How to Grow Ginger Indoors: A Tropical Houseplant with Culinary Rewards

Growing ginger (Zingiber officinale) indoors is a rewarding project that yields an attractive tropical plant and, with patience, fresh ginger for cooking and tea. Because ginger is frost-tender and thrives in warmth without direct sun, it's an ideal houseplant.

Getting Started

1. Select a large, healthy, plump piece of ginger root from the grocery store.
2. Place it on a sunny windowsill until "eyes" (growth buds) begin to sprout.
3. Plant the rhizome just below the surface in a shallow pot filled with well-drained compost. A mix of standard multi-purpose compost with plenty of horticultural grit or perlite works well.
4. Provide warmth and bright indirect light. Stems grow to about 1 m (3 ft) with slim, glossy, dark green leaves resembling canna foliage.

Care and Maintenance

• Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Avoid wetting the rhizome directly to prevent rot.
• In a conservatory, plants may eventually produce yellow and purple flowers, though this is rare even in good light.
• Harvest can begin 4 months after planting. In autumn, foliage naturally dies back—this is the traditional harvest time. The rhizome should have swollen several times its original size.
• For earlier harvest, lift the plant, cut off a piece of rhizome, and replant the rest. The plant continues growing.

Storing Harvested Ginger

If digging up the entire rhizome in autumn, place it in a sunny spot and turn several times to dry the surface. This improves storage. Ginger freezes well; break off pieces as needed.