Growing Ginger for Fun & Profit

[Darienne]

Well, I don't know about the profit part, but it is fun.

Andie's tutorial on how to candy ginger "Candied or crystallized ginger, my method" in the RecipeGullet section contains information on how to grow your own ginger. Of course I had to try.

Now keep in mind my reputation as a gardener is on a par with that of Godzilla.

Andie's instructions were very easy to follow and I obviously got them right. Drilled some holes into one of those 6" under the bed plastic containers and planted 9 pieces of ginger which had little buds on them. Now I have 14 shoots growing in my southern-facing office. One shoot is even 3 feet tall. Now I did plant them too late and also I am in Zone 4 and so I don't really expect a bumper crop. But I shall have something to candy late in the fall.

I should add that I have to turn the container every few days or they all grow towards the sun. My gardening friend, Winnie, told me it was too late to put them out so I have kept them inside.

Oh, I also have a few little Calamansi/Kalamansi/Calamondin/Kalamondin shoots growing in the window.

As always, my thanks to my candying mentor, the Ginger Lady, Andie.

[toweringpine]

After making a batch of candied ginger from Andie's method I took a few left over knobs of ginger and poked them into a large pot of soil whose last resident had died. With the occasional dose of water they are all growing nicely. I get only late afternoon sun on my balcony so they will never get to a large size but I am looking forward to seeing what can be harvested in a couple months.

[Darienne]

After making a batch of candied ginger from Andie's method I took a few left over knobs of ginger and poked them into a large pot of soil whose last resident had died. With the occasional dose of water they are all growing nicely. I get only late afternoon sun on my balcony so they will never get to a large size but I am looking forward to seeing what can be harvested in a couple months.

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When did you plant and put yours out?

I just wish I had planted mine earlier and put them out. Next year....

Hmmmm...now I recall wondering just where I could put them. Our male dog will pee on anything that sticks up, even a blade of grass.

Edited August 14, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[v. gautam]

Ginger needs a LOOONG growing season, like 6-8 months, to make an appreciable sized rhizome. 2 months under the light levels you have is not going to be enough. You can still take the containers out until nights get below 55F, which may be just a fortnight away in Ontario now!!!

Fluence levels, the light intensity useful for plants, is about 100 micromoles of photons per square meter per second [say 1 inch from source] from ordianary fluorescent lamps mounted in a shoplight frame 2x. NEVER use Grolux. There are high intensity fluorescent lamps that give out twice this level, i.e. 200 micromoles, but cost 2x to buy 7 run. Your electric rates and appetite for experimentation will determine how much you want to invest.

Whil ginger will not need a high fluence rate of 300-400 micromoles, something in the 250-300 would help generate not just a satisfactory yied but also a sisfctory level of oleoresin, the pungent flavors. BTW, the spectral quality, with more UV than the fuorescent amp ca provide, will be necessary to develop a good andfull flavor. Metal halide light sources, e.g. sodium, are relatively monochromatic, e.g. 589 nanometers, and lead to a number of physiological/developmental abnormalities.

These cool fluorescent lamps need no special precautions to run in a household. That is NOT the case for metal halide lamps, which can be fire hazards, and have ballasts and certain safety features built into them. The cool fluorescent lamps also have heavy duty ballasts built into them in a shop-light system, and those are never as heavy duty as that neeeded for the metal halide types.

There are electrodeless lamps as well, but these are highly specialized and not easily available for household use.

We all have heard about the $10 home-grown tomato, which has some truth to it. Don't let this prevent this from enjoying your project, but just become better informed about the biology & needs of the plant you are trying to cultivate. [it also does not thrive in low-humidity, lower temperature environment].

Edited August 15, 2009 by v. gautam (log)

[Darienne]

Ginger needs a LOOONG growing season, like 6-8 months, to make an appreciable sized rhizome. 2 months under the light levels you have is not going to be enough. You can still take the containers out until nights get below 55F, which may be just a fortnight away in Ontario now!!!

Fluence levels, the light intensity useful for plants, is about 100 micromoles of photons per square meter per second [say 1 inch from source] from ordianary fluorescent lamps mounted in a shoplight frame 2x. NEVER use Grolux. There are high intensity fluorescent lamps that give out twice this level, i.e. 200 micromoles, but cost 2x to buy 7 run. Your electric rates and appetite for experimentation will determine how much you want to invest.

Whil ginger will not need a high fluence rate of 300-400 micromoles, something in the 250-300 would help generate not just a satisfactory yied but also a sisfctory level of oleoresin, the pungent flavors. BTW, the spectral quality, with more UV than the fuorescent amp ca provide, will be necessary to develop a good andfull flavor. Metal halide light sources, e.g. sodium, are relatively monochromatic, e.g. 589 nanometers, and lead to a number of physiological/developmental abnormalities.

