Growing ginger - the harvest

It was either brave or foolhardy to harvest my ginger plants live at the Secret Garden Club in our Grow Your Own Curry session on Sunday. We dug these triffid-like roots, above, out from a pot where I'd planted a single piece of ginger root 10 months ago.

I've been documenting the growth of these ginger plants on this blog since January, when I planted the root. Over the summer, the plant grew tall and architectural, then, about six weeks ago, the foliage turned brown and wilted. By the time we came to harvest the ginger at the Secret Garden Club, all I had to show for 10 months of raising ginger were two pots of compost with no visible plant growth at all.

In truth I did check one pot the day before to make sure I would have some ginger root to lift on the day itself, prodding the soil until I could find a good solid mass of new root. As the other pot had been nurtured in identical conditions, I reckoned it was safe enough to leave that one undisturbed until the big unveiling.

Clockwise from top left:  (1) look for ginger root with visible yellow nodule - these will develop int shoots when you plant them; (2) sink the root in a pot of compost with the nodule facing upwards - cover the rot cover with a layer of compost; (3) cover the pots with a clear plastic cover and place somewhere light (but not in direct sunlight) and consistently warm, 24 degrees Celsius or more; (4) our first shoots appeared after about 30 days.

Ginger plants growing tall over the summer.

Growing ginger: progress notes

Those fresh ginger roots which I bought from a local mini-mart and buried in compost back in February have now outgrown their first 12cm pots, with roots protruding from the drainage holes at the bottom and the plants themselves about 60cm tall. I repotted them at the weekend into 20cm pots and have moved them to another sunny windowsill where they have more space.

As it is still so cold outside, especially at night, I'm not thinking of moving them out of the house anytime soon.

Most of the books and websites I've consulted suggest that I'll be lucky to get anything much in the way of new rhizome growth that I can call a crop, so for the time being I shall just enjoy the plants, which look very stately with their tall, upright bearing and slim leaves.

Growing ginger - we have shoots!

It took almost exactly one month, and it might have been quicker had I put the ginger pots in the heated propagator, but I now have one ginger shoot clearly emerging from the soil and two more coming up in the other pots.

Once the shoots appear, the plastic bag keeping the pot warm and humid should be removed.  I've split the pots up: one is now under the north-facing skylight where it will be consistently warm but won't get any direct sun; another is on the kitchen windowsill, which will be sunnier. It will be interesting to see which does better.

A land of green ginger

Ginger is a sub-tropical plant; most of the ginger root that we buy in the shops comes from India, China and other parts of south-east Asia. It's an attractive, exotic-looking specimen with deep green blade-like leaves and a red or pinkish flower spike.

Leafing through Jekka McVicar's indispensable Complete Herb Book, I came across her notes on ginger - the very last plant in the book on account of its Latin name Zingiber officinale - particularly the notes on cultivation. I've heard good reports from others on growing ginger in the UK - indoors, yes, and as much for the beauty of the plant as the cultivation of the edible rhizome - and this unearthed a long-forgotten ambition to grow my own ginger.


The first challenge is that you need to find a fresh ginger root that might easily sprout, that is, one that already has a yellow (or even better, green) bud developing, rhino horn-like, from the main root. Often the roots on sale in the shops have been treated at source to prevent sprouting so that they can be stored for longer. 


I got lucky last week. As so often happens, I wasn't really looking for sprouting ginger, but there were a cluster of rhizomes at the bottom of the box in our local mini-mart that had obviously escaped the treatment process and had tiny yellow nodules poking through the skin.


The best way to start them off here in the UK seems to be agreed upon by both Jekka and Kew Gardens - that's a good enough consensus for me.

1. Fill a 20cm pot with a loam-based compost;
2. Water well and let it drain;
3. Cut the ginger root 5cm below the bud;
4. Insert in the compost with the bud facing up;
5. Barely cover with more compost;
6. Cover the pot with a bell cloche or clear plastic bag;
7. Place somewhere warm and light. The shoot needs temperatures above 20 degrees C to develop, so a heated propagator, conservatory or warm windowsill are your best options.
8. Wait around 3-4 weeks to see shoots emerging. 

We're at stage 7 at the moment, with fingers crossed.

The Secret Garden Club does ... Herbs and medicinal plants

A hugely enjoyable and quite intense Secret Garden Club workshop on Sunday, looking at Herbs and Medicinal Plants. The full set of notes from the afternoon, including a discussion of all the herbs in the Secret Garden and MsMarmiteLover's herb-themed menu for the after-session tea, can be found over on the Secret Garden Club blog.


I've been felled by a cough and cold since the meeting; luckily one of our guests was able to supply her very own herbal remedy for easing coughs and congestion:


Rosemary and Ginger Tea

5-7cm peeled fresh ginger root, roughly chopped

1.5 tbsp well-chopped fresh rosemary. (You can add more if you like but this is a good starting point)

Simmer these in a pot with 700 ml water for about 10 mins. Strain into a cup and add a squeeze of lemon and honey to taste.

Next month The Secret Garden Club will meet on February 26th and we'll be looking at potatoes. We'll have some unusual potato varieties to try out, both in the kitchen and in the garden and we'll be discussing how to raise a fine crop of potatoes even if you have no garden - by growing them in a bin-liner. More details - including how to book your tickets - on the Events page on the Club's website.