I am new to this forum. I am very interested in the answer to this question.

Samantha

the link below is my article on growing zingiber officinale from rhizomes. will put some photos up to go with that soon, but unfortunately its not that attractive, especially when compared to other zingibers.

Tim Chapman

Here is a link that might be useful: growing edible ginger

Thanks for the article, looks like I did everyting right!

I planted some grocery store ginger in a large flower pot and this summer it sent up several flower cones with pretty little reddish flowers.

I love to cook Asian/Oriental food, and I use fresh ginger on a semi-regular basis. But I am an impulse cook so when I need it I need right then!! But then I may not need it again until I get my next craving (which could be months). I usually keep a knob or 2 in the fridge covered with Chinese rice wine, but I recently decided to try growing some of the ingredients I cook with most on my patio. And ginger is definately one of my staples.

I read the article about growing ginger, but now I have a few questions (I am very new to gardening). I am considering self watering containers for most of my plants. Do you think ginger would do okay in those? How big and deep a pot is best?

As for harvesting, can you harvest a piece at a time all year round or do you have to wait til the dormant period? As I said, I may only need it every so often and sometimes I'll need a little, sometimes a lot. Can you just dig it up, cut off a small piece and replant it? Seems like storing it in the fridge till the next season kinda defeats the purpose of growing it yourself. But then again, it would probably still be fresher than what you get at the store!

And what about galangal? I love Thai food and some friends gave me a kaffir lime tree and I am planning to try to grow lemongrass, so while I am growing ginger, might as well grow some of that too!

I would appreciate all the help and advice anyone can give me!

Thanks,
Lydia