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 20°C and 30°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 15 cm 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

10 Feb 11, viv akhil (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Can ginger be commercially grown in hot houses in NZ?
21 Apr 12, anthea boden (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
i would like to know if i can grow ginger in tasmania in winter . i have some sprouting ginger. how can i keep it alive? thank you Anthea
10 Jun 14, Peter Whangarei (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Where can I get viable roots for growing?
10 Mar 15, Anika (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)
I have had ginger from the supermarket start sprouting before, just buy one and give it a go!
22 Aug 16, (New Zealand - temperate climate)
We just put a piece of the ginger root from the supermarket. Does OK.
23 Oct 16, Emily (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Please may I know if I could grow ginger, the edible ones we get in the supermarket, in Auckland? Thanks
02 Feb 17, Karen (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
I bought my ginger from a supermarket and seems to be growing well. I selected the small pieces with the bumps looking undamaged. These bumps will be the growing points. Make sure that the part of the ginger that was attached to a large piece is dry and crusted over before planting else it may just rot away. I think it was 8 pieces I planted and 6 have sprouted. Took a while to see results so patience is required. Best started, one piece per pot. I used plastic drinking cups with drainage holes. Don't over water. Keep soil damp but not wet.
16 Mar 18, Tracey (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Hi Karen Thanks for your comments. I am going to have a go at growing ginger inside. I love your tip on letting the cut ginger dry out before planting. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks. Tracey
10 Mar 18, Emily (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Hi good day, Please may I know what type of sand to use to plant ginger and where do I get/buy them from? Also are egg shells a good substitute for sand. Thanks lots for your help! Have a lovely day!
25 Mar 18, Prakash chandra (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Just put lots of compost in soil and plant ginger. You may have to wait for two years before you can dig ginger out. Within two years there will be enough big ginger formed.
Showing 1 - 10 of 25 comments

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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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