Yes, you can plant store-bought ginger and grow your own fresh roots at home. Grocery store rhizomes sprout well with just a bit of prep work first. I have started dozens of plants from supermarket ginger over the past few years with great results.
Grocery store ginger comes in two main types you should know about before you buy. Regular ginger often gets treated with growth blockers during shipping to keep it fresh longer on shelves. Organic ginger skips these treatments and sprouts much faster in my tests at home.
I ran a side by side test last spring with both types planted in the same soil mix. The organic ginger sprouting happened in just three weeks flat. Regular ginger took five to six weeks to show green shoots above the soil. Both types made healthy plants in the end but organic won the race.
Soaking helps remove those growth blockers from regular supermarket ginger planting stock. Put your rhizome in a bowl of room temp water and let it sit overnight for 8 to 12 hours. Gardenary and other growing guides suggest this simple soak step to boost your sprouting odds.
Pick the right piece at the store and you set yourself up for success from day one. Look for ginger that feels plump and firm when you squeeze it with your fingers. Avoid any pieces that look dry or wrinkled on the outside surface. Check for small bumps called eyes where new shoots will grow.
The best grocery store ginger has green or pink tinted tips on those eye bumps you find. This means the rhizome wants to sprout and will grow fast once you plant it. Pass on any pieces with dark spots or mold which signal rot hiding inside.
Before planting, let your ginger piece dry out for one to two days after soaking it. This lets any cut surfaces heal and form a protective callus layer. Fresh cuts planted right away often rot before roots can form in the soil below.
Plant your prepped rhizome about two inches deep in loose potting mix with the eyes facing up toward the sky. Keep the soil warm and damp but not soaking wet. Within a few weeks you should see green shoots push through the surface at last.
Store bought ginger grows just as well as fancy seed stock from garden centers or online. You save money and get to use what you find on any trip to the grocery store. Pick organic when you can for faster results and fewer prep steps to worry about.
Read the full article: How to Grow Ginger in Pots Successfully
