How to grow ginger in the country in the open field and when to harvest

Ginger is an exotic plant for our country, which is native to the tropics of South Asia. It is valued for its properties and chemical composition. It is a spice, a medicine, and an ornamental plant. Many amateur gardeners are interested in the question of how to grow ginger in the country in the open field, so as not to buy spicy roots in the store.

In Russia, it can be grown in different climatic zones, if you choose the right way. So, in the southern regions, where the summer is long and warm enough, ginger can be grown in the country in the ground without any special tricks.Here, a plant that looks like bamboo and blooms with interesting buds is planted in the garden as an ornamental.

In the conditions of the middle lane, a valuable root is grown in greenhouses or greenhouses. In the northern regions, where summer is too short, ginger is grown in home greenhouses or on windowsills.

Features of growing ginger in open ground

Ginger is cultivated by many gardeners, growing outdoors in our region has some difficulties due to its tropical origin.

Ginger is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its rhizome, which in the East is called the “horned root”, branches horizontally, releasing strong stems 50-150 m high from the buds with narrow leaves up to 20 cm long. In order for the ginger root to grow sufficiently, it must be in the ground 8-10 months. Such a root will have all the beneficial properties characteristic of a plant.

Due to its long growing season, ginger is easiest to grow from seedlings. To do this, prepare a substrate from a mixture of humus, humus, sand, soil in equal parts. The soil mixture is laid out in containers 25 cm high, moistened. Pieces of rhizome are deepened into it with the kidneys up by 3-4 cm and watered. Planting shoots will appear within 2-3 weeks.

Basic conditions for growing ginger in sufficient quantities: long and warm summers, high humidity, draft protection, shady area.

All parts of the crop have a pleasant lemon flavor. The beneficial properties of ginger roots are due to its chemical composition. The plant contains essential oils, macro- and microelements, amino acids (tryptophan, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine and others), vitamins A, C and group B.

It contains zingiberene, camphene, bisabolene and other substances that cause anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, choleretic, anthelmintic, antispastic and other beneficial properties of ginger root.

Selecting a landing site

Ginger in the country is grown on a site protected from drafts and wind. Choose a well-lit place, shaded during the hottest time of the day, since direct sunlight is detrimental to him. Shading of the area for planting can be provided.

Another necessary condition that must be observed when choosing a site for planting crops is soil moisture. The plant does not tolerate swampy, waterlogged soils. Growing in such conditions leads to rotting of thick roots. Therefore, it is better to plant it on hills or dry areas, and drain or mulch the soil before planting to better remove excess moisture.

The easiest way to maintain the conditions necessary for growing ginger is in greenhouses or greenhouses.

The choice of planting material and its subsequent preparation is of great importance. They begin to germinate it from the end of February-beginning of March, and in May they transplant it into open ground.

What should be the soil for planting?

Ginger planting and care begins with proper soil preparation. First of all, to get a good harvest, the soil should be light, loose, well-drained. To this end, it is mixed with sand or mulch (compost from fallen leaves, turf or needles).

To plant ginger, the soil must be fertile with medium acidity. To do this, organic fertilizers are introduced into it in the fall: humus, peat, compost. During the growing season, complex mineral fertilizers are additionally applied.

How to plant ginger outdoors?

To plant ginger in the country, use the rhizome, divided into pieces. If the air temperature at the beginning of the growing season is not high enough, the plant is covered with a film. If it is not possible to choose a suitable place and provide the necessary conditions, plant it in greenhouses or greenhouses.

Terms of planting ginger in the country

In its natural environment, ginger grows from 6 months to a year. In our latitude, he has an average of 9 months for this, most of which is spent on germinating seedlings.

To get seedlings, the roots are planted in pots in February-March or even January. The timing of planting in open ground depends on the region. It is customary to plant shoots in April-May, after the last frost, when the average daily temperature reaches +18 … +25 ° С.If the temperature gets lower, the development of the plant slows down. Re-stimulating its growth will be difficult.

In the suburbs, growing in the country begins with placing seedlings in a greenhouse so that the plants have time to adapt to environmental conditions. Under the condition of early spring and warm summer in the garden, ginger can be planted in the Urals, but it is more reliable to grow it in a greenhouse in this region.

Selecting planting material

To grow ginger in the garden, you first need to choose the right planting material. The culture is germinated from the root, which can be bought at a simple supermarket. Choose a he althy, dense in consistency, young root with a light, evenly colored, smooth and even glossy skin without defects, signs of wilting or frostbite.

