Growing Ginger

Description
The spice ginger is the underground rhizome of the ginger plant, known botanically as Zingiber officinale. The plant's botanical name is thought to be derived from its Sanskrit name singabera which means "horn shaped," a physical characteristic that ginger reflects. The flesh of the ginger rhizome can be yellow, white or red in color, depending upon the variety. It is covered with a brownish skin that may either be thick or thin, depending upon whether the plant was harvested when it was mature or young. The ginger rhizome has a firm, yet striated texture and a taste that is aromatic, pungent and hot. It can be used fresh, dried and powdered, or as a juice or oil.


Ginger is one of those miraculous plants that grows well in partial to full shade, which makes it ideal for growing in your home, where most people don’t have full sun pouring on their windows all day long. Little bits of the ginger root can be removed while it continues to grow. A little bit of ginger goes a long way, so these pieces can be used for cooking, brewing tea or for herbal remedies.


History
Native to southeastern Asia, a region whose cuisines still feature this wonderfully spicy herb, ginger has been renowned for millennia in many areas throughout the world. Ginger is mentioned in ancient Chinese, Indian and Middle Eastern writings, and has long been prized for its aromatic, culinary and medicinal properties. After the ancient Romans imported ginger from China almost two thousand years ago, its popularity in Europe remained centered in the Mediterranean region until the Middle Ages when its use spread throughout other countries. Although it was a very expensive spice, owing to the fact that it had to be imported from Asia, it was still in great demand. In an attempt to make it more available, Spanish explorers introduced ginger to the West Indies, Mexico and South America, and in the 16th century, these areas began exporting the precious herb back to Europe. Today, the top commercial producers of ginger include Jamaica, India, Fiji, Indonesia and Australia.
Ginger plant may seem like a mysterious herb to grow. The knobby ginger root is found in grocery stores but very rarely do you find it in your local nursery. So can you grow ginger in your garden? The answer is yes, you can. Not only is growing ginger plants possible, it is easy and rewarding as well.


Let’s now take a look at how to grow ginger root in your garden.
Steps in growing ginger
1. Purchase fresh ginger root from a grocery store or market. Take note of eye bud swellings while purchasing a nice ginger root (known as a rhizome). If you can get them, an organic rhizome is probably better because non organic roots may be treated with a growth inhibitor, and you may want to eat your root at some point! If you can’t find anything else, grab the non organic anyway and give it a try. When purchasing fresh ginger root, make sure it is firm, smooth and free of mold.


2. Soak your ginger overnight in warm water. This will stimulate growth and rinse off any chemicals that might be present.

3. Find yourself an area of rich, moist, but well-drained soil that is protected from heavy winds and from temperatures below 75*F. Ginger likes warmth, partial shade and moist rich soil. If you can provide these things, you can comfortably grow your own ginger root.
4. Plant your chunk of ginger with the buds facing up. If you have a large root with several eye growth buds, you can break the root into several pieces, each with an eye bud and plant them all! Plant the ginger sections in a shallow trench. You should not be planting the ginger root sections any deeper than 1 inch. You may find as your ginger plant grows that the root pushes back up through the top of the soil. This is okay and is common for the plant to have roots above soil.
5. Plant one ginger plant per square foot. Once the ginger root is planted, water it thoroughly. In a week or two you will see the leaves of the ginger plant emerge. Once the leaves emerge, water sparingly, but when you water the ginger root plant, water it deeply.
6. Weed. Growing ginger requires a lot of work especially when it is time for weeding (at this stage, the ginger is around a feet tall), so you have to be careful not to harm the ginger roots. The weeding occurs in two steps. The first involves uprooting weeds manually, and the second, using small hoes (This is because the big hoes might cut the ginger in the ground). During the weeding process, soil should be heaped around the plant base, to stimulate rhizome growth. Weeding is carried out twice.
7. Boost and enhance. It is tiresome but endeavor to keep the pests at bay because it is delicate in the first three months and it is crucial to get rid of weeds and any pests because these three months determine whether the ginger will thrive or not. A day after the first weeding, the plants need to be sprayed with Dithane (4-5 table spoons mixed with Booster (one cover per 20litres). This protects them from different pests. Thereafter, spraying is done once a month if it is dry season, or twice a month during a wet season. The spraying stops when the crop is five months old (hybrid) and eight months for the local variety. Occasionally, fertilizers are used to boost the soil and enhance plant growth.
8. In 10-12 months the plant will be mature and 2–4 feet (0.6–1.2 m) high and ready for harvest.

