Plant ginger, turmeric and galangal

When to do it

Within each plant’s zone window, as warmth supports new growth.

What you need

• Correctly identified healthy rhizomes or divisions
• Prepared soil or draining pot
• Label

How to do it

1. Use culinary species from a known source: edible ginger, common turmeric and edible galangal are not interchangeable with ornamental gingers.
2. Choose firm pieces with viable buds. If dividing, use a clean blade and allow cut surfaces to dry before planting; reject rotten pieces.
3. Set ginger and turmeric shallowly with buds upward, covered by a few centimetres of soil; turmeric is commonly planted around 5 cm deep. Set rooted galangal divisions at their previous depth.
4. Give warm, sheltered conditions and moisture-retentive but draining soil. Allow more room for a mature galangal clump than a small ginger planting.
5. Water as growth develops, avoiding cold wet rhizomes. Harvest according to the species and intended maturity; turmeric dieback is a useful maturity cue, while evergreen galangal behaves differently.

What success looks like

• Buds produce healthy shoots without softening rhizomes.

Watch out for

• Assuming all ornamental rhizomes are edible.
• Keeping dormant pieces permanently wet.

Plant guides using this technique

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