Ginger is a very easy plant to grow. It can even be grown from a rhizome bought in a supermarket, although large plants are rarely found on sale. Why grow it, you ask?
This is a beautiful plant, its long stems with spread leaves resemble bamboo in appearance and can become a stylish decoration for an interior or winter garden. According to its requirements, the plant adapts well to room conditions, if only slightly increase the air humidity. In addition, you will be able to harvest a small but own crop of useful rhizomes. And although in terms of the content of valuable substances they will be inferior to those grown in tropical countries, ginger will be fresh and no less pleasant to taste and aroma.
Now we were talking about the most famous type of ginger - pharmacy ginger. Similarly, you can grow and use the shorter zerumbet ginger. Very decorative ginger is wonderful, but due to its larger size, it is grown in ground greenhouses, and its rhizomes find only medicinal use.
More about these types - on the page Ginger.
Landing... For planting, choose a healthy rhizome 10-12 cm long, which has several small branches. Choose fresh, healthy ginger. It is firm, golden in color and has a thin skin that can be easily removed with a fingernail. It is good if the ginger sprouts have a greenish color - their potential for kidney formation is higher. Dark brown ginger, shriveled and withered, not suitable for planting.
First, the rhizome must be germinated. To do this, ginger is soaked overnight in lukewarm water, placed in moist sphagnum or coconut substrate and provided a temperature of + 22 ° C. In such conditions, the rhizome forms buds at the ends in a couple of weeks. My ginger sprouted on its own when stored in a plastic container at room temperature.
The sprouted rhizome can be cut into links with 2 buds and planted separately. Rhizomes are planted horizontally with sprouts upward in a spacious pot to a depth of 6-8 cm. Provide plantings for 2-3 hours of morning sun and daytime partial shade, watered at first carefully, avoiding stagnation of water. After 2-3 months, many shoots will appear. The plant develops for about 6 months, as it grows, it is slightly mulched with Biohumus. Plant height usually reaches no more than 30-90 cm. After 6-8 months, small young rhizomes can be harvested from it.
Priming... Ginger requires a fertile, but light-textured soil. The soil mixture can be made up of turf, humus and sand in a ratio of 1: 1: 0.5, but you can use the "Soil for decorative deciduous indoor plants" containing perlite, with the addition of a small amount of clay as a moisture-retaining component. The reaction of the soil should be slightly acidic (pH 6.1-6.5).
Transfer. The transplant is carried out in the spring, annually, with a complete change of the substrate and division of the rhizome. The plant develops quickly and requires frequent division. The pot is taken wide and not very deep (up to 30 cm), of such a size that after planting from the rhizomes to the walls of the pot there is enough space for further growth (12-20 cm). The rhizomes should not rest against the walls of the pot. Good drainage is necessary at the bottom of the pot, otherwise the rhizomes may rot.
- Soils and soil mixtures for indoor plants
- Transplanting indoor plants
Lighting. Ginger needs bright diffused light, preferably 2-5 hours of direct morning sun. For him, the windows of the east and west direction are best suited, and the north ones are not suitable. South windows will need shading from direct sunlight. In the summer, it is useful to take the plant out into the open air with shading, and it is necessary to return it to the room before the night temperatures drop to + 10 ° C.
Temperature. The plant develops well at normal room temperature in the range of + 23 ... + 25 ° C. If you observe this moderate temperature regime all year round, the plant will continue to grow in winter. If in the autumn-winter period the temperature is reduced to + 10 ... + 15 ° C, a dormant period sets in and the aboveground part dies off. At this time, the pot with the plant can be stored in the basement with a temperature of + 12… + 16 ℃ without watering.
Watering. Ginger is a moisture-loving plant, it is watered abundantly, even in winter if kept warm. Between waterings, the top layer of the soil should dry out, this stimulates the development of rhizomes at the surface of the soil. Water for irrigation should be warm (2-4 ° C warmer than air), soft.
Read more in the article Watering rules for indoor plants.
During the period of entering a state of dormancy, water is rarely watered, while not allowing the soil to completely dry out. During winter storage in a dormant state, watering is stopped.
Air humidity. As with any tropical plant, high air humidity creates favorable conditions for the growth of ginger. The plant is placed on a pallet with damp expanded clay and sprayed regularly. The optimum air humidity for this plant is 60%. In dry air, the leaves dry out, the likelihood of being hit by a spider mite will increase.
Top dressing make only in the spring-summer period, with a frequency of 2 times a month. Since this plant loves organic matter, organo-mineral fertilizers with a predominance of phosphorus are used, for example, for vegetable plants. If purely mineral dressings are used, then every few weeks an organic additive is introduced - Biohumus. They do not feed in autumn and winter.
Read more in the article Top dressing of indoor plants.
Rest period. Ginger in nature has a biological dormant period. To organize it in room conditions, from October gradually lower the temperature to + 10 ... + 15 ° C, reduce watering, drying the soil in a pot, but not letting it dry out completely. During the dormant period, do not spray or water. As a result, the aboveground part of the plant turns yellow and dies off, and the pot can be stored in the dark, for example, in the basement, at + 12 ... + 16 ℃.
If the temperature of the content in winter is higher than + 20 ° C, the plant will continue to grow and the dormant period will not come. At the same time, they still stop feeding it, spray it, observe an irrigation regime similar to the summer period.
Bloom... After a dormant period, ginger grows leaf mass, and blooms in summer. But in the first year or two after planting, it usually does not bloom if the plant has had a short growing season. Flowering occurs more often in greenhouse than indoor conditions, it lasts until autumn. The plant does not tie fruits in indoor conditions.
Harvesting rhizomes... The growing season before harvesting rhizomes lasts about 10 months. You can start harvesting as soon as the leaves turn yellow by autumn. However, small fragments of rhizomes can be cut off after 4, or better - 7-8 months of growth. They are dug up, cut off with a clean sharp knife and sprinkled with crushed charcoal. By the way, not only rhizomes are edible in ginger, but also young shoots and leaves, which have a weaker aroma than rhizomes. They are usually added when preparing side dishes, but nothing prevents you from making tea with a leaf of ginger.
Pests... Often affected by spider mites, sometimes whiteflies, aphids.
Read more in the article Houseplant pests and control measures.
Reproduction of ginger
Vegetative propagation... Ginger reproduces very simply - by dividing the rhizomes during the spring transplant. Delenka must have at least 2 links with buds or stems. The rhizomes are cut with a sharp knife, the cuts are sprinkled with crushed coal before planting. Germination takes quite a long time, from 2 to 8 weeks, but if the soil temperature is at the level of + 25 ... + 28 ° C, germination will occur faster.
Seed reproduction rarely used, because it is impossible to get seeds in room conditions.In soil greenhouses, under optimal conditions, they can be tied.
