Spicing Up My Garden With Ginger

Mixed Yield

Over the years, my success with growing ginger have been mixed. At times the yield was good. At times, all I got were just skinny ginger roots. And at other times, there was nothing at all - the ginger that I planted just rotted away instead of sprouting.

I have had my suspicion with the pot placement. I grow them in pots instead of the ground, by the way. Pots placed under shadier area seems to produce healthier looking plants with bigger and better ginger roots. For pots placed under direct sunlight, young shoots will just turn yellow and eventually dry up. Or will have leaf stalks that are just about 12 inches in length (when it should be about 2 to 2½ feet) with skinny ginger roots.

The Secret

The article "Growing Ginger Root", one that I found recently, confirms my suspicion. Ginger (and turmeric too actually) only requires secondary sunlight. It should never be grown under direct sunlight. I had assumed wrongly all along, thinking that more sunlight will give better yield. Lesson learned.

I love planting ginger as it does not require much work. Pest is not a problem - not that I know of anyway. The only work that I need to do are just weeding and ensuring that there is adequate fertilizer while the plant is growing. My wife loves home grown ginger. She says that they are much more aromatic compared to those bought from the market. My Mum says the same thing too actually.

Harvesting

Harvesting used to be me digging up the entire ginger plant when the stalks and leaves begin to turn brown and drying up. This usually happens at around the 9th or 10th month after planting. But of late, in order to get the freshest ginger, I will only dig up the amount that is needed for immediate consumption, and leave the rest of the plant undisturbed until I run out of ginger again. Freshness is important in cooking.

To replace the ginger that has been dug up, I will break off about 2 - 3 inches in length and replant any new sprouts that I find on the ginger root. And placing the pot under a shadier place from now on!