White ginger plant indoors

A friend of mine sent me a 'Hawaii's White Ginger Plant' root. As I live in zone 4, it had to be an indoor plant. Soon after I planted it, it shot up and three months later it now has 2 stems and several (7) lance-shaped leaves. Either my online research abilities are lacking, or there is no info on growing white ginger indoors.

What little info I could find said it didn't do well indoors because the roots need to grow deep. Problem solved, I bought a bigger pot for this tall, thin plant. It likes continuously moist soil, so I mixed peat moss with the soil and it does indeed stay moist. During the summer I would like to put it outside to encourage flower growth. Even though it is now officially spring, in Rapid City, SD it won't be reliably warm until June/July, and then it will be extremely dry and windy (I think we are in our 7th year of drought).

Any suggestions on growing white ginger lily indoors? How do I encourage flowers, I would like to enjoy the fragrant flowers. Or when it is warmer outside, tips on setting it outside in the hot, dry wind? Or what can I plant around the white ginger now that I have transplanted to such a large pot?


Post edited by: sebas, at: 2008/03/21 23:03

Check out these sites: http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week086.shtml http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HECO11 http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ginger/ msg0712404426863.html http://www.floridata.com/ref/H/hedyc.cfm

Thank you for those sites. They helped a lot!

Sebas, welcome to the forum I am happy you joined. I hope to see more of you here

Sebas, what a beautiful pot. I live in Hawaii and have grown white gingers. They like cool temperatures around 70-8o degrees F. In Hawaii they grow best in partial shade but also needs good sunlight. As for growing something else in the pot I wouldn't do it because the ginger root will spread and produce many more babies. The room will be needed.

Thank you, that's good to know. Now I will keep it inside during the summer b/c the temp. can be anywhere from 60-100 degrees. I found a perfect spot in the house that will catch an hour of sunlight in the morning.

Try to give it more sun. Temps between 60 -85 should be OK. Morning and evening sun is best but if temps are low the white ginger can handle more sunlight. It is the hot mid day sun that we need to protect the ginger from. Water less during colder temps and more during hot periods.

This plant grows wild in Costa Rica especially on the edge of rivers or in a moist spot but it will take the full sun. If kept on the dry side, it won't produce a bloom. It smells heavenly!

Post edited by: costaricafinca, at: 2008/04/07 19:06

Some good tips -- many thanks