Yes you can; and it makes a lovely house plant, Just remember to rinse it off as it is treated with a chemical to prevent sprouting. The plant is not frost hardy so keep it outdoors only in fair weather.

Ginger is a tender plant that won't survive Northern snow and cold. Check your hardiness zone. I believe you have to be zone 8 or higher to grow ginger outside - which is required if you wish to grow it for harvesting. It does grow indoors as a houseplant, but it will not grow like you need for root harvesting.

FataMorgana

Can I grow ginger outside in the summer time, here in the north, then put the root in the cold cellar for the winter with myother tender tropical roots, like dahlia and cannas?
IN it's natural habitat, does it go dormant during the cold but not frozen ground winter?

It's natural habitat is the tropics and subtropics, so it likes HEAT. In the subtropics, where winters do occur (albeit very mild ones), ginger will become dormant, at which time I harvest and replant ready for another crop come summer. I have no idea how the root will react to being cold-stored. It's worth trying a piece, but I don't like your chances.

I'm in AZ, where most tropicals die from too much heat. Should I plant it somewhere with filtered sun or shade? My lemon grass seems to do really well in a semi-shady spot. Maybe plant it near the lemon grass?

Sheryl- The forgotten ginger root in the refrigerator crisper bin doesn't fare well over the long haul so I can't imagine it would fare any better cold stored. And like Daisy says, it likes heat not cold.

I bring my potted ginger and turmeric in for the winter. They do die back and go dormant when the temps in the house drop to our winter normal (64-66 degrees F). I water the pot only enough to keep it from completely drying out. When the summer temperatures come, they resprout. They are green only at most 6 months out of the year for me. I can't imagine them to doing much more for you.

FataMorgana

Remember that 'tropical' means 'hot and WET and humid'. That's lots of water, but it must drain away quickly. Also, ginger and turmeric (especially turmeric) can't take too much direct sun in a hot area, so keep them both in dappled sun, or in a place that's at least partly shaded in the truly fierce heat of the afternoons.

Ok, I will bring it in. Should I keep trying to grow it on a sunny windowsill or put it someplace where it can go dormant for a few months?

Just trying to save growing space in the house. I start a lot of garden plants from seed in the spring and don't have much room for anything else then. Whatever can go in my underground fieldstone damp cold cellar, gets put down there.