growing ginger to eat
Comments (19)
stillanntn6b
8 years agobibbus 7b
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Tips for growing Ginger, Turmeric, and Yacon?
Comments (6)I can address the yacon a little. I've never tried turmeric and my success with ginger is not good. I have a plant started, but growth is VERY slow. I may not have enough heat here. You might do better. I've had better luck with galangal (a Thai ginger with similar habits), but I have to admit not having dug up any yet. For the yacon, you can plant whenever the crowns become available but if heavy rain is expected and the soil drains poorly, you might want to wait until Spring. Yacon likes sun and water (proportionately less of the latter if you don't have full sun. Basically, grow it like a dahlia (to which it is related). Reasonably fertile soil is all it requires. When the stalks have bloomed (generally in late Summer or early Fall), you can begin harvesting. If you have planted in an area where you can dig around with your hands, the best method of harvest might be to "take as needed" since the tubers do not store easily. My neighbor and I tried several experiments with them last year to try to find a method that would work. We finally decided that the second best method was to harvest them and store them in a box of sand (like the "play sand" you can get at HD, etc.) in a cool place. Like dahlias! They actually keep pretty well this way, but only if they are undamaged. Damaged tubers need to be used fairly quickly. They will keep in the refrigerator for a bit, but they do deteriorate. If you're harvesting from the ground you can probably leave the crowns in place and add a little fertilizer to get them going for the next year, but I would probably dig them and divide, cleaning them up, etc., and redig the bed with some organic material before setting them back in....See MoreWANTED: Low growing gingers for gingers or .......
Comments (0)I need a few low growing, winter dormant gingers such as globbas or curcumas. Topping my wish list is curcuma khymer orange. To trade I have globba schomburgkii, curcuma figi, kaemperfia gilbertii, kaempeferia rotunda raven, kaempferia silver spot, hedychium angustifolia peach, hedychium kewense, hedychium daniel weeks, heliconia rostrata, heliconia jacquinii, heliconia red yellow gyro, costus spicata, costus purple stem, alpinia nutans, alpinia purpurata pink, alpinia purpurata red, lots of bananas, bromeliads, aroids, cannas etc. If you have an uncommon low growing ginger let me know what your looking for, possibly we can work something out as I have been collecting for years now....See MoreGrowing ginger in northern areas
Comments (75)I had incredible yields of Khing Yai - there's still some in the ground so I haven't counted it all yet, but looks like at least 10:1. Yellow Hawaiian was only 3:1, Bubba Blue was 4:1. Big Kahuna was a flop, 1:1. It rotted in the trays and didn't sprout. I can't sell frozen ginger without having an approved kitchen. I've candied a lot of ginger and started making ginger chews and hard candy. Both of these freeze well, make nice gifts and are good for cold and flu season. I get about a cup of juice from a pound of ginger. I puree it in a food processor and strain with a sieve. I use 1.5 cups white sugar, 3/4 cup corn syrup and 1 cup of ginger juice. I use a candy thermometer and heat it to 250 degrees for the chews, 300 degrees for hard candy. Makes a very spicy candy. I managed to find a grocery store to sell some of my ginger to. I got $10/lb, and they sold it at $15/lb in the store. The could only sell around 10 lbs a week tho. I can easily sell that much at even a moderately busy farmers' market, and was surprised they couldn't move it more quickly. The "baby" part of it doesn't seem to be as important as local and organic. I cut back on the amount of ginger I'm growing next year, but am growing more turmeric. I've talked to a few produce buyers who are very interested in turmeric, even if they don't want ginger. I think I'm going to lower my prices next year, maybe $8/lb wholesale for ginger and $10-$12/lb at the farmers' market. Maybe higher for turmeric, depending on my yields. I made a mistake in not covering my ginger inside my high tunnel when it got into the 20's. The stems and leaves froze, but it took a few weeks for them to completely die off. It's been about a month now and the ginger that's still in the ground looks great. Some of my ginger had developed a skin, but I think those plants had dried out; it doesn't seem to be from freezing....See MoreDon't eat the ginger
Comments (2)only west coast stores? wonder about midwest?...See Morebibbus 7b
8 years agomabrady978
8 years ago
samsaraedu
8 years agoI just went to a Garden Show and they had some new plants sold as a 3 pack. I don't see company name except for " A Blend of Goodness". The package was called Asian Spice Box and had Ginger zingiber officinale, Black Pepper piper nigrum, and Bay Leaf laurus nobilis. Another was Barista Box with Tea camellia sinensis, Coffee coffee arabica, and Sugar Cane saccharum officinarum.
In small 4in pots, but each boxed set of plants was less than $25. We are in zone 7a, so I guess these will be on market everywhere soon.
bibbus 7b
8 years agosamsaraedu
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoUpdate.
I saw the same plant sets end of April on FGT for 2x the money and then they stopped carrying a month later. Nobody has them anywhere now.
I struggled to keep them alive being weird weather in NY for Spring. The coffee and tea are not doing well but the sugarcane has grown leaps and bounds once I got right plant mix.
The ginger grew and then temp change made it think it was over and the tops died back. I removed the clump yesterday and still has strong roots so maybe I can trick it back into production. Any suggestions on how to do that? Both the ginger and the sugar cane appeared to be a dwarf variety because the pieces forming roots and stems were so small when I transplanted, I was surprised. But it did say can grow on windowsill.
Oh also the bay leaf has showed significant growth but the black pepper got scorched and died too.
bibbus 7b
7 years agomabrady978
7 years agomabrady978
7 years agomabrady978
7 years agosamsaraedu
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoSave your pic to a specific location, you may have to shrink size. When you write comment, click photo button and search file location, click on pic to add to your comment and submit.
I took the root from the "spicebox" ginger out and let dry a couple days then put some moist peat under and it re-sprouted, but see how tiny the original cluster is next to quarter. No wonder they said it can grow indoors on windowsill. I hope this time it grows bigger, it only got 6in tall before.
bibbus 7b thanked samsaraedumabrady978
7 years agoA close up of the ginger root peeking out of the soil. You don't bury it very deep. This is the 2nd year this root has sprouted. It died back last winter. I took it in the house and didn't water it this spring I started watering and it resprouted. I've not tried to eat any of it so I don't know how it tastes.
samsaraedu
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agostillanntn6b
7 years agomabrady978
7 years agostillanntn6b
7 years ago
mabrady978