Morning sun! If you cut it back, do you still get flowers?

hi

By torch ginger do you mean Etlingera elatior?? Do you know which kind??

To me it looks more like an Alpinia But since there are over 100 kinds I'm sure I've seen them all .lol gary

I love the torch gingers (Etlinger). I havent tried them because they seem to need to get large to flower and if they are anything like some of the the Alpinas, they cannot freeze back because they bloom on older growth. The hedychiums, globbas, curcumas, and costus seem to all be okay with losing their foliage and growing it back and blooming the same year. Kaempfarias/peacock gingers also will bloom after freezing back.

Ive seen the torch gingers for sale on ebay. Some get up to 20 ft tall in the tropics. Apparently the must stay moist but not in standing water. If not kept moist, the foliage will die back thus not flowering. There was an older post here on gw where the poster said that hers was in a pot for 2 yrs then in the ground for several more before it flowered.

Here is a photo of torch ginger foliage...usually one just sees photos of the flower close up and the foliage cant be seen lol. There are different varieties so i dont know if this will help any but it is interesting. http://gardenemerald.blogspot.com/2010/07/red-torch-ginger.html?m=1

Yep that's the one! A red Etlinger. I've been watering it every few days, and it seems to look better. The dead is dead, of course, but the leaves have opened mostly back up again. It's just been so dry this month!

I have the same you pictured. I get the same thing happening and I cut them down and they grow back later in the summer. They flower all winter.They are taking over my beds!

Jane

Hi

The naming system for this family leaves a lot to be desired lol The common names in particular . Love the family but hate the winter dormancy i find globbas ,zingerber ,curcuma kaempferia all go dormant no matter what the weather so I grow them in pots otherwise I have big holes for long periods.

Alpinia will remain evergreen except for cold or drought induced dormancy. Have one identified as A. zerumbet but is well over 20 feet tall while the flowers emerge from the leaf tips feel it is an alpinia but not zerumbet though again there are dozens of varieties not to mention hybrids.

Etlingera flowers from separate stalks much like zingerber(pine cone) Have always wanted to try them if they are evergreen and with over 100 members in the genus there must be some that don't grow into trees??

They were selling some at the Fairchild sale that they referred to as "glass roses" they wouldn't go beyond etlingera but the flowers were pink /white a foot wide and did look like they were made of glass !! Was excited until I found they only had seeds at 5 bucks each!!! I have since tracked down an ID

Etlingera venusta but have never found them again. gary

Thanks all. This is one of my first and most successful attempts at being a gardener so I was rather distressed when I saw its state. Seems to be normal for it, so I feel very reassured!

i wish it was smaller too, but it's doing a nice job blocking off the passageway between my house and the neighboors fence, which leads to my backyard. So I'm happy with that!

There is Etlingera venusta on ebay- looks like a pink and white rose ginger flower for about 25.oo for a rhizome. I have no clue if the seller is reputable they are from Puerto Rico. They have fairly decent feedback lol. There are also seeds listed cheaper. I wonder how long it would take to flower from seed. I grew some Costus specious from seed and they took 2 years to flower. The seller, 7 heads lists seeds. He is in HI I bought some little tropical plants from him including a Cannonball tree and they arrived in nice shape. I have no clue about his seeds though.