This is one of my fav gingers - compact, interesting with and without flowers, not too fussy to grow and make a good spice too ! I'll kick start this thread with a marginata and another I believed to be roscoena but not entirely sure - pls let me know if you think otherwise. The third plant is a Cornukaemferia aurantifolia - the peacock ginger which has lovely leaves and unusual bright yellow bloom. HortLog
beautiful pics, san! i'm thinking of growing ginger indoors. any suggestions? i've heard that i can plant ginger "root" from the grocery store if it has little buds on it...
Hi, leaf! I think the ginger from the grocery store to which you refer is zingiber officinalis, and I, too, would like to try growing it in a pot. Any suggestions, anyone? Shelly, didn't you grow one that way?
Generally my plants are grown from rhizomes as long as they are not damaged or rotten. The domestic Zingiber officinale, however, can be quite large - more than 1 metre tall - and it may not flower (some forms are sterile). There are, instead, many small gingers you can try growing, like Globba and Kaemferia, that are interesting and more free flowering - depending on your zone.
San - You mentioned "not too fussy to grow and make a good spice too!" Those are edible also? I am confused, please forgive and enlighten me?
so where do you get these small gingers from, san? i'm in zone 8 but i want to grow ginger inside so i guess the zone isn't important. can you cook with other gingers? thanks!
Hi, I stay in the Far East so I have ready access to these native plants. In America, you can check out Dave Skinner's site for recommendation - do note I have not purchased any gingers from them before so I cannot vouch for their services. In fact Dave himself has a Ginger R Us shopping site and can offer better advice of local growing conditions. Coming to spice question - Kaempferia galanga is used to spice up the peanut dipping sauce for Satay. Chinese also use it for cooking poultry - but the taste is rather strong. I have heard the Thais commonly use other Kaempferias (like those in pics) as spices too - but for me they are too rare and pretty to be served ....
btw - most plants from Ginger family - with the notable exception of Costus, which some say is not a Ginger anyway - are used locally as medicine or spice - one way or the other.
Hello, San and leaf kotasek! I agree, they look way too nice to eat. As for spice, Joy of Cooking (my "bible") lists galangal as a spice similar to ginger, but makes the same point as San - flavor is very strong, and different from true ginger. What about the beautiful blooming gingers I saw while living on Oahu, Hawaii: torch ginger, shell ginger, butterfly ginger? They were all pretty big, and I've never seen indoors anywhere. Any info on those?
Etlingera elatior (torch) and Alpinia (shell) are large plants needing strong light - not suited for indoor care. But flower buds of Etlingera elatior make a good salad here. I use Alpinia rhizomes quite frequently - great for braising poultry !
Re: Kaempferias and relatives This is an unknown plant - I think it may be Kaempferia purpurea - can anyone confirm this ?