| Can I grow ginger from a piece of root I buy at the grocery store? |
| Yes, you can! Choose a piece of root that has a few buds on it. You'll recognize these as fleshy nubs. Prepare a pot of moistened soil medium and place the root on the surface, and cover it with about a quarter inch of the soil. Water the soil well, allowing excess moisture to drain, and then put the pot in a warm closet. Check the pot frequently, and when shoots appear, move the pot to a brightly lit location. The growth will resemble a long-leafed grass. As long as your ginger is in bright light, it should grow vigorously. Give the plant high nitrogen fertilizer and keep the soil moist. If the light your plant receives is substantially less during the winter, growth will slow, so keep the soil a little on the dry side and cut back on fertilizer. Temperatures over 65 degrees F. and high humidity encourage growth. Eventually the root will fill the pot. At that point, you can remove some of the root for cooking or to propagate more plants. |
