Help Growing Ginger and Tumeric

[lindaj]

I’m hoping I have the right place to pose my questions about growing ginger and tumeric. They look like grass when growing. I’d like to grow these myself but don’t know if the time and energy put into it is worth it. I live in zone 5 and I am wondering can I buy a piece of each from a grocery store? Or should I get a piece from an asian store?I watched YouTube and they don’t say.

I understand that they take a long time to grow so I will have to start growing it indoors and they are not hardy in my zone. So when it comes to harvesting it, will I get a lot and if so how do I store it for later consumption? Wash it off and put in the freezer? How long do the rhizomes last? If I will get a lot, I will want to grow more the next year, so how would I store that piece of rhizome?

Thanking you in advance for your replies.

[steev]

I eventually want to do the same; I'll get mine from a grocery, wherever I find it; I'd put them in large planters, so they can be indoor/outdoor/greenhouse as appropriate; I think they're perennials, so I'd expect to just take what I need at the time, leaving them as potted plants, so no storage issues. Let us know how it goes. I also want to try black pepper.

[paquebot]

You will be able to find ginger rhizomes and grow it from those. You will find growing details on the Internet. Turmeric would be a bit more difficult to find. I've got about a dozen rhizomes, most already sprouted, and looking for a home. Postage to send them would be around $5. Make an offer somewhere between that and $10 and they will find a new home.

Turmeric needs heat. It also does not look like grass. The leaves are wide and much like a canna. I grow it in 5-gallon pots with 3 per pot. Soil must be well-drained so my medium is about ¾ garden soil and ¼ sand. Slow to start in our normal spring but takes off in July.

Martin