Turmeric Flowers - Take Two

I always get excited when any of my turmeric plants produces flowers. I like them as I think they are dazzlingly beautiful.

I had two separate blooms last year from two separate plants in two separate pots - one in May and the other in December. Here are some pictures of my turmeric flowers taken during those two months. Armed with a better camera, and hopefully with some improvement in my photography skills, these pictures are definitely much better compared to the ones I took 2 years ago.

Close-up

But first, a close-up view on the crest of a turmeric flower that I took in May 2015. I just love those tinge of pink at the very top. Each flower is different though; sometimes there is no pink tinge.

I didn't take note but I believe this is from a 4 or 5 day old bloom.

An Almost Detailed Account

Here are some pictures that was taken on December 2015. Not shown are wilted flowers (who wants to look at them anyway?) - a process that will begin some 7 days later after blooming.

Ginger And Turmeric - The Best That I Have Ever Grown

I am so happy. Since moving them into the shadow of my house in April this year, I now have the healthiest and loveliest ginger and turmeric plants - the best that I have ever grown. The leaves are lusciously green with abundant foliage attached to thick stalks and shoots. And as an added bonus for me, the plants on some pots are beginning to bloom too.

I have been planting ginger and turmeric for about 8 years now after been inspired by a local TV documentary that I saw back then. My success have been mixed previously. Direct sunlight and ginger is actually a bad combination (likewise with turmeric as it is a plant that belongs to the ginger family). But I did not know about this until recently. Previously, I have always assumed wrongly that I had problems with the soil whenever I get ailing looking plants. I tried adding additional fertilizer and this obviously did not help. It is only later that I realized, through my own observation and confirmation from Google searches, that ginger and turmeric must be kept away from direct sunlight.

My wife loves home grown ginger and turmeric. And I like growing them. They are some of the easiest thing that I have ever grown as they do not require much care. The only pests that I can see so far are grasshoppers and garden snails, but that is not something that is unmanageable. I used to plant them in the ground, but these days, I only plant them in pots so that I can move them around easily when the need arise. I only water them like once a day at around noon - lazy me. I also mulch the top soil in the pots with garden clippings to minimize weeding.

I will need to find a new place soon for my ginger and turmeric plants as the sunlight is slowly creeping nearer and nearer towards the house as we head towards the end of the year. The sun swings from the Northern to the Southern sky between the June and December solstice, and then back again from the Southern to the Northern sky between January and May. Some sunlight is already touching the outer and top leaves on some pots at noon.

Turmeric Flowers

Before I started planting them, I did not know that turmeric produces flowers.

I have been fortunate enough to have some flowering turmeric during the last couple of weeks. It is not often that I get a bloom. Sometimes, I do not get any even though the plant has matured and the root is due to be dug up. One has to be patient sometimes I suppose.