Harvesting and storage
Be patient with your ginger. You will have nearly a full year before its time to harvest a new crop of roots.
The easiest way to harvest ginger roots is to wait until the plant begins to die down after about 8 or even 10 months, and dig up the entire plant.
If you can’t wait that long, you can cut away some of the rhizomes with careful digging without actually uprooting the entire plant. It’s a bit awkward to do in a container, but works better outdoors.
This kind of early ginger is called “green ginger” and is much more tender than later ginger. It’s milder in flavor and won’t even need to be peeled.
Once you washed off the dirt, you can store your roots (without peeling them) in the fridge inside a plastic bag with a damp towel. It will store for up to 3 weeks without losing any flavor.
You can also freeze whole rhizomes, and just grate off what you need without having to thaw the entire piece. It will lose some of its texture this way, but your ginger will last a very long time.
Drying ginger is another option, though it works best if you slice the roots thinly rather than try to dry the entire rhizome. Use a commercial dehydrator or an oven set on low. You can dry ginger in the sun but it will almost certainly attract insects.

Challenges in growing ginger
Nothing comes on a silver platter because there are some challenges that can be encountered. Below are some of such challenges:
1. Labor can be expensive yet inefficient, which can slow the work down.
2. Lack of planting stock at the beginning of every new season, especially when you sell off everything during the previous one.
3. Most beginning farmers also find it hard to get enough planting stock, referred to in farming parlance as starting capital.
4. It takes about four bags of ginger planting stock, costing about sh1m to plant one acre. What most cash strapped beginning farmers do, is to start with small plots and keep on building their capital base.
5. The chemicals for pest control can be costly.
6. Price changes can affect you. Once in a while, there is a glut on the market during harvest period, forcing the ginger farmers to reduce their prices. However this never lasts longer than two months.
Benefits of growing ginger
1. It reduces pain and inflammation, making it valuable in managing arthritis, headaches, and menstrual cramps. Drinking ginger tea can help relieve menstrual cramps. In one study, 150 women were instructed to take 1 gram of ginger powder per day, for the first 3 days of the menstrual period. Ginger managed to reduce pain as effectively as the drugs mefenamic acid and ibuprofen.
2. It is a source of money and as such can be grown to alleviate poverty. Ginger is on high demand. It can be sold in local grocery stores, general markets and in supermarkets. It can be fresh, dried and powdered. In Uganda, on average a 100kg sack of hybrid goes for between sh250,000 and 350,000 and local variety goes for between sh200,000 and sh250,000. One kilo of hybrid ginger costs sh2,500 and the local variety costs between sh2,300 to sh3,500. (if you have the latest prices feel free to updated us).
3. It has a warming effect and stimulates blood circulation. Ginger contains chromium, magnesium and zinc which can help to improve blood flow, as well as help prevent chills, fever, and excessive sweat.
4. It inhibits such bacteria as Salmonella, which cause diarrhea, and protozoa, such as Trichomonas. Gingerol, the bioactive substance in fresh ginger, can help lower the risk of infections. In fact, ginger extract can inhibit the growth of many different types of bacteria. It is very effective against the oral bacteria linked to inflammatory diseases in the gums, such as gingivitis and periodontitis. Fresh ginger may also be effective against the RSV virus, a common cause of respiratory infections.
5. Gastrointestinal relief: Historically, ginger has a long tradition of being very effective in alleviating symptoms of gastrointestinal distress. In herbal medicine, ginger is regarded as an excellent carminative (a substance which promotes the elimination of intestinal gas) and intestinal spasmolytic (a substance which relaxes and soothes the intestinal tract). Modern scientific research has revealed that ginger possesses numerous therapeutic properties including antioxidant effects, an ability to inhibit the formation of inflammatory compounds, and direct anti-inflammatory effects.
6. Safe and effective relief of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (morning sickness): Ginger's anti-vomiting action has been shown to be very useful in reducing the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, even the most severe form, hyperemesis gravidum; a condition which usually requires hospitalization. In a double-blind trial, ginger root brought about a significant reduction in both the severity of nausea and number of attacks of vomiting in 19 of 27 women in early pregnancy (less than 20 weeks). Unlike anti-vomiting drugs, which can cause severe birth defects, ginger is extremely safe, and only a small dose is required. A review of six double-blind, randomized controlled trials with a total of 675 participants, published in the April 2005 issue of the journal, Obstetrics and Gynecology has confirmed that ginger is effective in relieving the severity of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. The review also confirmed the absence of significant side effects or adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes.
7. Cold and Flu Prevention and Treatment Ginger has long been used as a natural treatment for colds and the flu. Many people also find ginger to be helpful in the case of stomach flus or food poisoning, which is not surprising given the positive effects ginger has upon the digestive tract. Cut up a half-inch (or larger) slice of ginger, add boiling water, a fresh slice of lemon and teaspoon of honey and drink.
