are lucky, it may even grow all year round for you.

Ginger varieties

Whilst there are thousands of different varieties of ginger, the ginger we all know, and love is Zingiber officinale or common ginger. Other varieties you may be familiar with are Galangal which is popular in a lot of Asian dishes and Turmeric!

How to grow ginger

Ginger is a rhizome. That means that you plant a piece of the root and as it grows, it will send shoots up above the soil which is how they harness the sun to grow and will put out lateral shoots under the soil and grow more rhizomes which is the part that we eat.

For best results, start with pieces of ginger at least 2.5cm or 1 inch in size making sure that each piece has an “eye“ as this is where the shoots will grow from. If you are cutting a large piece of ginger up to plant, ensure you leave the pieces to air dry for a few days to avoid the pieces rotting in the ground.

Choose a nice sunny location for best results.

Plant each piece of ginger in soil allowing plenty of space for the rhizomes to spread out then water regularly keeping the soil moist but not wet.

Having loose, free-draining soil with plenty of organic matter in it is ideal and regular feeding with something like the Plant Doctor’s Activ8 Mate (use code SSME10 for 10% discount on products) can help to grow a bumper crop.

How long does ginger take to grow?

Ginger is a slow grower taking 120-160 days to reach full maturity however young ginger can be harvested for a milder flavoured ginger.

When to harvest ginger

Once established, you can harvest ginger whenever you need it.

When picked early, the ginger will be milder and as it matures, it will become more bitter and stronger tasting.

The foliage will begin to die off as the weather cools which is a good indication that it’s time to harvest.

Alternatively, you can leave your ginger in the ground and it will lay dormant over winter and continue to grow new rhizomes when the weather warms up again so you never need to plant ginger again!

Mark’s top tips for growing ginger

Ginger requires a warm climate to grow well. In cooler regions try growing under plastic covers or in a hothouse. Don’t grow in heavy soils or the rhizomes will rot. Grow in free-draining mediums but do give plenty of water and feed well for big fat pieces of ginger.

You may also want to check out Mark’s videos here: “5 Top Tips How to Grow a TON ginger in one container or garden bed” “How to grow Ginger from store bought ginger in containers”

How did you go growing ginger?

Mark and the Self Sufficient Me team love hearing about your growing success so leave a comment and a photo below to let us know how you went growing ginger.

If you had some trouble growing ginger or simply want to pick Mark’s brain about your self-sufficiency goals or projects, you may want to consider becoming a patreon for exclusive content and email access for less than a restaurant meal each month!