As a low desert gardener, it’s thrilling to cultivate a crop that’s both useful and suited to warm climates. Ginger is a perfect candidate, being easy to grow and highly beneficial.
About Ginger
Ginger is a heat-loving, tropical perennial herb prized for its bamboo-like leaves and flavorful rhizomes. In cooler regions, it’s grown as a long-season annual.
Growing Ginger in Different Climates
This guide covers how to grow ginger in both warm and cool climates, as well as tips for container gardening and indoor cultivation.
8 Tips for Growing Ginger
- Understand How Ginger Grows
Ginger grows from rhizomes, which are fleshy stems spreading horizontally underground and containing multiple buds or growing points. These rhizomes are planted below ground, and they send up bamboo-like shoots that fuel the development of the ginger below ground.
- Spring: Ginger shoots emerge when the weather warms up.
- Summer: The long days and warm months are ideal for ginger growth.
- Fall: As days shorten and cool, leaves turn yellow as ginger goes dormant.
- Purchase and Prepare Ginger Before Planting
You can buy ginger rhizomes online from seed companies or from your local market. When purchasing, look for light-colored, thin-skinned, plump, and firm organic ginger with several bumpy nodules.
- Source: I get mine from Sprouts.
Following these tips, you can successfully grow ginger, whether in a garden bed, a container, or indoors. Happy gardening!
