Hi, I was just wondering if anyone has managed to grow ginger outside - or do they need a heated greenhouse? According to a friend you can buy a chunk from the supermarked and plant it in some heat.
I think it depends on the variety of Ginger you grow. We are growing Ginger Lillies (hedychium) outside in pots. They are selected for their flowers ( yet to come) but are growing really well. They grow from rootstock similar to culinary ginger but too expensive to grate into a stir fry!
Not sure they're fully hardy, we will be lifting them over the winter so they don't rot. - treating them like cannas.
The shop stuff frequently buds before I get round to using it all so you may as well give it a go - it won't take up much space :)
I found this information on the web:
http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/plants/ginger_grow_it.html
I don't know how accurate it is! This quite interests me as well so would be great to hear from someone who has tried it!
A couple of years ago I shoved some in a 6" pot, watered it and left it in the conservatory. It grew spindly bamboo-like stems. Got red spider mite quite badly, though the root eventually distorted the pot it grew so big. Got peculiar flowers on too. The temperatures in the C were however very high (tend to get up to 35-40C if it's a sunny day) and it seemed to love it.
It all died off naturally in the autumn and there was my next clump of root ginger.
If you plant now it probably won't grow very well due to the temperatures - wait till spring :)
moonbells
so how much ginger did you get from 1 plant?
Thanks for the advice - will keep it indoors so it stays warm
It likes deep soil so use a deep pot...
8)