Growing Ginger

Zingiber Officinale : Zingiberaceae / the ginger family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
P P P           P P P P

(Best months for growing Ginger in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

  • P = Plant root
  • Plant pieces of fresh root showing signs of shoots. Best planted at soil temperatures between 20°C and 30°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 15 cm apart
  • Harvest in approximately 25 weeks. Reduce water as plant dies back to encourage rhizome growth.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Grow in separate bed

Your comments and tips

17 Oct 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Soil needs to be 20-30 degree - may be next month.
03 Sep 22, marco (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
ginger is good sub tropical gold coast ....i have frozen my ginger . i have cleaned peeled then cut into fine strips ok .freezer bag .
02 Jul 22, Gary (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I pulled some of my ginger the other day nicely formed and a bit hot but no flavor it was organically grown in 20 litre bucket as I always do and on a lot of organic matter straw sheep poop and Coconut Coir. Where oh where did I go wrong any suggestions would be greatly received. Gary
05 Jul 22, Anonymous (Australia - temperate climate)
Putting all these things in to make your soil is probably an over kill. Straw will grab a lot of the nitrogen to break it down, starving the ginger. Coconut coir and sheep poo would do the same. It all needs to break down first. When making up a soil use composted material with soil and maybe a fine potting mix. I used a 200l plastic drum cut in half to grow turmeric. Mixed up some soil and compost 50 50 and 3/4 filled the drums. Then put compost on the top. Seems to have worked.
07 Jul 22, Gary (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Thank you for the Info I can see what your talking about makes a lot of sense again thankyou.
02 Apr 22, marco (Australia - tropical climate)
i live on the gold coast .my ginger is starting to flower . i have harvest some and all i do is clean slice thin .then freeze in bag.
20 Mar 22, ron (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
bought some youngish ginger at the bundy markets today if i plant now 21/3/22 will it still grow over winter.thetemperature never goes below 8to10 degrees centrade
26 Mar 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Plant Oct to Dec.
12 Mar 22, Lorna (Australia - tropical climate)
I’m in tropical Nth Queensland, I’d rather grow my ginger in pots/ containers. What would be a suitable size & shape pots/containers to use please?
16 Mar 22, Fiona (Australia - tropical climate)
Hi Lorna I have grown Thai Ginger successfully in 300mm pot with well draining potting mix in Cairns. I just keep replanting a few pieces after harvest. I mince the ginger, then freeze it in zip locks, in a sausage shape. Easy to cut a bit off when you need it.
Showing 11 - 20 of 254 comments

Hi Sara, You can! I grew it for a couple of years in a pot when I lived in Panania (low-on-space-rental) and also the last few years in the Hawkesbury. It grows well in Sydney, we got a bumper crop from just 3 store bought pieces, harvested a year later. We would have gotten even more kgs if I have know it doesn't like direct sun, ours was a little sunburnt. We ended up making about 100 bottles of ginger beer and sharing them around :-) I'm going to plant again this weekend, close to a nice warm fence but out of direct sun. I'm also going to experiment with water loving herbs as a ground cover. I hope this will increase humidity and allow me a second crop for the space. Since ginger is upright, I can plant a companion ground-cover. Maybe strawberries or tarragon? Something that can handle lots of water. Cheers and happy gardening, Michelle

- Michelle

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