Ginger is the perfect herb to grow indoors. It’s very low-maintenance, loves partial sunlight, and you can use parts of it at a time, leaving the rest in the soil to continue growing. Besides, it’s delicious! Really, what’s not to love about year round vegetable gardening, especially when it comes to growing ginger inside?
Photo sourced via Creative Commons from Flickr user Chrysti
A bit about ginger
Ginger takes 10 months to mature and it doesn’t tolerate frost. If you live in a place where it gets chilly in the winter, you’d be better off growing ginger in a pot indoors and bringing it outside in the summertime.
Ginger is one of those miraculous plants that grows well in partial to full shade, which makes it ideal for growing in your home, where most people don’t have full sun pouring on their windows all day long.
Little bits of the ginger root can be removed while it continues to grow. A little bit of ginger goes a long way, so these pieces can be used for cooking, brewing tea or for herbal remedies.
How to plant ginger
The best ginger to plant is purchased from a garden center or seed catalog. You’ll have much better luck if you get seed ginger that was meant to be planted. However, ginger can be hard to find from garden suppliers, especially locally.
Ginger purchased from the produce department of your local grocery store can be used to grow a plant, but with spotty results. Grocery store ginger is often sprayed with a growth inhibitor to keep it from sprouting before it’s purchased. That inhibitor also keeps it from sprouting when you stick it in a pot of soil.
Grocery store ginger also could be coated in pesticides and fungicides. The truth is, you have no idea what’s on it. I’ve heard of grocery store ginger growing just fine, and I’ve heard of it sitting in a pot forever and never budging. If you do purchase your ginger from the grocery store, be sure to soak it in water overnight to remove as much growth inhibitor as you can.
Photo sourced via Creative Commons from Flickr user Avlxyz
Whichever way you choose to go, here are some helpful tips for growing ginger inside:
The root that you choose to plant should be plump with tight skin, not shriveled and old. It should have several eye buds on it (bumps that look like potato eyes) and if they’re already a little green, all the better.
If your root has several eye buds, it can be cut and each bud can be placed in a separate pot to produce several plants.
Be sure to pick the perfect pot!
Unlike most other houseplants, ginger loves shallow, wide pots. The roots grow horizontally so be sure the pot you choose will accommodate its growth.
How to grow ginger indoors, step by step:
1. To start with, soak the ginger root overnight in warm water to get it ready for planting.
2. Fill your pot with very rich but well-draining potting soil.
3. Stick the ginger root with the eye bud pointing up in the soil and cover it with 1-2 inches of soil. Water it well.
4. Place the ginger in a spot that stays reasonably warm and doesn’t get too much bright sunlight.
5. Keep the soil moist, using a spray bottle to mist it, or water it lightly.
6. Ginger is a slow grower, after a few weeks you should see some shoots popping up out of the soil. Continue to water the plant regularly by misting it with a spray bottle and keep it warm
Photo sourced via Creative Commons from Flickr user Benson Kua
Harvesting ginger:
Small pieces of ginger can be harvested 3-4 months after growth begins. Pull aside some of the soil at the edges of the pot to find some rhizomes beneath the surface. Cut the needed amount off a finger at the edge of the pot and then return the soil.
Ginger can be harvested in this way endlessly, and as long as it is well cared for, it will continue to produce roots. If you need a larger harvest, you can uproot the entire plant and re-plant a few rhizomes to start the process over again.
When you grew the ginger in a bowl of water, did you cover the root entirely with water? Thanks
No., but you do in soil. (If you are still wondering).
want to grow ginger
Planted a store bought root which had developed a long sprout, about 6cn with a number of other “eyes”. It has been in a pot in the kitchen now for about 3 weeks and 3 “eyes” have sprouted with the longest approximately 30 CMS with 4-5 leaves. Going gang busters!
This is all great information. We’ve had a large grocery store root sitting in a bowl of water on the window sill for about two or three weeks and it has a sprout and a few promises. Guess we should put it in soil as suggested in the article. Here in the Rocky Mountains it will obviously be an indoor winter plant which is fine. We enjoy house plants. If it doesn’t seem like it’s working well, we’ll order a growing root via the internet.
When you grew the ginger in a bowl of water, did you cover the root entirely with water? Thanks
I put a ginger root, bought from the grocery store, which had several greenish eyes on it, and simply set it on my window sill above the kitchen sink. One eye began sprouting and produced a slim stem that is now growing a leaf. Occasionally I sprinkle a little water over this bare root and it is growing larger slowly. It’s still small, about 3 inches, and still on the window sill, but I’ll put it in a small pot soon with some light potting soil.
Me too. I put a few secured with toothpicks in water on my sill. They grew but they are beginning to dry out. Is it too late to plant them in soil I wonder. This ginger came from my grocery store. They may be doomed but I’ll try.
I love ginger and it is so good with its anti-inflammatory properties. Pity it takes so long to grow. It costs $55 kilo at the local supermarket in Western Australia where I live. 😒 Ridiculously expensive. I think a lot of it is exported – the Chinese probably pay $10 kilo for our ginger!
That was funny! More than likely true if not less…
in my country it cost $5 a killo so im thinking now should i plant it or just buy it. And btw its from Brazil or China in my country. Don’t know why its do expensive in your plases
I went to the Buderim ginger factory the other day and did the tour. They supply the majority of Australia apparently and yes, a lot of it is exported to other countries.
I buy ginger for $5 kg (yes, five). Macedonia, Europe
Just order you some from online and grow it yourself. It would be worth your investment. Good luck!
I Like Growing Plants
Me too, Charles. Me too.
I especially like growing plants that feed us!!