Last edited on 16 Oct 2026. View history
Ginger
How to sow ginger: Direct seed roots outdoors
Sun requirement for ginger: Plant in Partial Sun
Ginger is a flowering, perennial, herbaceous plant native to Southern Asia’s tropical rainforests. It is in the Zingiberaceae family, which also includes turmeric. Ginger is grown for its root, which is also called Ginger, and as an ornamental. The ginger root is a rhizome that produces thin annual stems with narrow green leaves and clusters of white and pink flower buds that open into yellow flowers. Ginger needs ample moisture and fertilizer and temperatures between 21.6 and 25°C. Temperatures below 9°C can kill the plant, and it will not germinate in cold soil. Ginger prefers sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. It can be grown in containers or greenhouses in colder climates to extend the growing season. Propagate ginger by planting rhizomes or roots. It can be harvested after 4-6 months as “Baby Ginger.” Baby Ginger does not have a skin on it yet - instead the rhizome is pink and cream-colored, very tender and juicy, and less spicy. Mature ginger has fibrous, dry, yellow flesh with a tan skin and spicier flavor. Ginger takes 10-12 months to mature and is harvested when the stalk has withered. Ginger can be used to season dishes, steeped into a tea, or candied. Ayurveda and other traditional medicines use ginger to reduce pain and inflammation, soothe upset stomachs, and boost metabolism.
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For ginger, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 13°C and a shortest growing cycle of 270 days at its best temperature, about 2970 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your ginger will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
by Skud,
I'm in Thornbury, in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
Our landlords won't let us replace the lawn with a veg garden, so we can only plant in containers. I'm on my usual spring quest for largish containers, 30cm diameter and above. We especially love the old-style rectangular…
eggplants
pears
quinces
ginger
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Zingiber officinale Rosc.
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Zingiberidae Zingiberales Zingiberaceae |
|---|---|
| Optimal temperature | 19 - 29 °C |
| Absolute temperature | 13 - 35 °C |
| Optimal rainfall | 1400 - 3000 mm/year |
| Absolute rainfall | 700 - 4000 mm/year |
| Optimal soil pH | 6.0 - 7.0 |
| Absolute soil pH | 4.3 - 7.5 |
| Crop cycle | 270 - 365 days |
| Max altitude | 1900 m |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual, perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
| Optimal light | very bright to clear skies |
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