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It takes a bit of experience to properly harvest the he althy ginger rhizome. We show when and how to harvest ginger correctly.
How tempting is autumn when the apples slowly turn red and the grape harvest begins in the vineyards. The time has also come for the ginger (Zingiber officinale). As a tropical plant, it likes it hot and sunny, but with a bit of luck you can harvest a bounty at home.
Harvest Ginger
The heart beats faster when the ginger is finally ready to be harvested. Now it will be seen whether the summer was also worthwhile for the ginger. In agricultural cultivation in Asia and Africa, ginger is harvested after about eight months of growth, depending on further processing. It's a lot of work because the harvest itself is mostly manual work. Large harvesting machines are only used in a few growing areas in Australia.
Harvest Ginger: When is harvest time?
If the ginger was planted in February, the eight months would be over by October. The leaves will soon begin to turn yellow and slowly die off. If you want to dry the ginger or use it for tea, the best time to harvest is when the leaves begin to turn yellow. For fresh ginger, however, you should harvest slightly earlier than this, when the leaves of the plant are still green.
Unfortunately, however, the yield is usually much lower than in tropical and subtropical countries, since the conditions there are of course better than in the home garden or on the balcony. So if you are still not satisfied after eight months, you can overwinter the ginger in a dry, cool and frost-free place and only harvest it next year. In theory, you can harvest ginger all year round, but the question is how worthwhile it is, because the rhizome takes time to grow. For a small piece of fresh ginger - as a pre-harvest, so to speak - there should be enough rhizome even in summer.
Harvesting Ginger: Instructions
The ginger harvest is not complicated. Once you have planted your ginger in a pot, carefully pull the plant out. It is best to carefully dig up exposed ginger plants with a spade. Prick a circle some distance around the plant and then dig out the inside of the circle. Now the most exciting moment of the harvest has come. If you shake off the earth you can see your first own ginger. However, before this is ready for the kitchen, you must remove the shoots and roots sprouting from the rhizome. After cleaning, it is ready for processing.
You can find out how to store and preserve your ginger properly here.