Growing ginger from store-bought root: secrets and rules

Fans and simply connoisseurs of the many advantages of ginger sooner or later think about the possibility of home cultivation of this exotic for Russian latitudes plant. It does not matter what is more attractive in the long run – the healing properties of root tubers or the charm of unusual flowers.

It is more important to know that it is quite possible to grow ginger at home from store-bought roots, following simple rules of planting and care.
Fans of ginger tea, can grow its rhizomes on their windowsill.

This plant is suitable not only for consumption, but also as a home decoration. And if you rub its leaves in your hands, you can feel a specific fresh smell. How to grow ginger at home, is described in this article.

Indispensable for colds, ginger can be grown at home on the windowsill, organizing a home greenhouse and following the rules of growing this capricious plant. But, if all the requirements are met, gardeners will enjoy an excellent natural source of vitamins at home. How to grow ginger from a store-bought root?

Ginger varieties for growing on the windowsill

To grow ginger at home, you need to look at unpretentious varieties

The root tuber should have the following qualities:

Have buds;
The top layer of the root should give off a glossy appearance;
The root must be fresh;
The buds should be ready to bloom, buttery to the touch.

What you will need to grow ginger at home

Growing ginger at home should begin with the purchase of planting material. To do this, you can visit the nearest supermarket.

Purchased ginger is quite suitable for planting and grows well in apartment conditions. When choosing a root tuber, attention should be paid to the condition of the buds. They must necessarily be intact.

The next thing to do after purchase is to choose a suitable place in the house for growing.

Choosing a place in the house

Ginger is a native of the tropics. It needs a lot of bright sunlight.

That is why the best windows for growing ginger in an apartment are those with a southern orientation. On them, the plant will feel most comfortable.

Selection and preparation of containers

To grow ginger from the root at home, choose wide and shallow containers.

Its root system is located close to the surface of the soil, almost not growing deep into the soil. In addition, the undeveloped by the roots volume of earth can easily sour, which will lead to the death of the plant.

The bottom of the pot must have drainage holes. Even a short-term stagnation of moisture can cause the death of the plant.

For planting ginger rhizomes, you will need a highly nutritious, loose soil. It can be composed of equal parts of sod, humus and clean river sand.
Ready-made industrial substrate based on universal peat is also suitable for cultivation.
When preparing the soil for growing ginger, it is also very important to take care of the arrangement of a drainage layer of expanded clay, pebbles or coarse sand.

To speed up the process of sprouting, ginger root is pre-germinated:

To do this, it is soaked in warm water with the addition of a growth stimulant for 2-3 days.
In this case, the water 2-3 times a day necessarily change.
As a stimulant use “Epin”, “Zircon” or a few drops of juice of ordinary home aloe.
After soaking, the buds on the surface of the root should swell and turn green.
If this does not happen, the root tuber is left in the water for a couple more days.

Germination can also be done in another way:

To do this, prepare a container with water, a wooden skewer or toothpick.
The tuber is pierced on both sides and hung so that it slightly touches the surface of the water.
As soon as the rudiments of roots appear, it is immediately planted in the ground.

Creating the necessary conditions for growing ginger at home

Growing ginger in the apartment is possible only if certain conditions are created. It is not enough just to plant the root, for successful development it needs a certain temperature, lighting and humidity.

To grow ginger at home on the windowsill, you will need a temperature of at least +23°C. When it drops to +15°C, the plant stops growing and falls into a period of dormancy.

In the summer period, containers with plants are taken to the balcony. Night coolness and plenty of fresh air will do them good.

Like everything from the tropics, ginger needs high air humidity. For this reason, it should be sprayed regularly with warm, pre-drained water.

Small containers of water can also be placed near the pot to increase humidity.

Ginger needs plenty of bright light for successful development. The duration of the daylight hours is also important. When growing in winter, it should be at least 12 hours.

To ensure the necessary level of illumination, ginger is organized after-lighting. For this purpose, ordinary fluorescent lamps of daylight are quite suitable.

Now on sale there are also special phytolamps. Their spectrum is maximally adapted to the cultivation of plants. This allows you to achieve excellent results even with minimal natural light.

Planting ginger root tubers: a step-by-step guide

After the buds on the root tuber awaken and swell, it is planted in the ground. Step by step it looks as follows:

Large rhizomes are divided into parts. Each of the offshoots must necessarily have at least one large, viable bud.
The resulting cuts are sprinkled with charcoal powder and allowed to dry.
Delenki planted to a depth of no more than 1-2 cm. They are simply spread on the surface, and then covered with a thin layer of soil.
The first sprouts will appear no earlier than 2 weeks later. As soon as they grow to a height of several centimeters, begin to apply fertilizers.

Caring for ginger at home

How ginger grows at home is strongly influenced by care. The peculiarities of growing technology are described in detail below.

Ginger needs abundant watering throughout the growing season:

Watering water should be soft. For this purpose, it is passed through a filter or defended.
Watering is done in the morning after the top layer of soil has dried out.
If the plants are grown in the winter and kept cool, the intensity of watering is significantly reduced. In such conditions, ginger is watered on average once every 2 weeks.
The soil in the ginger pot should never dry out completely.

After each watering, the surface of the substrate must be loosened:

This should be done very carefully, the main mass of ginger roots is located at a depth of 2 cm.
Lack of timely loosening will lead to oxygen starvation, which can cause stunted growth.

You can grow ginger at home without fertilizer, but the yield in this case will be very modest:

During the period of intensive growth, it should be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers.
Immediately after the appearance of seedlings, emphasis is placed on fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. They are used until the plants develop sufficient leaf mass.
After that, switch to phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, which contribute to the active formation and buildup of tubers.

As soon as the ginger leaves start to turn yellow and fall apart, watering is reduced to a minimum. There is no need to spray the plants now either. These signs indicate the beginning of tuber maturation.

After the leaves have completely withered, proceed to harvesting:

Rhizomes are dug out, cleaned from the remnants of roots and soil.
Then for 2-3 days they are dried at room temperature.
After that, they are collected and put away for storage in the cellar or cellar with a temperature of no more than +5-6 ° C.
If there are few roots, they can be stored in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator, pre-wrapped in a cellophane bag.

Some of the dug tubers can be used for further propagation. This will avoid the cost of purchasing planting material.

Tubers intended for breeding are stored together with the rest. They are taken out by the end of winter. After the tubers sprout, they can be planted.

In the future, ginger can be multiplied in this way, using planting material adapted to specific conditions.