Hi Kitty-

Let me get this straight ... You've had a Hedychium in a 14" pot for 3 years? No wonder the pot is full of rhizomes! Have you ever divided it? Hedychium are very easy to divide and (as you probably know) very fast growers.

We grow ours in part shade to almost full sun.

-Ray

Hi Ray,
ummmm.... no. I've never divided it. it was in a much smaller pot when I got it, so I moved it up to a 14". do you have some guidelines for doing that? a sharp knife?

...what type of potting soil? do I divide it in half, or what? And should I do it now, or wait a few weeks?
Thanks! I do pretty good at gardening, and I'm doing well with my plumerias, but gingers are a new area for me.
Kitty

Kitty-

Given your zone, you could probably divide it any time. We're in a similar zone, and we divide ours whenever they look like they need it.

Start by dumping everything out of the pot. Then get as much dirt off as you can so that you can (1) see the rhizome structure, and (2) untangle the fiberous roots as you make your divisions. It will be obvious where to make your cuts. A sharp knife should do the job. Try to divide into clumps of 2-3 "stalks". You will probably also see new shoots starting from the rhizomes. They will appear as little pinky-white nubs. Make sure there are some of those on each clump when you make your cuts. If you end up with a rhizome with no stalk, that's OK. Just put it into it's own pot and cover under about 1/2" of soil. It will start to show signs of growth in a couple of weeks.

If you're not sure where to make your cuts (if the rhizomes are just so intertwined) just cut anywhere. We had one container that was so jam packed that I had no choice but to cut it down the middle and then lop of pieces ever couple of inches. From that one pot we now have 8 5-gallon containers that are almost ready to divide. And it only took 6 months!

As for soil, we use a soil-less "pro-mix" type of medium. We fertilize with 20-20-20 and vitamin B1 on a weekly basis. We keep our new divisions in light shade for a couple of weeks until they start to perk back up. Also, keep the medium moist but not wet. You don't want to risk rotting the rhizomes.

Be prepared that some of the existing stalks may lose leaves or die back totally. That's OK. As long as there are some new growing eyes you'll be in good shape. And in the end you'll have divisions to trade with people!

Hope this helps
-Ray

Just a hi out ta ray and gwen ;o)
Miss Kitty you surely need to divide those rhizomes by now!!! Butterflies go dormant over winter here even in z. 9. Thats when I whack out the old stalks and dig rhizs. to swap or give to friends.
Also you should know that once a stalk has bloomed thats it no more blooms from that stalk. So with that in mind you may cut out stalks after they bloom. This should ecourage the root to send up another flowering stalk.
Oh and many of the butterflies tend to flop over.
Mike

Thanks for all the great info, Ray & Mike! I've got this as my big project for the weekend.

I am going to buy what I need at the plant nursery tomorrow, take a deep breath, and start dividing.....

I already cut back the floppy stalks; that was a big help, just to get an idea of what I'm dealing with (which is LOTS of rhizomes!) I'll let you-all know how it goes!

meows,
Kitty