Ginger is not only a very tasty and versatile spice, but also a grateful flowering plant. Ginger can be cultivated and propagated relatively easily, even from commercially available ginger tubers.
How can I successfully propagate ginger?
The best way to propagate ginger is to divide commercially available ginger bulbs and place them in humus-rich soil in a sunny, protected location from March onwards. After the shoot tips have sprouted, the plant can grow until autumn and the tubers can overwinter in the cellar in winter.
Location and season for growing ginger
Ginger comes from the tropical regions of Asia and should therefore be cultivated in a warm location. From March onwards, the ginger bulbs can be grown outdoors in a bucket with humus-rich soil. In a sunny and protected location such as a terrace, the root rhizome underground grows to an impressive size by autumn. Around October and November the leaves of the ginger turn yellow, then you can dig up the ginger bulbs and use them for consumption or propagation.
Wintering in the cellar
Unlike other potted plants, ginger should not only be brought indoors before frost, but its tubers should also be dug out of the ground. This will prevent mold infestation, which could easily occur if the soil moisture is too high. Clean the tubers with a dry cloth and overwinter them in a well-ventilated and dark basement.
Promoting ginger shoots in spring
In spring you can let the ginger bulbs that you harvested yourself in autumn sprout again in a bucket. To increase the number of ginger bulbs, divide them by simply breaking them apart, but make sure that the individual pieces are at least the size of a dice. Since the ginger needs a lot of moisture and warmth during the budding phase, you can also cover it with a plastic film (€13.00 on Amazon) until the first shoot tips appear above the soil surface.
Sowing ginger
When propagating the commercially available spiced ginger, sowing for cultivation usually plays no role. In general, in our latitudes it is difficult to get tropical ginger to produce germinable seeds due to the winter vegetation break. However, various types of seeds are available commercially, which are either special subspecies of the ginger family or plant species named ginger because of a similar use in the kitchen.
Tips & Tricks
If you look closely, you can sometimes already see the buds on the ginger bulbs. Divide the ginger bulbs according to the visible bud base to achieve a good propagation result.
