PLANT PROFILE Six weeks after planting, a ginger seedling thrives in a 4-inch pot.
Ginger rhizome planted in a shallow germination tray.
ROOTED in PATIENCE Here’s where I’d tell you how successful I was with bi-weekly fish emulsion foliar sprays, but I am not one to follow through on such routine (tedious, to me) garden tasks, even though it’s often recommended. Despite my neglect, they still produce well. I’m certain it’s the compost that does the job for me. From fabric pots to lightweight aluminum patio planters, we can easily move them indoors in early fall when nighttime temperatures dip below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pesky diseases
Up until this point, you might be wondering if it’s really this easy. Not necessarily, according to the University of Minnesota Extension Agency. Over the last two seasons, ginger wilt (Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum) was detected in high tunnels (makeshift greenhouses) where it’s grown as a high-value crop. Since wilt is a soilborne bacteria, growing in containers eliminates any threat to your prized produce, unless it arrives on the seed ginger, which can happen when you purchase ginger at a store.
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Enjoying and extending the harvest
Now comes the delicious part. Ginger is entirely edible and can be harvested at any stage. You can dig up little rhizomes during summer for your meals or wait patiently for four to five months until it’s more mature. You can even use the leaves to make tea if you can’t wait that long. Young, fresh ginger is the best we can grow here in our short growing season. It’s thin-skinned, less pungent, and smaller than the seed ginger you started with. Being so tender, there’s no need to peel it. We store the majority of our ginger whole in the freezer. Grating it with a microplane is easiest when frozen. We also thinly slice and dehydrate a portion of it after harvesting, which gets ground into the most pungent ground ginger ever. We also love pickling ginger for our vegetarian sushi rolls. As with all homegrown food, fresh ginger is unmatched in quality and flavor. Sprouting ginger is a rewarding early-season project—dig in.
Ginger can be tricky to germinate. For best results, you’ll need: 1. Time. Be patient with this luxurious homegrown spice. Start in mid- to late March for a June transplant. 2. Warmth. Keep a heat mat on 24/7. Warm soils are ideal growing conditions. 3. Nutrient-dense soil. Start rhizomes in a few inches of 50/50 compost/soil blend. 4. Full-spectrum grow light. Use a combination of warm white and cool white or full spectrum LED lights; a windowsill is not up for the task. 5. Moisture, maybe? Go light on watering as ginger will sprout faster in drier conditions. 6. Shallow container. Plant ginger right below the surface in a standard 1020 or other 4-inch pot that fit well under your grow lights.
