Growing Ginger

Zingiber Officinale : Zingiberaceae / the ginger family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec

Not recommended for growing in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions

  • Plant pieces of fresh root showing signs of shoots. Best planted at soil temperatures between 68°F and 86°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 6 inches apart
  • Harvest in approximately 25 weeks. Reduce water as plant dies back to encourage rhizome growth.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Grow in separate bed
  • Ginger plant
  • Ginger ready to harvest
  • Ginger root
  • New shoots of ginger

Ginger is a warm climate plant. It can be grown indoors in pots in cool/temperate areas. To grow well it needs lots of water and nutrients. Prepare the soil by adding compost which will retain some moisture but not get saturated. Add a small amount of sand to ensure drainage. Water regularly in summer to keep moist. In a pot, in addition to watering to keep moist, water ginger about once a fortnight with a seaweed or other liquid fertilizer. This perennial will die down in autumn. Remove the dead leaves. In spring lift the root clumps and break them up into smaller pieces to replant.

Harvesting Ginger: You can harvest ginger root after the plant dies down in winter, digging around the plant to cut off a piece of the older root. The young root with shoots is the actively growing plant and should be left to resprout.

You can also carefully dig down under the plant through the growing season to cut off bits of the older root for use, just be careful not to disturb the rest of the plant too much.

Let plants become well established before harvesting - it is often best to wait until the second growing season.

Make sure that you have edible ginger. Ginger plants sold in nurseries are usually decorative varieties and not suitable for eating.

Ginger can be grown in pots. The best growing temperature is around 25 - 30 C (75 - 85 F)

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Ginger

Ginger root freezes well either whole or grated, and can be used direct from the freezer in most recipes requiring fresh ginger.

Your comments and tips

06 Nov 23, Bridget kor (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
My ginger was growing well after getting a piece of my neighbours established plant. We have had a very wet winter and after dieing right back it has not resprouted. Neither had the neighbours. Did the wet do this? Should I lift the bulbs and replant it?
24 Jun 20, Huiarei Reihuia (New Zealand - temperate climate)
After the harvest season, can ginger be left in the ground for following season of growth?
25 Jun 20, Anonymous (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Gardenate does not suggest growing ginger in NZ temperate climates, maybe not warm enough. If you are going to try to grow it read the notes here, your answer is in the notes.
21 Mar 23, Helen Johnston (New Zealand - temperate climate)
I had a piece of ginger which began to sprout so planted it for fun and grew on a window sill in our shed. It got to about 2 feet tall so I dug it up and got some juicy little corms or bulbs or whatever, which tasted lovely.
10 Nov 19, Mary Shute (New Zealand - temperate climate)
How deep do you plant ginger?
11 Nov 19, (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Try an on-line search 'Growing ginger in NZ'
24 Jun 19, Jan Montague (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Do you have to wait till the top has died down before harvesting? I'm not sure what to do as there is some older growth but one new stalk has come through.
26 Jun 19, (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Read the notes here again.
11 Jun 19, Taryna Koo (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Young ginger will taste mild while old ginger will taste more fiery. When you harvest your ginger root, was it the 'young' or 'old' part of the root?
04 Jan 19, Jyotika (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
What month is best to plant ginger in new Zealand
Showing 1 - 10 of 25 comments

Turmeric and Ginger rhizomes don't like wet feet. They need nutrient rich but well draining soil. You might consider adding some sand to the soil to encourage drainage.

- Sassy

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. GardenGrow is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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