A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Ginger

Hi everyone!!!! my cousin gave me some ginger last summer, it grew really well. I have it in my front garden alot of sun and good soil, and it really looked like corn stalks. I have no idea what kind it is and was never given " directions" on how to take care of it. I was just drawing out what i have planted where and was going to do a weekly " to do list" for spring. You know, prune this, fertize that, move these, cut those...ect. i planted them late spring and this fall they got the "bud" type pods on the tops, I thought they would bloom but I don't think their growing season was long enough. Does anyone have any basic info on them? Are all types of ginger edible? Thanks in advance!

Renee,
More info please, aprox. how tall did the plants get? shiny foilage,Smell?

Let's see....they were about 2.5-3ft tall with leaves about 1-1.5 ft long. They were not shiny, they really did look like corn leaves. they were on opposite sides of the stalk, not all the way around. I don't remember smelling them, they were in a bunch of plants my cousin gave me, so I don't really know how to take care of it. It is in full sun and did really well. Alot of new shoots coming out of the bottom. I was wondering if they were like iris, if you can separate the tuber and plant it on top or just underneath. I planted it just about an inch under the soil and it seemed to do well, but that doesn't mean it was right or that it couldn't have done better with the right conditions. Are there any basic guidelines for ginger? I live in zone 6b (fyi)

RENEE, I believe what you have is: Garden Ginger(zingiber officinale) I haven't found out how to add the link here but if you punch either the common or latin name into whatever search engine you have I am sure you will be able to find out all about it.
I would assume that it is edible, and I do believe that you went about planting it correctly, let me know what details you find out on the subject. Phil

Hmmmm..could it be White Ginger...they're kind of corn-y looking, too...

Jillie, the pic I found through netscape search had a white or yelowish flower Phil

Ha!!!
Phil.....That's it!!!
That's the kind my mom had all over a corner of her back yard....Thx!

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