Hi Shauna,

A couple of years ago I was on a "tropical" plant kick, that is, wanting to make my yard more tropical looking, so I bought some grocery store taro as well as grocery store ginger and planted them in pots.

The taro grew wonderfully, in fact I bought some more this spring and planted them by the pond. They were huge by the time fall came around.

As for the ginger, it did alright, but to me it wasn't quite the "tropical look" I wanted. Maybe because mine was sort of slow growing and really didn't get very big or impressive by the time fall came around. Maybe because I just found the leaves sort of 'regular' looking. But, if you want to try it as a houseplant, maybe yours will get larger and more impressive.

My ginger sort of looked like the picture in the link below. Mine only grew about 8 inches high, but then started spreading via root runners.

Regards,
Glen

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi Shauna,

The ginger found in the grocery stores is Zingiber officinale. I also found a link that describes the growing conditions it requires with a picture of the plant. Hope this helps and it grows well for you. I might just try growing it myself.

Syreeta

Here is a link that might be useful: Ginger

Thanks, Glen and Syreeta

Doesn't sound like it is a really attractive plant to grow but what the heck . . . It's not like I'm lacking for soil and pots around here. lol. I'll plant it up and see what it does. If it lasts the winter, then I'll throw it into the ground in the spring and see if I can at least get the tubers to double in size. Sounds like a fun experiment, anyway. Thanks for your help.

Shauna