On 07/14/10 10:26 AM, sometime in the recent past Ross@home posted this:
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:55:58 -0400,
wrote:

Just for grins, I planted a 4" chunk of ginger that I bought in the market
and now, after about 3 weeks of waiting, it's sent up a shoot. I was just
wondering if anyone else here has tried planting some before. So far, it's
only up about 1.25" and is in a 6" x 6" pot of my composted soil which
drains well and is pretty rich, but I'm wondering about light& moisture
needs and anything else someone might pass on.
TIA

Hello Wilson,

Your coordinates put you somewhere fairly close to the coast of Maine.
Like our location, neither one will be the ideal location for growing
ginger ;-). But, an interesting experiment in any event.

A few years ago in the early fall, Gerry planted a chunk in a pot in
the sunroom. It didn't`t take long to sprout and by spring the shoots
were about 18 inches tall.
She moved it out into an herb garden partially shaded by a black
walnut tree where it did amazingly well. Come fall again, she moved it
back into the sunroom where it went into a steady decline and
eventually gave up altogether. We assume it was the vast difference in
conditions, particularly humidity, that did it in.

Here`s an excerpt from an article by Bonnie Fisher, a culinary herb
authority. Her article is included in a book entitled Ginger East To
West by Bruce Cost.

1. Carefully select a firm piece of fresh ginger with plenty of knobs.
2. Use either a top-grade commercial soil mixture, or combine equal
parts sand, vermiculite, compost, and rich garden loam. Plant the
rhizome horizontally in a large clay pot with ample room both around
and below for the new tubers to grow. Cover the ginger with only
one-half inch of soil.
3. Put the pot over a steady source of heat, such as a radiator or
water heater; water the rhizome thoroughly and continually for several
weeks to get it to sprout. Once it sprouts, move it into the light and
reduce the amount of watering. The soil may be nearly dry between
waterings. It may be fertilized once a month with a mild fertilizer.
In the summer, the plant may be put in a sunny, wind-protected spot on
your porch.

Ross.
Southern Ontario, Canada.
AgCanada Zone 5b
43º 17' 26.75" North
80º 13' 29.46" West
Thanks Ross and to the others that replied as well. Don't know how far I'll
take this, but it will be fun to see what happens.

--
Wilson 44.69, -67.3