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| 1. Common Ginger sprouts |
I am growing common ginger (Zingiber officinale) from store bought rhizomes. I use old ginger, meaning matured ginger that has been stored for some time, hence store bought rhizomes will be just fine. Freshly dug out rhizomes do not sprout as readily.
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| 2. Old ginger |
Select rhizomes which are fat and plump and with "eyes" or nodes from where the shoots will sprout. It takes a a few weeks to almost a month for the shoots to develop. The ginger seller at the wet market advised me to use some old newspapers to wrap the rhizomes and keep them in a moist, warm, humid and shady place for a few weeks before planting in soil. You can cut up bigger rhizomes into 5cm sizes but each piece should have at least 2 "eyes".
I use common ginger in my everyday cooking in almost every dish; e.g. for a simple dish of stir fried vegetables like cabbage, choy sum, bok choy, romaine lettuce, sprouts, I just need some crushed (or finely chopped) old ginger, garlic and onion flavoured oil (palm oil). Old ginger is also used in home remedies. Both young and old gingers are used in confinement food to aid in the healthy recovery of mothers after delivery and child-birth. Pickled ginger (dyed red) and red eggs are given to relatives and guests during a baby's full moon celebration. This is a Chinese tradition.
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| 3. Young ginger |
From the picture, you can see the real ginger roots growing out of the underground stem or rhizome. The ginger part that we eat or use in cooking is the rhizome, not the "ginger roots".
It is difficult to grow ginger plants from young ginger.
“How to grow common ginger from store bought rhizomes”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on August 30th, 2012.
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| 4. |
You can plant ginger in a flower pot, recycled container or on the ground.
The soil should be rich in organic matter, moist but well-drained.
The medium should not be soggy or too dry.
The medium should not be soggy or too dry.
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| 5. |
Bury the ginger rhizomes in the ground a few inches deep and cover with soil. If rhizomes are exposed, e.g. by heavy rain, cover with more soil. Apply a regular liquid fertilizer once a fortnight. You can grow ginger in the shaded areas of your garden and use up these under utilised areas where other plants find difficult to thrive.
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| 6. |
It may be easier to harvest ginger grown in a flower pot.
Ginger is a small plant that will grow to about 1-1.5m tall. It will fit into a plastic flower pot.
Each pseudostem has about 8-12 leaves.
Ginger is a small plant that will grow to about 1-1.5m tall. It will fit into a plastic flower pot.
Each pseudostem has about 8-12 leaves.
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| 7. |
Ginger flowers rise directly from the ground. In Malaysia, our ginger plants seldom flower.
Have you seen common ginger flowers?
How do you use ginger?
Here's a picture of the flower
(Updated on 19th March 2013)
Note:
This is for Ash and Flower Lady - The recipe for making Pickled Ginger is from kuali.com, link here. Note that the red food colouring is optional. The red colour is used during baby full moon celebration in the making of red eggs and pickled ginger. Tonight, I am unable to reply to you as I can't comment on my own blog post due to some kind of technical glitch from Google.
Lastly, I'd like to wish all Malaysians,
"HAPPY MERDEKA DAY!"
(It's or 55th Independence Day on 31st Aug 2012)
Interesting and informative post.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Cher, I guess you can grow common ginger in your Zone 6 garden too, but it would be indoors and during the warmer months.
DeleteExcellent post Ms Belle! An elaboration to the earlier issue on this :) You really read my mind. Just one question, no need to soak the old ginger overnight? Wrapping in newspaper would do, is it?
ReplyDeleteMs Belle, would you mind sharing how to make the pickled ginger. I love it so much. When I was very little, my next door neighbor's maid used to make them and gave my mom a bottle. Tasted so good. I grew up in a neighborhood of chinese community. We were the only malay family :))
Ash, some people prefer to soak the ginger overnight to get rid of any chemicals e.g. preservatives, pesticides before wrapping it up. I like pickled ginger too! We eat pickled ginger during baby's full moon celebration. At other times it goes well with century egg. Nowadays pickled ginger is served in Japanese restaurants too. I have updated my post with the recipe.
