Growing Ginger: How to Grow Ginger at Home

It is not difficult to grow ginger yourself, even if the plant is not native to our country. Here’s what you should consider when growing ginger.

Why Grow Ginger Yourself?

Ginger isn’t only unique in taste. The health benefits of ginger, its uses and recipes are countless. The tubers are available in almost every supermarket. However, the ginger roots you can buy there have often been transported long distances from their place of their cultivation.

You can stop buying them: Ginger is one of those plants that grow back again and again. We will show you how to grow ginger at home with only a few simple steps.

Planting Ginger: What You Need

To grow ginger, you’ll need:

• a piece of ginger root with well-developed “eyes” or “growth buds”
• a flower pot
• organic potting soil
• cling film or a glass
• a rubber ring or piece of string
• a sharp knife

Here’s How to Grow Ginger

Whether bought in the supermarket or left over from cooking, it is important that the ginger root is as fresh and firm as possible so that it can still sprout.

1. Cut the ginger root into pieces about five centimetres in size. Make sure that there is a so-called “vegetation node” on each piece, otherwise the root cannot sprout. The cells will later divide at the nodes (the small lumps, see photo) and the plant can continue growing at these points.
2. Take the pieces and place them into the pot filled with soil, making sure the cut surface faces downwards.
3. Cover them thinly with potting soil.
4. If you want to speed up the germination process, you can build a mini-greenhouse by stretching cling film over the pot using a rubber band. However, to reduce plastic waste, we recommend instead that you place a glass over the pot upside down. The only thing to look out for is that there is enough humidity underneath. When the first shoots appear, remove the protection.
5. Make sure that the plant is in a warm and bright place – but without direct sunlight.
6. If you water it regularly with lime-free water and avoid waterlogging, your plant will thrive quickly and can grow to 60 to 120 centimetres (roughly 24 to 47 inches).
7. Harvesting: When the leaves turn yellow, the tuber has its typical, intense flavour and can be dug up.

Now you know how to grow ginger – so what’s next? Once you’ve harvested your ginger root, it’s important to store your ginger correctly. Feel free to check out Utopia’s own guide on How to Store Ginger Root: 6 Ways to Keep Your Ginger Fresher for Longer.

This article was translated from German to English. You can view the original here: Ingwer anpflanzen: Das musst du beim Anbau beachten.

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Tags: DIY Plants