Fresh ginger from your own pot, home-grown turmeric for the curry: what sounds like exotic gardening is surprisingly simple on the windowsill. Both spice rhizomes can be propagated from a simple piece of organic rhizome from the supermarket. You need no greenhouse, only a warm, bright spot and some patience.
Ginger and turmeric are closely related, both belong to the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), and both want the same: warmth, moisture and a frost-free winter. This article shows you how to sprout your own plant from a kitchen rhizome, how the two relatives differ and how to harvest in autumn and secure part for the next year.
From kitchen rhizome to plant
The start is astonishingly simple: you need only a firm, fresh rhizome, as found in any supermarket. Best choose an organic piece, because conventional stock is sometimes treated with sprouting inhibitors that prevent shooting. Look for plump, smooth rhizomes with small, light growth buds, the so-called eyes, similar to a potato.
Prepare the rhizome
Choose a firm organic rhizome with visible growth eyes. Larger pieces you can divide so that each part has at least one to two eyes. Soaking overnight in lukewarm water speeds up sprouting.
Lay it flat
Lay the rhizome flat with the eyes up in a wide pot and cover it with only a few centimetres of loose, humus-rich soil. Set too deep it rots easily.
Keep warm and moist
Put the pot in a warm, bright place around twenty to twenty-five degrees, for instance on the windowsill above the heating. Keep the soil evenly moist but never wet. A cover raises the humidity.
Patience at sprouting
It can take three to six weeks until the first shoot shows. That is normal, patience is needed here. As soon as green leaves appear, the plant grows quickly.
Out after the Ice Saints
From mid-May the pot may go onto the balcony or terrace in a warm, sheltered spot. Avoid direct midday sun, the tropical leaves burn easily otherwise.
Start from late winter, weeks 8 to 14, so the plant has as long and warm a season as possible for building the rhizome. The earlier the start, the larger the autumn harvest, provided it is warm and bright enough indoors.
Two relatives compared
Ginger and turmeric look similar as rhizomes and want the same care, but differ in detail. Ginger forms reed-like, upright leaves and grows a good half to one metre tall. Its rhizome is light brown outside, yellowish inside and sharply aromatic. Turmeric grows with broader leaves recalling canna and can, with good care, even form ornamental, pale pink flower heads. Its rhizome is bright orange inside and colours everything yellow when cut.
In cultivation both are almost equally undemanding, as long as it stays warm and moist. Both tolerate no frost, both dislike full midday sun and both reward high humidity with lush growth. Whoever grows both side by side has two home-grown spices in autumn and a fine object of comparison for leaf and growth.
Harvesting and securing for next year
In autumn, when the days grow shorter and cooler, the plant draws its strength from the leaves back into the rhizome, and the foliage yellows. That is the signal to harvest. Reduce watering now, and when the foliage has largely withdrawn, you tip the pot out carefully and take out the multiplied rhizomes. From one starting piece several new fingers have grown over the season.
The harvested rest goes fresh to the kitchen or is preserved. Fresh ginger keeps in the fridge for a few weeks and freezes well. Turmeric you can grate fresh or dry and grind. Both are so aromatic that the home-grown harvest often beats the bought stock in flavour, and on the side the tropical plant on the windowsill is a pretty green eye-catcher.
A piece of organic rhizome, a warm bright spot and patience at sprouting. From the kitchen rhizome comes a tropical plant that in autumn delivers the starting material for next year straight away.
The core idea for ginger and turmeric
Frequently asked questions
Can you grow ginger from the supermarket yourself?
Yes, very well. A firm rhizome with visible growth eyes suffices. Choose organic stock, because conventional is sometimes treated with sprouting inhibitors. Lay it flat in soil, put it warm and bright, keep it moist, and after a few weeks it sprouts.
When do you sprout ginger and turmeric?
Best in late winter, weeks 8 to 14, on the warm windowsill. That way the plant has a long, warm season to form a strong rhizome. Outdoors the pots may go only after the Ice Saints in mid-May.
How do ginger and turmeric differ in cultivation?
Barely, both are ginger-family plants and want it warm, moist and bright without midday scorch. Ginger forms reed-like leaves, turmeric broader ones and, with good care, even flowers. Ginger is yellowish and sharp inside, turmeric bright orange and staining.
When and how do you harvest home-grown ginger?
In autumn, when the foliage yellows and withdraws. Reduce watering then and tip the pot out carefully once the leaves have largely died back. From one starting piece several new rhizome fingers have grown.
How do you overwinter ginger for next year?
Set aside a firm rhizome piece with eyes and overwinter it frost-free, cool and dry, for instance in sand or paper in the cellar. Next late winter you sprout it again. That way your own cultivation continues without a new purchase.
