I have not heard of this. I've only ever started new ginger plants from the rhizomes. It's pretty easy to dig out & remove a piece to replant.

And yes it will be an identical plant.

I start new plants in pots/containers, so I can keep an eye on them more easily.

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b, as I said this is the first year the ginger bloomed. It is still kind of wimpy in size, so I do not want to try and divide him yet.

I guess I will wait and see if the flower head will start developing new leaves like the red plume ones do.... if it doesn't I will try to wait to see if it will make seeds.

Yes, you can grow it from seed, but it's complicated. However, baby ginger is very tender and mild tasting (for edible gingers). https://homegrownherbgarden.com/2020/05/18/how-to-grow-ginger-from-seed/

I hear that you can cut back a ginger leaf stem and root it, or cut it into sections and grow a new plant from that, but I've never tried. You might want to look that up too.

During an old Dave's Garden seed swap about 13 yrs ago, someone gave me Costus speciosus seeds one year and I planted them the same way I plant veggie seeds in the little peat pellets/greenhouse thing.

I did soak the seeds overnight in warm water first. Other than that, I dont remember doing anything special to them. They did take a few years to bloom and they did go dormant in my zone 9a once I planted them in the flowerbed, during the winter in which you shouldn't water them much. I have sent people the plain white butterfly ginger seeds and they grew them successfully.

If the ginger seeds are fresh, they shouldnt be hard to get going.