When is the best time to plant ginger?

In daily life, people often use ginger when cooking. Ginger is needed to enhance the flavor and remove the fishy smell. In particular, many meat dishes need to be added with ginger before cooking to remove the fishy smell and blood. There are many places in our country where ginger is grown. So when is the best time to plant ginger?

When is the best time to plant ginger?

When sowing ginger, the soil temperature 5-10 cm underground must be stable at 16 degrees or above. Using protected areas such as greenhouses or small arch sheds with ground covering can allow sowing to be carried out about one month earlier than direct open field planting, that is, around mid-to-late March. The sowing period for open-field mulching planting is generally in mid-to-early April, while the direct open-field direct seeding method needs to wait until the end of April to early May.

How to grow ginger

1. Site selection and land preparation

Choose a plot with deep, loose, fertile soil and good drainage. Avoid continuous cropping. After harvesting the previous crop, deep plowing and drying should be done with a plowing depth of about 25-30 cm to ensure that there are no bright or dark clods in the soil, and that the soil is loose on top and firm on the bottom, creating an environment that is conducive to root growth.

2. Seed selection and drying

Select healthy ginger pieces that are free of pests and diseases, golden in color, plump and full, not cracked, without mechanical damage, high in yield and quality, resistant to pests and diseases, strong in resistance to stress, and not frozen as seed ginger. Dry the seeds in the sun for 2-3 days before sowing to reduce moisture and kill pathogens.

3. Planting seeds

The sowing time is generally in spring, from February to April in the south, and a little later in the north, from April to May. When sowing, the plant spacing should be about 23-26 cm, the ginger buds should all be in the same direction, and the thickness of the covering soil should be 1 flat finger thick on the ginger buds and 2 flat fingers thick on the ginger mother.

4. Field management

(1) Topdressing and soil cultivation

On the basis of applying sufficient base fertilizer, topdressing should be applied in small amounts and multiple times, using nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers in combination. The first top dressing is carried out in June, when the seedlings are about 30 cm tall; the second top dressing is carried out around the beginning of autumn to promote the enlargement of ginger pieces.

(2) Irrigation and drainage

Keep the soil moist and avoid overwatering that can cause waterlogging. Pay attention to drainage during the rainy season to prevent root rot or ginger rot.

5. Pest and disease control

Detect and treat pests and diseases in a timely manner, such as ginger rot and ginger anthracnose, and use appropriate pesticides for prevention and control.

6. Harvest

Young ginger is usually harvested in the field in early August, and the best time to harvest old ginger is from mid-to-late October to early November, when the above-ground part of the plant begins to wither and yellow and the rhizomes are fully swollen and mature.

7. Storage

After harvesting, ginger should be properly dried and stored, maintaining appropriate temperature and humidity to prevent rotting and sprouting.

In general, choosing the right sowing time is crucial for the healthy growth and high yield of ginger. Within the suitable sowing period, the earlier the sowing, the longer the growth cycle of ginger, which is conducive to the enlargement and quality improvement of underground ginger pieces, thereby increasing yield.