This is a continuation of my Spice Series. Welcome to my information on How to Grow Ginger!

**Ginger is a tropical plant that has green-purple flowers and an aromatic underground stem (called a rhizome). It is commonly used for cooking and medicinal purposes.

**Even though ginger is a native plant to Asia, it is easy to grow and once established it does not require much assistance.

**Due to the vast amounts of information on Ginger, I will be posting about how to grow Ginger today.  Click here for my information on Ginger’s culinary uses. Click here for my information on Ginger’s medicinal benefits.

How to Grow Ginger Root:

**Ginger is quite easy to grow. All you have to do is buy fresh ginger root from your grocery store, break off a piece at least 2 inches long, place in a pot with well-draining soil, and dig up some of the root whenever you need it.

**If you live in zone 10 or higher, you can plant ginger outdoors. Otherwise, you can plant ginger in a container and bring it outside in the summer. You can also still plant ginger outdoors and just make sure to keep it protected from the elements, but you risk losing your ginger plant to cold temperatures if you are not careful.

**Give your ginger a wide and tall container so that you can get the most out of your plant and for your plant’s optimal health. One rhizome, about the size of your hand, when broken into pieces and planted in a container, will probably give you enough ginger to make your household happy.

Position:

**Make sure your ginger plant has a well-draining soil. The perfect soil is 1 part compost, 1 part sandy garden soil. That keeps the plant full of nutrients and also gives it good drainage.

**Keep your pot of ginger in a warm place and keep the soil moist, especially during the summer, since that is the growing phase of your plant.

**Since ginger is a tropical plant, you need to give it a moist, rich soil, as well as warmth, humidity, and dappled sunlight. Do NOT give your ginger direct sun, or place somewhere with strong winds or that is susceptible to frost.

**Plant 8 cm deep, with the growing buds facing upwards. Space them about 15 cm apart, as the roots don’t mind being crowded, but should still have a bit of space to keep them healthy.

**Your ginger plant will mature in 10 months and will be approximately 2-4 feet tall.

Propagation:

**You can easily propagate ginger from cuttings. Simply break off a “finger” of the plant that is at least 2 inches long. Some even have shoots coming out of them already, and those are the best for planting.

**Soak the roots overnight to remove possible chemicals from commercial growers.

Maintenance:

**Once every 2 or 3 weeks, add some type of fertilizer to your plant to improve soil quality and help encourage your ginger to keep growing.

**Keep the plant moist, but not too damp and definitely do not let it dry out. Mulch is a great way to keep the moisture in place.

**If the air is dry, you should spray water around the plant to give it some humidity.

**Spider mites can be a problem, especially if you are growing ginger in a dry climate. If your plant has spider mites, gently wash them off the leaves and keep the plant moist in order to keep them away.

**Do not place your ginger plant outdoors until the temperatures are around 75 degrees. Bring indoors again when outdoor temperatures go below 50 degrees.

**During the cooler months of the year (late fall and winter), allow the ginger plant to dry out. This encourages the ginger to form more rhizomes (aka ginger roots).

Harvesting:

**When the leaves have died, your ginger is ready for harvest. This is usually after 8-10 months of growth.

**You can harvest ginger before this, as long as the ginger is at least 4 months old. Older ginger has more flavor than younger ginger.

**Dig up the new tubers that appear at the base of the plant.

**Dig up the needed ginger and allow the rest of your ginger plant to continue living if you want your plant to give you plenty of ginger each season.

**You can also dig up all of your ginger and store the pieces in the freezer or a cool cellar for long storage, if you do not want to keep taking care of the plant after 10 months.

Have YOU planted ginger before? If so, how did it go? How did you store it? How long did your plant live? Please feel free to share in the comment section below. I love hearing gardening stories!

This is my information on how to grow Ginger. Make sure to check out my Medicinal Benefits of Ginger page for some amazing aspects of Ginger for your health. You should also check out my Culinary Uses of Ginger page for some delicious and tasty ideas for using more Ginger in your recipes.

Please click here for the introduction to my Spice Series. If you have any comments, questions, or extra information for me, please feel free to post in the comment section below!

**Did you love the Ginger Root illustration? This beautiful piece of art, along with other fantastic Spice prints (and awesome non-spice art!) is made by the amazingly talented artist Christy Beckwith. Click here to learn more about her artwork.