A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Flowering Ginger

I've had a flowering ginger plant for a few years now, but I haven't been able to get it to flower. It appears to be relatively healthy. It keeps sending out more shoots to the point that I've had to divide it several times. Here's a picture for all of you flower experts.


Non-Flowering Ginger

I have another question. Is there a difference between the flowering ginger and the edible kind you buy in the supermarket? I figure if I can't get it to flower, perhaps I could eat it. I'm more of a veggie grower than a flower expert anyway.

I have more than 30 of this plant growing in 5-gal. plastic containers. In late summer or early fall, richly fragrant flowers in dense spikes open from cone of overlapping green bracts at ends of stalks.

Can't see the end of the stalks, please check the the largest stalks. Do you see any cone of green bracts at the end?

I have both "white" [H. coronarium] and "yellow" [H. gardneranum] and would like to have the "orange-red flowering plant {H. greenei].

The Ginger lily [above] is not a true Ginger. The Ginger roots which are sold in grocery stores and used for cooking is ZINGIBER officinale. However, I found another site that looks interesting and may answer your question about the rhizomes being edible. See hedychium coronarium

See also pictures/text at http://www.floridata.com/ref/H/hedyc.cfm

Papito,

Thanks for the references. My ginger never develops the cone of green bracts. That's my problem. They get really tall, approximately 3 ft, and then nothing happens.

I was reading your references. Perhaps I'm not giving them enough water. The pot I have them in does drain, and I haven't been watering enough to keep the roots wet. I've got to repot it again. I'll move them into a deeper container that doesn't drain.

I wish I knew what color these were. If I can ever get it to flower, I'll let you know.

I've had a Red Ginger that my daughter sent me from Maui 2 years ago. It also keeps putting out new sprouts, so I've split it several times (Seems to transplant very well, & responds by sending up more sprouts shortly after re-potting!) A Master Gardener told me recently that if I want it to flower, "STOP THINNING IT... it wants to be root bound so it can flower!" (Hmmm! OK, I'll try that!) The only reason I've split it, is so I can have such a gorgeous plant in more than 1 location in the house... even gave 1 to a friend for Christmas last year! (It seems to be happiest in the bathrooms, where it gets a blast of moisture in the air when we shower, & both bathrooms also have skylights, so it gets indirect light.) I keep the soil moist but not saturated.

Patty,

You know I divided up a clump and put it in a smaller pot to try the pot bound thing, but the rhizome just pushed their way out of the pot. I've got to re-pot that one now too. Perhaps my pot was too small. It's a 4" pot. I figured it would get pot bound quicker in a 4" pot, and I'd get flowers sooner. Guess I was wrong.

Uh...