Jess,

You can grow it as an annual. I think almost all gingers are cold hardy only to zone 9, although some people in zone 8 can grow it there in very protected, very well-mulched areas.

Dawn

I grew some once, in a flower pot in a sunny window.

You're talking about the ginger you buy in the store, right?

I'm not sure but I think they hit that ginger with the same stuff they put on potatoes and yams to keep them from sprouting, but if you choose carefully, you may be able to find one that is trying to bud, in spite of it all.

Mine didn't bloom or anything, but the leaves were interesting and kind of fragrant when you brushed against them.

If you want to try to grow a ginger plant from a grocery-store purchased root, just buy organic ginger because it isn't sprayed with an anti-sprouting chemical before it is delivered to the store. The same is true of any root crop you want to grow from grocery-store purchased roots (potatoes, horseradish, etc.). Even the conventional ones that have been sprayed with an anti-sprouting chemical will eventually sprout, but it can take them a couple of months longer. I've bought ginger root before at Wal-Mart that was on the verge of sprouting when I bought it--it had the little white knobs on it that indicated initialization of roots.

Interesting. Didn't know that about non organic root veggies. what a shame. next they will be injecting something into pits so we can't grow our own fruit.

now is to find some at an organic store.

Jessaka,

They do it as an economic measure to enable the root crops to hold longer in cold storage without sprouting. The anti-sprouting chemicals just help prolong the shelf life.

Some seed companies have developed "Terminator" seed technology which renders all seeds produced by a plant sterile. So, if I grow their corn, for example, the seed I buy from them will grow just fine, but I can't save seed corn from those plants because all the kernels are sterile. Terminator technology is evil--I think it is designed purely to increase the profits of the agricultural giants. This type of mis-use (in my opinion) of technology makes the saving of open-pollinated varieties even more critically important.

Dawn