How To Plant Ginger

The ginger plant is an herbaceous perennial native to the tropical regions of Asia and India. The fleshy tuber of the ginger plant, known as the ginger root or rhizome, is used as a flavoring culinary herb to prepare a wide variety of Asian and Chinese delicacies. Today, ginger is cultivated in many parts of the world like Jamaica, West Africa and Hawaii. It also serves as an important medicinal herb that effectively treats nausea, diarrhea, pain and migraine. The ginger plant forms a part of the vegetable garden and/or herbal garden, due to its attractive blooms, fragrance and several uses. Ginger plants can easily be grown both in the garden and in pots and containers. Since it is a tropical plant, ginger will grow only in shady, warm areas. Given here are some tips that will help you in planting the ginger plant and yield healthy ginger roots.

 

 

While planting ginger roots, selecting a proper growing site serves as one of the quintessential steps. An improper site selected can lead to poor formation of the ginger rhizomes. Decide the plantation site on the basis of the requirements of the ginger plant. If your garden does not have the right kind of soil, plant the ginger in pots so as to provide them with the basic plant requirements to some extent. In case your garden receives excessive direct sunlight, the ginger plant can be placed indoors.

 

Prepare The Soil  

Winter and early spring are the best times to plant ginger. After the heavy frost is over, prepare the soil for plantation. Mix equal amounts of farmyard compost and your garden soil. If the garden soil is wet and heavy, create raised beds to minimize the accumulation of water. This will assist in proper drainage of water and prevent water logging.

 

The planting material for ginger is rhizome. Selecting a healthy ginger rhizome is as important as deciding the growing site. Go for fresh and plump rhizomes that have healthy growth buds. You can also choose the ones that have well-developed eyes in the tips of the rhizomes. Cut the rhizome into pieces in such a way that each bud consists of healthy eyes. For developing shoots faster, soak the rhizomes in water overnight, before planting them.

 

After you have prepared the soil, plant the ginger rhizome pieces, at a depth of 6 to 8 cm, with their growth buds pointing upwards. If you are planting the rhizomes in the garden soil, leave a gap of about 4 to 5 inches between two rhizomes. Cover the buds with soil carefully.

 

Ginger plants should be watered on a regular basis, after a gap of two days. Make sure that you do not over water the plants, which can otherwise result in water logging. Provide heavy mulching to the ginger plants to maintain humidity level and control the growth of weeds.