Growing Ginger in a Container

• 1). Buy fresh ginger roots at a grocery store or an Asian market. Look for fat tubers with numerous buds.
  
  
• 2). Plant ginger in spring when you can supply warm enough temperatures, whether indoors or out. The dormant tubers will sprout only when the mercury hits 75 to 85 degrees F.
  
  
• 3). Use a container that's about 14 inches across and 12 inches deep and has excellent drainage. This size will hold three average-size tubers comfortably.
  
  
• 4). Fill the container with potting soil enriched with plenty of compost.
  
  
• 5). Soak the tubers in warm water overnight, then set them in the pot just below the soil surface, spacing them evenly, with the buds facing up.
  
  
• 6). Set the container in light shade, indoors or out, depending on the temperature.
  
  
• 7). Water lightly at first, then more heavily when growth starts. Keep plants dry in winter, when they're dormant.
  
  
• 8). Move plants outside only when the temperatures have reached 50 degrees F. In cooler weather, growth can be stunted.
  
  
• 9). Shield plants from high winds, and move them indoors at the first sign of cool temperatures.
  
  
• 10
  
  Expect plants to reach maturity, and a height of 2 to 4 feet, in 10 months to a year.
  
  
• 11
  
  Dig up new, young sprouts that appear in front of the main plants (they form their own tubers), use what you need, and freeze or replant the rest.
  
  
• 12
  
  Clip young, tender stems anytime.