Learn When & How to Harvest Ginger: Complete Guide For Beginners

Are you a fan of spices? If you are, then you must have had this spicy and rich flavour plant or roots in your life. It is ginger that can give your mouth a blend of spicy and pungent tastes. Asian Cuisine is bland without this particular ingredient. This is because they have incorporated this specific root in their recipes very well.

Growing ginger is a relatively easy task, but harvesting it requires a lot of patience. People often think that ginger can only be grown in tropical locations, but this is not true. You can grow and harvest ginger in your backyard if you have the right tools and techniques. All you need is some patience and the right equipment. Also, you need to have the proper knowledge of how and when to harvest ginger in order to have the right yield of produce.

In this article, we have covered tips and tricks on how and when to harvest ginger!

How to Grow Ginger?

Gingers are rhizomes that we plant and consume in our daily lives. However, some people refer to it with its roots. If we talk about its growing period, then it is pretty long and requires ten months to grow completely. However, it can be harvested before it matures as it has some earthiness in its taste. Only the rough skin does not get developed at that stage. Moreover, it takes quite an understanding to know when to harvest ginger.

Growing ginger is not a long procedure as it needs plenty of time to grow once planted in the soil. The plantation starts with ginger seeds sowed in the ground. Its disease-free seeds are readily available in the market or online. Also, you can plant the market-bought ginger directly into the soil, but whether it will germinate or not will depend on its quality. Sometimes the rhizomes we consume seem fine and even have perfect taste, but whether it is certified disease-free or not is hard to identify.

In order to grow ginger at home, you need to sow your ginger seed rhizome into wet and warm soil, such as in a greenhouse. But if you reside in a tropical climate or in a place where it is not so cold, then you can plant ginger shoots even outdoors. For areas where there is no tropical climate, just plant ginger shoots in the greenhouse, high tunnel, or hoop house in the spring season. This is because these structures help to create favourable conditions for ginger’s growth.

Furthermore, if you are not concerned about the product and want to grow ginger for home use, then you can plant it in a pot. However, you need to keep in mind that the pot should be at least 15 inches wide, or you can plant it in the garden once the soil has warmed up a bit. However, ginger needs a lot of sunlight but not in a direct form. Thus, it needs to be planted in a shady place where the sun reaches adequately and is protected from the wind and other things.

To plant the ginger rhizomes, you need to cut them into 1 to 1½-inch pieces with at least one sprout. Leave the shoot for a day to heal before planting it into the soil. Also, sow the ginger pieces 6 to 8 inches apart at the button of a 1-foot of the soil. Now you need to cover the planted ginger. However, you need to leave the sprouted bits above pointing upwards.

According to the studies, you should plant your ginger in soil that is loose, deep and well-drained. Also, you should look for its pH value, as it should be around 5.5 to 6.5 to maintain the soil’s acidity. There are certain things to keep in mind before and after you plant your rhizomes, such as mixing compost to improve the quality of the soil where you are going to plant your ginger shoots. Next, once you have planted your shoot, keep in mind to add soil from the ground to the hill every four to six weeks. This is because it will let the growth of the plant in an upward direction than just across. Also, it prefers consistent watering, but not too much water is required at once. Ginger requires the most water in its growing stage. Once your plant starts to grow well, you need to leave it and find a suitable time to find out when to harvest the ginger that you have planted.

When to Harvest It?

The planting season for ginger is in the early spring or summer so that the plant receives enough warmth and sunlight to grow. Since it is planted in spring, it requires 8-10 months to mature. Thus you can harvest your ginger in the fall season, middle or end, before the freezing temperature arrives. A healthy plant starts to develop roots after 2 months. However, there is one surprising fact that they can be harvested at any time and even have that spice factor in them. But the taste that comes after the ginger root is fully mature cannot be matched if harvested before 8 months.

When to harvest ginger depends on the taste that you desire. You need to wait for your ginger to finish flowering. Most varieties of ginger get mature and ready to be taken out of the soil after they have completed their flowing cycle.

Also, to know when to harvest ginger, you can look at its foliage. When the plant is completely matured, its leaves start to turn yellow and die down or wilt. You can also check it by digging around the edges of the plant with a garden fork. If you can smell the pungent aroma of this spice and the rhizomes feels firm, that indicates that your ginger root is ready for harvesting.

Store some rhizomes back to replant next year. Just maintain the temperature around it to 55 degrees F or more to make it viable for next year.

How to Harvest Ginger?

If you can see the signs of your ginger getting mature and ready for the harvest. You need to keep some tips and tricks in mind in order to have an excellent yield of your produce. We have mentioned steps to harvest ginger.

• Cut the foliage just an inch above the soil level to check the rhizome’s health, and you can also see that you are taking it out properly without causing any damage to the plant.
• Next, use a garden fork to dig up the ginger roots. Begin with the edge of the plant and work your way toward the centre. However, you need to be careful at this point as you don’t want to harm your productivity.
• Clean it thoroughly. This is because ginger has so many nodes where the dirt stays. Thus, you must brush it properly to clean the excess soil. But don’t do it too hard, as it could damage the skin of the rhizomes.
• Dry them properly before storing them to retain all the moisture from them. This step can take some time, from days to a week, depending on the temperature in the area.
• Now the final step is to store them in an airtight container in a cool and dry place. It can last long if stored properly.

Some Extra Tips for Harvesting Ginger

Well, we always have some extra tips in order to have better harvesting of your plants. Here are some extra tips to have a successful harvest.

• Have patience and be gentle while digging up the rhizomes to avoid any damage.
• If the climatic conditions around your house are very cold, then it’s better to grow ginger in a greenhouse or indoors.
• Harvesting ginger should not be done before 8 to 10 months.
• Dry them properly; otherwise, they will get fungus after storage.
• Ginger has medicinal properties, so use fresh ginger to have the best flavour and health benefits.

Unwanted Species

Now you have the specific details of when to harvest ginger, but there are certain things that you need to understand. First, ginger is more prone to fungus and bacterial infections everywhere it grows. We have mentioned some of them below.

• Skin damage by alligator skin. As the name suggests, it includes cracking and discolouring of ginger’s skin.
• Root-knot nematodes affect severely in their growing and storing stage.
• Burrowing nematodes happen to affect when ginger is buried in the ground.
• Bacterial wilt disturbs the growth of the ginger.
• Bacterial soft rot is caused by overwatering of the rhizome.
• Chinese rose beetles affect the plants at night, damaging their foliage.

However, pests and diseases also depend on the climate and natural habitat where the ginger is grown. Thus, local extensions can be a resource for recognizing and dealing with plant-disease issues that are more frequent in your area.

Harvesting Ginger the Right Way!

Now you have a better understanding of how and when to harvest ginger. However, always keep in mind that ginger can’t withstand freezing temperatures. Thus do not leave it for too long if the climatic conditions in your area are too cold. You can harvest ginger after 2-3 months. It will give some flavour, not completely like the mature ones but to some extent. But you cannot plant it whenever you want as it needs some specific weather conditions.

Keep in mind to water it properly but not too much of it. We have mentioned all the details necessary for you to harvest your ginger. Now all you need is a pot or an area to plant these medicinal rhizomes to add flavour to your health and curries.

Keep all the tips in mind while growing them, and make sure to store them properly.