How to grow Ginger at home?

Indians love ginger. We use it in all our curries, we put in our Chai and we also use it when we are sick to aid a sore throat. If we can use ginger in all these situations, why not grow our own ginger at home? It’s as easy as it can get and all you need it some, guess what; ginger! 

The best time to start ginger plants is in the summer. It takes around 6 months for the plant to fully grow. 

Let’s get our pots and soil to start the process of planting our ginger!

Take a medium-sized container that’s at least 8 to 10 inches deep and wide. Make sure the pot has good drainage. 

If you have a bigger container you can plant 2 or 3 pieces of ginger in one, but don’t overcrowd the pot. Use a good mixture of 70 per cent compost and 30 per cent garden soil.

Now it’s time to sort out our ginger. You can use any store-bought ginger. Pick out a nice large piece that’s slightly dry. Extremely fresh ginger has a chance of rotting so dry skinned one will work perfectly. You can break the piece of ginger to about 3-inch pieces.

Soak the pieces of ginger you want to plant, in a bowl of water for at least 1 or 2 days. This will help accelerate the sprouting process.

Take these pre-soaked pieces of ginger and sow them around 2 to 3 inches deep into the soil. We don’t want the ginger to be too close to the surface but not too deep.

Water the ginger lightly so as to not disturb the soil on top. Keep the soil considerably moist.

Keep it in a bright spot where it will get a lot of Sun. If you notice that the soil is not retaining enough moisture, you can add cocopeat to the pot.

If you’re in a part of the country where it gets too hot ( more than 40 degrees) move the plant to a slightly shaded area to prevent browning tips.

After 2 to 3 weeks, small shoots will start appearing. You can reduce the watering slightly after the shoots come up. Let the top 1 inch of soil get dry and then water. 

After a month or so, your plant should be around 5 to 8 inches tall. 3 months later, the plant will be at least a foot tall.

After 6 months, your plant will be around 2 feet tall and it’ll be ready to harvest. Make sure the soil is dry before you carefully start digging up your fresh ginger!

You can save the shoots because they also have a beautiful subtle ginger flavour, or you can cut off the leaves and put it in the compost bin. 

Either way, you can get some really nice and fresh, homegrown ginger!

Until next time,

Have a lovely day and Happy Planting!!

Gayatri Vaidya©