The purpose of this article is to outline what are the best conditions for ginger root to grow. Ginger is one of those plants which provides so many benefits to the body and is excellent in many foods and drinks. One of the biggest challenges when using ginger is that we can get access to it when it is fresh.
It won’t get much fresher than if you have it growing around your home, then you can use it fresh as you need it. While it may not be difficult to grow it’s always better to know if there are certain conditions a plant favors before trying to grow it yourself.
Let’s read on to find out what these 5 points are – or, you could watch the video summary of this article.
What are the best conditions for ginger root to grow?
There are five main points that need to be covered for ginger to really take off. If they’re addressed properly you will have a bountiful supply in no time- they are:
Positioning
While ginger can grow in partial shade it really takes off if it has access to lots of sun all day long. Find somewhere in the middle of your plot which is out of the shade of trees or tall hedges. Avoid growing ginger along boundary walls – If you’ve been putting off a raised bed in the middle of your plot – ginger is the perfect excuse to get it done.
Soil
Ginger loves soil high in organic matter. Ginger needs to be able to access lots of moisture, so to be able to do that you’re going to need to add lots of compost and organic matter to your soil. While the soil has lots of organic matter and can hold water it should be well drained and not sitting in water.
Water
If you want big ginger rhizomes you’re going to need to give the ginger plant lots of water when it’s growing. As I mentioned above you need to find the balance between your soil having moisture but free draining and not sitting soaking with water constantly. Avoid over-watering at planting.
Planting
- Very large pieces of ginger can be broken into smaller parts 3 or 4 inches long, these will grow into full-sized ginger plants.
- Lay your ginger root pieces out on the soil giving each piece about 8 inches or 20cm apart.
- Bury the ginger about an inch below the soil no more – ginger doesn’t like to be buried too deep under the soil- it may end up rotting and dying if planted too deep.
- Apply a little fertilizer like blood and bone meal over the area where you’ve planted. Try to use a real fertilizer such as compost, bone meal, or farmyard manure first before opting for chemical fertilizers.
- Finally, apply a covering of mulch or finely chopped bark over the area to help keep weeds down and also help to retain moisture.
Harvesting/ Eating
Ginger is different from most crops in that you don’t need to wait until the end of the season before you start using it. If you’re going to plant a lot of ginger then you need to be using it on a regular basis.
Ginger has a myriad of health benefits including, aiding digestion, cardiovascular disease, and absorption of other foods not to mention how tasty it is in lots of recipes.
So to recap, we now know that to provide the best conditions to grow ginger we should position our growing plants in full sun, create soil that is high in organic matter and be free draining. At planting, we should position each rhizome at least 8 inches apart and only cover it with 1 inch of soil, and take care that the soil is always moist when the plant is growing. Finally, ginger can and should be harvested throughout the year, incorporating it into as many dishes and drinks as we can to fully benefit from this wonderful plant. Please feel free to share and comment on your favorite use below!
