As is often the case, I buy tropicals with nary a thought as to what I will do with them in the Winter. Often, I just wing it. (Brugmansia, Clivia and Plumeria last winter. Heh

I am gonna have to deal with 3 potted gingers and a potted turmeric. Soon. What to do?

Bring them in to a bright window?
Put them in my basmement under grow lights?
Unpot the rhizomes and store them?
Hide them in a closet?

I have found (as usual) a lot of conflicting info on the net for my Zone. Trust the wisdom here much more since many of you have so much experience.

P.S. My plants all look great, but no sign of blooms. Two of the Gingers and the Turmeric were started in my basement last December. The other is a store bought ginger potted up in June.

David, I can tell you that my gingers out in the garden pretty much die back to the ground each winter. Here in FL winter is the "dry" season, and we do get nights consistently down into the 50's through November to February, and after a cold front it can get down into the 40's, rarely 30's. If we're going to have a run of cold nights I do dump some extra mulch on top of the rhizomes.

If you can sort of simulate those conditions, I'm sure they would do fine through the winter. Cool temperatures, relatively dry although they don't dry out completely because they do get a little rain, and as long as the nights are cool they don't want to jump up and grow.

If you want to get blooms next summer, I would pot them up and bring them to your warmest, sunny window sometime around March or so. Then get them outside as soon as the night temperatures are warm enough, . . . say for you to sleep with the windows open. Most of my gingers don't need full sun, but they do need warmth to bloom.

David, I would either put them in a greenhouse, or hoop house. I'm in 8b and the only gingers I've lost have been left in ground over winter. If you can put them in pots and keep them until the weather warms you may see blooms this coming summer.

The turmeric can be dug and left to dry. You can replant it in spring, or use it and buy another
rhizome. You may just keep it in a pot indoors and set it out when the weather warms a bit. It takes a bit to see them flower. Some years I don't see any blooms. Sometimes only one plant will throw a bloom.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/B...

dyzzypyxxy said:

If you can sort of simulate those conditions, I'm sure they would do fine through the winter......

If you want to get blooms next summer, I would pot them up and bring them to your warmest, sunny window sometime around March or so. Then get them outside as soon as the night temperatures are warm enough, . . . say for you to sleep with the windows open. Most of my gingers don't need full sun, but they do need warmth to bloom.

All 4 plants are in pots now ~ 1 - 2 gal. Hehehe Maybe I could move them from a back bedroom and put them in the garage. Then back. Naw - too much shock. It can get to 32 in my garage though I did over winter 3 deck planters in there with Geraniums and Calibrachoas - all did well. I was surprised. Gave them a small drink once a month.

If we get UP to the 50s it is often miraculous. Jan '15 bad - Jan '14 was HORRID. That year we had like 20 straight days of highs no higher than 20. Most nights well below Zero. YECH.

Maybe I can just trick them a bit in my basement? It usually stays about 65 there, humidity ~ 50 - I have humidifier that I usually run and have a dehumidifier as well. I started the Ginger there December 20 last year under flourescent lights. They were over a foot tall when I placed them outdoors after Mother's day.

I run lights on a timer and can adjust to whatever...I usually run the lights on 12/off 12. Under my metal halide warehouse lights - 2 fixtures 500 watts each (purchased for 25 $ each ) - the temp is ~ 10 degrees or more higher. They put out a lot of heat.

Maybe I could put the gingers and Turmeric under them and they would think they are in Florida? I think that might work.

Elaine, thanks for all your comments. They ARE much appreciated and though we are Zones apart, they give me seeds for thought.

Bubbles said:
The turmeric ...... It takes a bit to see them flower. Some years I don't see any blooms. Sometimes only one plant will throw a bloom.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/B...

Now THAT I did not know. Thanks. Will read yer link. TY

I have a very small pretend green house and no hoop house. And it gets far too cold here anyway. Our home heating bill can run 200 - 300 $ a month.

It all depends on the varieties of ginger you have, David. My White Butterfly Ginger overwinters here, even though we get into the mid to low teens each year. If I were in your zone, I would heavily mulch them, perhaps with 5-6" of oak leaves or pine needles. I also grow Shampoo Ginger and it does not do well, even when mulched. I thought I had lost them all last winter but a handful of tiny plants finally emerged two months later than normal (mid-summer). I dug each one up and potted them. They will go inside a greenhouse this winter.

