I dunno, I took both my big Red and big Pink out of the greenhouse and just planted them into the yard in May with a plan to cover them this winter with a PVC and viscreen greenhouse and a little heater. They are just blooming their little heads off with no special treatment. The red one was over 7 ft tall, had a spread of about 8 ft and weighed, with the root mass and some dirt still attached, about 175-200 lbs. It took 3 of us and a garden cart rated at 1000lbs to haul it out to the new spot. The pink was slightly smaller. Neither one missed a beat. They re-rooted almost immediately. Everyone who comes to the house is in awe. They all say "That's not suppoed to be able ot grow HERE!" I just keep my mouth SHUT.

bihai,
mine are growing very slow... is it becuase they were so small when i got them??
all my gingers seem to be growing slow. do they need more water?? the soil is fast draining being that it is sandy.
any ideas??
thanks,cliff

Maybe its the composition of your soil. Isn't So FL soil supposed to be notoriously nutrient poor? Ours is just sand too but I live on 5 acres that are wooded so there's natural leaf mold and stuff like that that gets into the soil and I do fertilize REGULARLY (just Miracle grow but it does help)

Tropicalfreak,

I had some pink and some red alpinia in pots for awhile, barely hanging on. Finally put them in the ground, no ammendments or fertilizers (yet, keep meaning to get around to it!). The red bloomed within a week, and has kept blooming and the pink is sending out buds now.

Mine are in full sun and get at least an inch of water a week if it doesn't rain. 6-10 inches down is all rock!

so, it sound slike i need to water mine more. they look pitiful. i got a drip hose to lay out thru the beds. they probably aren't getting enough. with the rain they have perked up just a little. they are in part sun, some are in dappled light under a shell ginger. when i bought the red alpinia i was given some sort of nitrate..?? was told to use it on heliconias and gingers?? it is in granular powder like form.
cliff

Hi Tropical Freak,

Our soil is very sndy as we are only 300m from the beach.
I built our front garden with no soil improvement, learnt a bit then 3yrs later improved the soil out the back before planting palms, gingers, cycads. The back garden was taller than the front within 2yrs and I know have earthworms doing they're duty.

I use a mix of aged manure, compost, filterpress (by-product of the sugar crush) and anything else organic. The idea is to compost in the garden beds and let the worms turn it over for you.

If this is too much work for you Maybe you could just improve each hole at planting time by digging an extra large hole throwing compost in and mixing it round. Just ensure it's not going to burn the roots.

Best of luck

Ree

Hi all, I hve gobs of white Butterfly ginger and would like to trade for a few roots of red and pink ginger.
Learned today, that to get it to bloom, a high Phosphorus content in the fertilizer can do the trick.
Great forum!

Helga.

if the roots of the white, red or pink gingers are eatable. If so, when can they be harvested?

Thanks.

I',m also looking for help with red ginger. I live in the tropics and have a large plant in a huge pot in a window where it gets subdued light. My first question, should I move it to a window that gets more light? My second question, can I dig a small area of the rooted plant and transplant it outside in an area that gets a lot of moisture? They seem to grow great here, but I'm afraid my potted one has gotten a bit beat up by the wind and I want to start some new ones just in case. I do water frequently and don't let it dry out and it is fertilized about once a month, but don't know what as my husband does that. Probably an all purpose since we have so many plants.