The cut or scrap must be clean, white, with no signs of drying out and wilting. When choosing rhizomes for planting, you need to pay attention to the number of shoot buds-eyes. The more of them, the more chances to get seedlings.

Preparing the rhizome for planting consists in cutting or breaking off small pieces, each of which should have 2-3 buds. It is best to separate the rhizome by lintels. The cut point should be sprinkled with crushed activated carbon or wood ash.

Preparatory work for planting ginger

Ginger is best planted in pre-prepared grooves. Since the root branches to the sides, not down, the depth of the groove may not exceed 10 cm. Small pebbles are laid at the bottom of the prepared grooves for drainage with a layer of 1 cm.

Gravel is sprinkled with a layer of substrate 5-6 cm thick. Before planting, prepared pieces of ginger should be put in warm water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate for several hours in order to stimulate bud germination.

How to plant ginger at their summer cottage?

There are a few simple rules for planting ginger root correctly. For normal vegetation, delenki should be located close to the surface. They are buried no more than 3-4 cm.

Lay them with their kidneys up at a distance of 10-15 cm so that the roots do not interfere with each other. The soil must first be loosened and moistened. In addition, delenki are watered abundantly after planting.

How to properly care for ginger in the country?

Until new root crops are formed, ginger root grows for about 7 months. During this period, the plant needs regular watering, spring feeding, loosening the soil and removing weeds.

If ginger is grown as an ornamental plant, it is left to winter in the ground. In order to achieve flowering, you need to maintain high humidity and optimal temperature for the plant.The easiest way to maintain these conditions is in a greenhouse. Plants bloom only in the second year.

Delenki planted in open ground are covered with a perforated film to ensure germination and protection from a night drop in temperature. When a sprout appears in 2-3 weeks, the film is removed. At this stage, the sprouts need light for 12-14 hours a day and regular soil moisture.

In August, the active formation of root crops ends and the plants no longer need intensive care. In the fall, when the shoots die, the root crops can be dug up and used or left to overwinter. In this case, you need to cut the shoots and cover the roots.

Rules for watering plants

In order to grow ginger, it needs to be watered regularly. It is worth considering that this is a moisture-loving culture that prefers moist air.It will not be damaged by regular spraying and sprinkling, especially on hot summer days. This is done in the morning or evening so as not to burn the leaves.

Before the first sprouts appear, delenki should be watered regularly and abundantly in order not to let them dry out and stop developing. When sprouts appear, watering should be reduced.

The soil should not dry out, but waterlogging should not be allowed, as this can lead to rotting of the roots. After watering, the soil is loosened to a depth of 1 cm. When the bushes begin to turn yellow and droop, watering is reduced, and spraying is stopped altogether.

When and how to feed ginger outdoors?

Top dressing is applied throughout the growing season. The first complex fertilizer, which contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, is applied before the leaves of the plant appear. Also at this stage, once every 1.5-2 weeks, ginger is fed with organic fertilizers.

The best organic fertilizer for him is compost. Humus from the leaves feeds the plant in its natural environment. In addition, you can use a solution of mullein diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. In August, the culture can be fed with potash fertilizers, which contribute to the formation and maturation of tubers.

If ginger is preparing for flowering, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied at the budding stage. When the leaves of the plant begin to turn yellow and droop, stop fertilizing.

How and when to harvest ginger?

Harvest in autumn, 9-10 months after planting. A sign of the readiness of root crops is the yellowing and death of the shoots. At the same time, rhizomes can be dug up for food six months after planting.

2 days before the harvest, the crop is no longer watered. Root crops are dug with a shovel, cleaned of soil, additional roots are removed and dried. Before drying, the roots can be washed with cold water.

Ginger: tips for proper storage

Store root crops at a temperature of +2 … +4 ° C, in the cellar or in the refrigerator in the vegetable compartment. Before storing, ginger is wrapped in paper. Another way to store is in dried form. Preparing the root for storage in this case consists in cleaning it and cutting it into slices. But before use, it will have to soak for 5-6 hours. As a result, the taste and aroma of the spice will become more pronounced.

You can store ginger in the freezer. But when defrosting, most of the nutrients are lost. It can only be used as a spice.

If ginger was grown in a pot, it can be left for the winter in the ground near a warm battery and dug up as needed.