How to Grow Ginger
This article is part of our “How to Grow Herbs” series. If you would like to learn more about how to work with this plant after you harvest it, please refer to our Herbal Aromatherapy Certification Program™ here.
Ginger is perhaps one of the most popular and well-known herbs. It smells and tastes delightful and is used in the kitchen as a culinary spice. It also has a long history of use as a natural home remedy for a plethora of ailments ranging from the common cold to menstrual cramps and is one of the herbs that has a bit more research behind it than many do.
Growing Conditions
Ginger grows best in humid, tropical regions but can be grown in the aromatic garden in other places if you have a long enough growing season. Most varieties are hardy to a USDA zone 9 but need at least 8 months between the last frost of spring and the first frost of fall to grow large enough to harvest outdoors.
I grow ginger in my garden and have found that when a few stray rhizomes are left in the soil to overwinter after harvesting the rest, they will often survive the winters here (I garden in a USDA zone 8b). However, I have also noticed that those plants do not seem to be quite as happy in years following colder winters and I have switched back to growing it as an annual in this region.
If you live in a zone 9-12 area, you can plant your ginger outdoors and grow it as an outdoor perennial. If you live in a cooler zone, I recommend either growing it as an annual (if you have a long growing season) or growing it in large containers that you can move to a greenhouse (it will love the extra humidity!) or indoors for the winter. This will give your ginger a chance to mature enough to harvest from it even if your growing conditions are not ideal for it.
Outdoors, it seems to do best in partial sun and in well-watered (but not soggy; the soil needs to drain well but not dry out) areas with rich soil. If you live in a colder area with shorter daylight hours, it may do better for you in full sun.
Growth Habit
In ideal conditions, ginger can grow as tall as four feet and the rhizomes grow and spread horizontally throughout the soil as the plant matures.
When you are preparing to plant a fresh rhizome, pay attention to the direction all the eyes or bud ends of the rhizome are pointing. This will tell you in which direction the plant is going to spread in the soil and you can plant the rhizome with that direction of growth in mind. If you are growing in a container, for instance, you do not need to plant the ginger in the center of the pot. It will have more room to spread if you plant it to one side with the growing end facing the middle of the pot.
Ginger plants do produce beautiful flowers when grown in tropical regions, but when grown outside their ideal growing zone or as an annual, they are unlikely to flower for you.
Ginger leaves are long and blade-like. In my garden, ginger plants serve as a habitat for a variety of beneficial insects.
Planting Ginger
To grow ginger, you can either purchase rhizomes to plant from a grower or you can plant organic ginger that you have purchased from your local grocer or food co-op. The best time to purchase it from the store if you want to plant it is during harvest season when the ginger being stocked is really fresh and vibrant looking. Instead of having that signature dry, papery coating on the outside, it will have a plumper, lighter yellow appearance, a pinkish or cream-colored tinge to the little bud ends (eyes) of the rhizomes, and a more hydrated looking coating. You can also plant not-so-fresh looking ginger if you soak it in a little bit of pure water before planting but I have had better success with fresher rhizomes. Look for pieces that have multiple eyes or bud ends rather than pieces that have those tips cut off.
Plant the rhizomes by laying them out flat on the surface of the soil and lightly covering them with a 1/2-inch to 1-inch layer of soil. If you are planting store-purchased rhizomes that you found during the harvest season, you will want to plant them in a large, wide container and wait until the weather warms up in the spring (past the frosty season and well into the warmer days) to set them outdoors. Keep the plants well-watered (but not drenched) and the soil as warm as reasonably possible.
You can also break your rhizomes up into pieces before planting if you want to multiply your plants. To do this, either chop them up with a sharp knife or gently break them into pieces with your hands. You must make sure that each individual piece has at least one eye or growth bud on it for that piece to grow. Allow the pieces to sit out for a couple of days to develop a callous before planting.
Harvesting Ginger
Harvest ginger in late summer to early fall (depending on when your cooler nighttime temps arrive). If the rhizomes are still under-sized, you can replant them and continue growing them in a container under lights indoors overwinter for harvest the next growing season.
When you harvest ginger, clean the rhizomes gently with a vegetable brush or a washcloth. If you plan to dry it, I recommend chopping it into slices or smaller diced pieces prior to doing so. It can be quite fibrous and tough to cut after it has dried.
Learning More
If you would like to learn more about how to work with aromatic plants, I hope you will join me in our Herbal Aromatherapy Certification Program™ here at Floranella! In it, I teach students how to safely and effectively work with over 100 different herbs as well as their applicable essential oils and hydrosols from the garden to the still to the apothecary. I hope to see you in class one day!
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.