These cool fluorescent lamps need no special precautions to run in a household. That is NOT the case for metal halide lamps, which can be fire hazards, and have ballasts and certain safety features built into them. The cool fluorescent lamps also have heavy duty ballasts built into them in a shop-light system, and those are never as heavy duty as that neeeded for the metal halide types.

There are electrodeless lamps as well, but these are highly specialized and not easily available for household  use.

We all have heard about the $10 home-grown tomato, which has some truth to it. Don't let this prevent this from enjoying your project, but just become better informed about the biology & needs of the plant you are trying to cultivate. [it also does not thrive in  low-humidity, lower temperature environment].

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Well. Thanks for that lesson in ginger growing.

55degrees Fahrenheit is 13 Celcius and so yes, nights have already been that cold. This is the summer which wasn't. Except right now which it really is for a few days.

As for the low humidity fears. Low humidity never happens in Ontario. Never. That's why I love Moab UT.

As for the rest of it. I was an English major and I think I'll print out your post and hand it to my very erudite scientifically oriented gardening friend and just ask her to tell me what to do. It's like carburetors. I don't really want to know how they work. Sorry. I know. My Father, an aeronautics engineer was disappointed in me too.

Thanks again.

[andiesenji]

Grow lights are relatively inexpensive and can be found in many home DIY stores.

As long as you don't buy a bunch (they are very popular with pot growers) you won't have any problems with any authorities.

Edited August 16, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[Lapin d'Argent]

Zone 4 might be a bit cold for outside, but last summer I bought fresh ginger at the farmer's market in Copley Square in Boston from a woman who grows it out in Northampton, MA -- Zone 5.

So now you've inspired me to add it to the (lengthy) list of things I intend to start next spring, when I have brand new raised beds built in my kitchen garden.

I'm guessing they would still need to be started indoors under grow lights to get a long enough season.

Just wait until next year...

- L.

[Edited to fix stupid typo]

Edited August 16, 2009 by Lapin d'Argent (log)

[KatieLoeb]

1000 watt metal halide lamps are readily available on the net. Like your own private solar system. My then-boyfriend did a bit of <ahem> amateur botany in college, so this is how I know this. Hey, it was the 80's. Everyone had a "home garden"...

[toweringpine]

I think it was around January that I planted the ginger and it must have been late May or early June that I put it outside.

I never expected to actually get any ginger from this project. I just wanted to see what the plant looks like and at the end ofthe season see just how much ginger was produced. I will be pleased if there is enough to make a small pot of chai!

Ginger is so inexpensive that I really can't justify buying any equipment to grow it nor can I devote any of the small apartment ( other than a half a square foot of balcony that was already taken up by a pot full of dead plant ). I'm not sure what it goes for in the big grocery stores but if you go to the small Asain markets you can get a ridicolous amount of it for a pittance. Besides, my wife knows me far too well to ever believe that I could really be planning to use a grow lamp for ginger. Funny enough my first outdoor crop of ginger looks like it will produce about as much as my first outdoor crop of... ( I got better with practice! )

[Darienne]

Ginger is so inexpensive that I really can't justify buying any equipment to grow it

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Strange about ginger and its cost and quality.

I bought excellent ginger (origins?) in Moab UT at City Market and it was $5 a pound. The other market in town sold it for $2 and it was very poor.

Bought Chinese ginger in Peterborough back home (city is 35 mins from farm) at the supermarket at $2 and threw it out. Worse ginger I ever used...but how can you test it in the market? It looked great.

Then bought Chinese ginger ($2) in our small Asian market on the assurance from the market owner and it was terrific. You can buy only frozen Thai ginger and galangal. My candying of galangal ended in the trash.

My ginger garden comes from his stock...the pieces down at the bottom of the bin with lovely knobbies on them. My garden is for delight, not with any expectations this year.

Wonderful plant!

[Darienne]

WOW! That new photo upload is incredible.

OK. My point. My ginger is long, reaching towards the ceiling and now leaning precariously to the left or the right. Should I stake it or something?

Thanks.

[Darienne]

To round out the last section:

Received a post from the Ginger Lady who informed me that she usually cuts the stems at 18" so that most of the plant's energy goes into the rhizomes. Of course. Thanks Ginger Lady (aka Andie)

After the haircut.

Tasted both the stems and the leaves. No hint of gingeriness at all.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

Received a post from the Ginger Lady who informed me that she usually cuts the stems at 18" so that most of the plant's energy goes into the rhizomes. Of course. Thanks Ginger Lady (aka Andie)

Cut the ginger on September 14th and already I have counted 6 new little buds starting to grow.