8. Ginger may improve brain function and protect against Alzheimer’s disease. Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation can accelerate the aging process. They are believed to be among the key drivers of Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline. Some studies in animals suggest that the antioxidants and bioactive compounds in ginger can inhibit inflammatory responses that occur in the brain. There is also some evidence that ginger can enhance brain function directly. In a study of 60 middle-aged women, ginger extract was shown to improve reaction time and working memory. There are also numerous studies in animals showing that ginger can protect against age-related decline in brain function.
9. Improves absorption. Ginger improves the absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients in the body. It does this by stimulating gastric and pancreatic enzyme secretion.
10. Strengthens Immunity. Ginger can not only be warming on a cold day, but can help promote healthy sweating, which is often helpful during colds and flus. A good sweat may do a lot more than simply assist detoxification. German researchers have recently found that sweat contains a potent germ-fighting agent that may help fight off infections. Investigators have isolated the gene responsible for the compound and the protein it produces, which they have named dermicidin. Dermicidin is manufactured in the body's sweat glands, secreted into the sweat, and transported to the skin's surface where it provides protection against invading microorganisms, including bacteria such ase. Coli and Staphylococcus aureus (a common cause of skin infections), and fungi, including Candida albicans. Ginger is so concentrated with active substances; you don't have to use very much to receive its beneficial effects. For nausea, ginger tea made by steeping one or two 1/2-inch slices (one 1/2-inch slice equals 2/3 of an ounce) of fresh ginger in a cup of hot water will likely be all you need to settle your stomach. For arthritis, some people have found relief consuming as little as a 1/4-inch slice of fresh ginger cooked in food, although in the studies noted above, patients who consumed more ginger reported quicker and better relief.
11. Anti-inflammatory effects: Ginger contains very potent anti-inflammatory compounds called gingerols. These substances are believed to explain why so many people with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis experience reductions in their pain levels and improvements in their mobility when they consume ginger regularly. In two clinical studies involving patients who responded to conventional drugs and those who didn't, physicians found that 75% of arthritis patients and 100% of patients with muscular discomfort experienced relief of pain and/or swelling. Arthritis-related problems with your aging knees? Regularly spicing up your meals with fresh ginger may help, suggests a study published in a recent issue of Osteoarthritis Cartilage. In this twelve month study, 29 patients with painful arthritis in the knee (6 men and 23 women ranging in age from 42-85 years) participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study. Patients switched from placebo to ginger or visa versa after 3 months. After six months, the double-blind code was broken and twenty of the patients who wished to continue were followed for an additional six months.
12. Ginger induces cell death in ovarian cancer cells: Lab experiments presented at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer, by Dr Rebecca Lui and her colleagues from the University of Michigan, showed that gingerols, the active phytonutrients in ginger, kill ovarian cancer cells by inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) and autophagocytosis (self-digestion). Ginger extracts have been shown to have both antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects on cells. To investigate the latter, Dr Liu examined the effect of a whole ginger extract containing 5% gingerol on a number of different ovarian cancer cell lines. Exposure to the ginger extract caused cell death in all the ovarian cancer lines studied. A pro-inflammatory state is thought to be an important contributing factor in the development of ovarian cancer. In the presence of ginger, a number of key indicators of inflammation (vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin-8 and prostaglandin E2) were also decreased in the ovarian cancer cells. Conventional chemotherapeutic agents also suppress these inflammatory markers, but may cause cancer cells to become resistant to the action of the drugs. Liu and her colleagues believe that ginger may be of special benefit for ovarian cancer patients because cancer cells exposed to ginger do not become resistant to its cancer-destroying effects. In the case of ovarian cancer, an ounce of prevention—in the delicious form of liberal use of ginger—is an especially good idea. Ovarian cancer is often deadly since symptoms typically do not appear until late in the disease process, so by the time ovarian cancer is diagnosed, it has spread beyond the ovaries. More than 50% of women who develop ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease.
13. In foods and beverages, ginger is used as a flavoring agent.
14. Motion Sickness. Ginger’s most well-known use is to settle the stomach. Studies have found that ginger works just as well as Dramamine at stopping motion sickness. Another benefit? Ginger doesn’t make you groggy like Dramamine does. The trick to using ginger for motion sickness is to take it before you get sick. So if you know you’re likely to feel queasy on a boat, car, or plane, take a quarter teaspoon of powdered ginger (or a half-inch slice, cut up) at least 20 minutes before you leave.

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