Ken - Doan think so We can get to 10-20 below zero. January 2014 (relentless with day after day of Highs in single digits and not much snow) trashed many of my "perennial" ) Cannas. They have been in the ground since 2010

FWIW - I have:

Turmeric
Grocery store Ginger
White butterfly ginger
Kahili ginger

I think snow is a difference maker. It is a natural insulator from those sub-zero temperatures. You might not be successful simply heavily mulching, David.

Because I love zone 10 plants all my tropicals get consigned to a greenhouse in Fall. All my Gingers in pots get chopped down to just above the soil surface and placed in crates on their sides .. I can usually get 3 1 gallon pots to a crate. Heater goes on if the ambient temperature goes below 40 degrees. I let them dry out a bit and maybe water them every month. I don't let the soil go bone dry. Haven't lost a one. First picture is setting up the greenhouse and 2nd is all tucked in.

How do you water your ginger if the pots are lying on their sides?

David,
Zone 7 or so here, right next to the Ohio River. I keep gingers and plumeria, amongst other things. Unless the plumeria are blooming, I leave them potted and take them to the basement when the night temperatures hit the mid 40's. If they are blooming, they come in to a sunny spot in the house until its time for their nap. Sometime in late February/early March, I'll bring them up to get them started. Basically the same with the gingers, once their done blooming, they dry for a bit and then to the basement. My plummies do fairly well, my gingers have done well in the past, but I missed a cold snap back in March that did quite a bit of damage. Most have recovered. Once their in the basement, an occasional misting and constant vigilance to keep them from getting too dried out.

The crates are on their sides - pots right side up.

Oh, OK. Thanks for clarifying.

delab said:David,
Zone 7 or so here, right next to the Ohio River. .... Once their in the basement, an occasional misting and constant vigilance to keep them from getting too dried out.

Great info. Do you keep them under lights? Or stuck in a dark corner?

I did over winter my lone Plumeria and gave it a very small drink a couple of times over winter. I started 2 of the gingers and the Turmeric under lights in December. They were rearin to go by early May when I placed them out. I started the store bought ginger in my pretend green house in June.

Xeramtheum said:Because I love zone 10 plants all my tropicals get consigned to a greenhouse in Fall.

Nice set up Anne. Yeah I love way too many things our of zone too. Including lots of not only tropicals, but of Mediterranean origin: e.g., Myrh, Frankincense, Capers. Heck, I even pot up vines.

Dark and cool, dehumidifier keeps it at around 50% or so, I just mist them and my dug bulbs (calla, caladium, elephant ears) to keep them from drying out too much. I've only lost them to the outside weather, never to the basement. I have enough window area to bring them out of slumber-time, so I don't use grow lights (plus, I'm cheap, er, thrifty). My house is sandstone covered, so I can leave anything out to a bit cooler weather if the days are sunny and they are next to the house. For a few weeks, the living room looks like a jungle, but otherwise, everything goes to the basement.

The gingers (cone, butterfly, blue and a yellow), along with some curcuma that took a serious frost in March have recovered fully and the curcuma are blooming now. I think that they're hardy to fairly cold temps for short periods.

David, I've had pretty erratic results but better luck growing gingers on than letting them go dormant. Under florescent lighting in the basement. I've never read that ginger rhizomes can survive being frozen so mulching over-winter probably wouldn't be helpful. Good luck and please keep us posted.

@DavidLMO
I grow turmeric ginger. They naturally go dormant here in my zone around December. Our coldest night temp does not usually fall below 70F. The stalk and leaves die down then the rhizomes begin growing again I think 3 months later. So, I think it is perfectly okay to store your rhizomes in a cool (not freezing cold), dark place until it is warm enough to plant them again.

@Eclayne and @BabyK. I think I will just move the pots to my basement in Mid October and let them do what they will do. I will give them an occasional drink but not let them dry out nor stay soaked.

They will be under lights 12 on 12 off and the temp will stay around 64 degrees and humidity ~ 50 %.
I am not gonna unpot them and store them like a canna or dahlia.

The plants will think they are in Zone 9 or something.

Baby K - if you never get below 70 (yikes) what does thirteen above 0° mean?

I think KD lives in Guam, David.

Your plan sounds like a good solution for your gingers.