DeleteYour childhood reminds me of mine too, when we call "muhibbah". I look forward to every Hari Raya because I love home cooked rendang and lemang. I guess the secret of the tastiness of home-cooked delicacies is the gingers (galangal, turmeric and common ginger) besides the touch of mother/family members love.
That's a handy guide Autumn Belle, we sometimes grow stem ginger as an annual here, for summer display.
ReplyDeleteMark and Gaz, I think the foliage looks good too.
DeleteGreat post. I really enjoy cooking with ginger, and candied ginger is so delicious! I'd like to know how you make pickled ginger also.
ReplyDeleteFlowerLady
FlowerLady, besides daily cooking, we also use a lot of ginger when cooking for mothers in confinement after childbirth. Ginger goes well with sesame oil. The recipe for pickled ginger has been updated in my post.
DeleteI ♥ this post. It looks looks easy enough. I'll give it a go ^.^
ReplyDeleteSharon, go for it!
DeleteI think I might try to grow ginger inside on the window ledge, because our summer is so short. Do you think I could do so and make it to grow?
ReplyDeleteGrowing ginger in Findland will need all the warmth you can give. You can grow in a greenhouse or indoor near a bright window and warm environment.
DeleteYour medium in the first photo seems to be too silty or more of gravel, less of soil, i wonder if it will grow well there, also very porous. But the later instructions have better soil. My mother always keep a few meters of ginger every year, and i love the young immature ones cut to very thin slices plus calamansi with salt. Uhm nice with fried fish!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, ah yes! The first photo was taken before I added organic matter to improve the soil condition. I'd like to try out your method with calamansi and salt. When I was little, I like to eat freshly plucked calamansi dipped in salt but had since discontinued doing this after repeating warnings from my grandma. She said it is bad for the kidneys - too sour and salty.
DeleteIn my mum's household, we didn't dye the pickle ginger. It naturally turns pink. I will ask my sister how.
ReplyDeleteMy mum will cut the amount she needs, and the plant grows for ever and ever. I recall it needs sandy soil. In the old days, we slaughtered our own chicken. Mum was an early day practitioner of composting, we pour the cooled chicken feather to the ginger clump.
Ann, I'll gladly wait for your sister's tips. I too prefer not to dye the ginger.
DeleteYeah, those days during our grandparents and parents time, they had already practised sustainable living, e.g. composting, recycle our washing water, rear poultry, grow our own food, herbs and spices. These are the daily skills we learnt during our childhood, now we can put them to good use. We reared our own 9-kati chicken and slaughtered our own chickens. Slaughtering chicken and ducks was one of the skills needed for a good daughter-in-law.
Nothing better than ginger fresh from the garden.
ReplyDeleteGreenearth, you are right. It is good to learn and practice permaculture in whatever way we can.
DeleteGinger usually doesn't flower here, but this time, a ginger flower shoot has come up from the ground in my yard. I am eagerly waiting for the flower.
ReplyDeleteLotusleaf, I am so excited for you!
DeleteThat is a terrific idea. I am going to try that next time I get ginger at the local asian store. Thanks for sharing that!
ReplyDeleteRosey, you can also raid your refrigerator to check if you have extra ginger stored away and forgotten about.
DeleteI plant them the same way. It's easy growing plant!. I never seen their flowers. Have you?
ReplyDeleteMalar, yes, easy-growing! There you go girl. I have never seen flowers from common ginger.
DeleteWow, this is very helpful. Thanks Autumn Belle! I think I might try this sometime. My husband cooks with Ginger quite often, and it would be great to have it on hand as needed. Plus, it's always fun to grow a plant I've never grown before.
ReplyDeleteI think ginger will grow well in your area. I use ginger in my cooking every day.
DeleteHi Autumn Belle,
ReplyDeleteVery simple & easy understand:) i would like to know whether we need to apply pesticide on it to avoid insects?
Nataliw
Nataliw, Welcome and thank you very much for reading my blog. I do not need to apply any pesticides on my ginger plants.
Delete