Ginger has many health benefits, such as treating nausea, lowering blood sugars, and preventing heart diseases. It is also a common cooking ingredient making it a valuable plant in our garden.
You can grow a wide variety of ginger plants in your vegetable garden or indoors. However, you should pick one with multiple benefits and can add beauty to your home or garden.
Here are the five best types of ginger plants you can grow to enjoy the countless benefits it offers.
1. Beehive ginger
Beehive ginger is commonly grown for its unique skep-beehive yellow-like inflorescence that becomes red when it is mature, giving your home a beautiful appearance. You can grow it as an ornamental plant or for consumption as its rhizomes are a common ingredient in making dishes and appetizers.
Beehive ginger can grow up to 6 feet tall and take up to 12 months to mature. It does best in humid areas and only requires about 2 to 5 hours of full sun. Therefore, you should avoid placing it in full sunlight throughout the day as it may cause it to burn.
2. Bitter ginger
Bitter ginger has a reed-like stem and can be planted indoors. You can use its rhizome for food flavoring, while the leaves and shoots are consumed as vegetables. Other than being edible, bitter ginger is herbal medicine and an essential ingredient for making shampoo and perfume soaps.
Bitter ginger flourishes in a location that gets full sun for at least 6 hours per day. Also, feed your plant with an organic fertilizer when planting and supplement it with potassium fertilizer to increase rhizome yields.
3. Common ginger
Common ginger is one of the most edible spices making it the world’s most famous ginger. It also has a pleasant aroma and is used to prevent diseases such as arthritis and hypertension.
It can be grown in different types of soils but for better yield, ensure it has rich organic matter. Common ginger is propagated by cutting its rhizomes into small pieces, each with several healthy buds, and planting them slightly below the surface. Also, find a location that isn’t exposed to direct sun because it thrives best in filtered sunlight.
4. Crepe ginger
You should cultivate crepe ginger if you want a medicinal or an ornamental plant. Its rhizomes are medicinal and can treat asthma, intestinal worms, rash, fever, and kidney problems. Other than being medicinal, its flowers and buds are edible.
It grows well in warm areas but should expose to full sun throughout the day as it may cause leaf burns. Crepe ginger can grow up to 10 feet tall under the right condition.
5. Myoga ginger
Myoga ginger is not grown for its rhizome but for its fleshy rose-and-white flower buds, which are edible and medicinal. Its flowers and young shoots have a zesty flavor with a strong, pungent aroma making it one of the best cooking ingredients.
You can grow Myoga ginger in places with very low temperatures of about 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It can grow up to 4 feet tall under the right conditions.
Wrap Up
Despite its multiple benefits, ginger plants require minimal care and don’t demand a big space. It flourishes well in your garden or indoors if you provide the right growing conditions. This article is a guide that will help you choose the best type of ginger to plant in your garden or contains. It also explains all the benefits you will gain from any ginger plant you choose to plant.
