I have had my Zingiber mioga 'Dancing Crane' in the ground in its liner in full shade for a few months now ,It seems to be very happy. It stays under 3' tall and forms a spreading clump. The flowers seemingly develop buds underground and are harvested and eaten in tampura. The new shoots are supposed to be tasty too.....as usual I was taken by the variegation, flowers will be an extra bonus.
Any body else have variegated Gingers out there,
I have it in two places in the yard. Mine is not near as nice as yours!! Both plants are smaller, but its nice to see what it looks like when it matures. What do you mean "in the ground in its liner"? Is it still in a pot?
Well
I have a tendancy to plant things in the wrong kind of lights and then have to move them and disturb the roots. So my new trick is to plant it in the plastic but cut a lot of pot base away and cut the top down to the soil level with a coulpe of holes in the side so that the roots find their way out but the rootball stays pretty intact, just incase it's not happy in its spot, it also helps it to retain more water and not dry out. If it likes the spot eventually i take the liner away/pot away.
Thought I would share what I have learned over the years about this plant. Zingiber mioga is a cool climate ginger, and it does not grow well in the usual ginger places (hot and humid summers). It comes from the cool mountainous parts of Japan. I definately have had trouble with it here in Tallahassee. It has a tendency to die back over the summer.
I was recently visiting with Mike Bordelon at the Smithsonian Institution research greenhouses in Washington DC. He told me he has found that it will not grow well there in pots in their greenhouse, but grows much better when planted outdoors where there is some winter chill. It is reportedly quite hardy (to zone 6) and I know I have been in contact with people who grow it on Long Island NY and have heard of it growing in Nova Scotia - and of course in the Pacific Northwest.
Dave Skinner
www.gingersrus.com
Thank you for the info,
Mine seems to be doing ok with temps in the high 80s with 70-80% humidity. May may not be so happy in the winter when the temps are high but humidity is much lower.
BTW I was checking out your e-bay store last night and then get a post from you today. nice collection. Especially the Curcuma 'Figi, do they come up often I'm not ready for one yet but will have to have one :)
Yes, I regularly list it on eBay, and it is also available on my online shopping cart. I think this may be the same plant as the one often sold as Curcuma 'Emperor' or Curcuma petiolata 'Var.'. The variegation is similar and the flowers, but it seems to grow just a little taller than the others.
I bought it about 10 years ago from Joseph Fondeur (Tropical Paradise Nursery) in Davie, Florida, and he had it tagged as Curcuma 'Figi', so hard to say. Joseph has been collecting gingers for many years - much longer than I have - and I am guessing this came from one of his sources in Hawaii back before there were so many Curcuma imports from Thailand.
Dave Skinner
www.gingersrus.com
I believe I have that Zing. 'Mioga'...will take a photo of it today. I grow it in light shade...it grows about 4-5' tall and seems to love it. Our average temps are around 79 deg. with tons of rain.
Carol
Carol
I have to make it back to Hawaii someday ,and ill want to come seee your garden , you seem to have all my favorites and then you show me something new. Do you have pics of your whole garden.
Hi
This variegated ginger looks a lot to me like Alpinia sanderae. Does anyone know the difference? Have you seen the flower yet?
Heather
Alpinia sanderae (note that the correct name is really A. vittata) usually has more white in the foliage and it gets much taller. The pseudostems are solid green, more round in shape than the typical flattened and variegated pseudostems of Zingiber mioga 'Dancing Crane'. The leaves are longer and narrower. It is quite tender and will withstand very little frost wheras Z. mioga is reportedly hardy to zone 6 making it the hardiest of gingers, outside of Roscoea and Cautleya. I have read that A. vittata (sanderae) is naturally variegated and not found in a solid green form at all.
It is a shy bloomer, but when it does bloom they are terminal, upright shell-ginger-like blooms, not the basal flowering of this Zingiber species. I have thus far been unable to get it to flower in my greenhouse although it is 6 feet tall and healthy in a three gallon pot. I finally saw it in flower just last May in cultivation at a resort in Costa Rica. One day soon I will get the photos from my latest trip to Costa Rica posted on my website. I have photos of the REAL Costus curvibracteatus among other things.
Dave Skinner
www.gingersrus.com
Thanks for the info, Dave.
I find that amazing that the A. vittata (sanderae) is variegated in the wild.
What do you mean the REAL costus curvibracteatus? (I guess this would start another discussion thread!)
Heather
tigerlily - since you are just east of me, can you tel me what kind of sun exposure you have given yours?
Peter
I have Dr. Moy. I have it in shade right now. Will it tolerate the Florida sun?
pdkrones...sorry for the late response, just saw this. I have given it very little sun exposure, maybe an hour a day, but one of the clumps is right on the edge of the shade and gets more indirect sun. I really get the feeling that it doesn't like any sort of full sun.
Thanks for writing back, tigerlady.
Well mine is fine in the shade, still in her pot; and grew well in the house when it ws small, so I will make that assumption. In reading a little about ths plant, it is apparently hardy easily to z6, probably z5, and only suffers from heavy, waterlogged conditions. I look forward to dividing and setting mine out this fall. Maybe sooner. It's amazing how many of these seemingly unusual and tropical-looking plants are fine in the ground!
Peter
Peter, if yours isn't in the ground already, I would wait until spring to plant it and let it have next summer to let it get established and grow some roots. You can divide it in the spring before you plant it in the ground.
budgielover, Dr. Moy is okay in morning sun but, bright filtered light past about noon. The more varigation on Dr. Moy the easier it burns. I have all of ours at the nursery under large oaks and still have to watch for 'hot spots' coming through and burning up the white in the foliage.
I agree with tigerlily on your mioga, as far as putting it out in the spring, that way it has time to get established before winter, even though it is hardy enough for your area.
Liz
Two of you make a majority, so I will save my "Dancing Crane" over winter, plant in the spring. It is huge, about 8' wide, 4' tall out of the pot. If I cut the fronds back part way will they grow at the splitting points? I could keep it in the living room, or find space in the cool greenhouse if it weren't that it is half as wide as the greenhouse is long. And that I have a wife with opinions about creating indoor jungles . . . . .
cut back the leaves and stick it in the grhouse
Will do.
Yes ma'am, you will get new shoots from the rhizomes, the pseudostems won't split like stems do and form to branches but, you will get new shoots from the rhizomes, and I guess you already now that mioga naturally goes dormant in the winter, so don't water it after it goes to sleep :)
Liz
they should be blooming pretty soon, so wait a little bit before you cut back, really when they go dormant you can just remove the 'dead' foliage, so you really don't have to cut it back but, doing so won't hurt it.
Liz
PS I hope I haven't totally confused you :)
I have a couple of variegated curcumas, but they were given to me unnamed, so I don't know which ones they are.
Does anyone know of any likely possibilities?
Also, I have two Dr. Moy plants. The variegation on the two plants is quite different. On one plant the variegation seems to be the pattern that one half of the leaf is green and the other half is white. One the other plant the entire leaf is fairly evenly streaked. Are these the same plant? If so, what makes the difference in their appearance? They are planted approximately 15 feet apart in the same conditions.
Both were received from very reputable ginger people.
Kay
This message was edited Aug 22, 2006 9:59 PM
This message was edited Aug 22, 2006 10:01 PM
Kay, variegation will vary greatly from plant to plant even leaf to leaf, that is normal. Your variegated Curcumas are the same, variegation differs greatly. Curcuma petiolata variegata 'Emperor' is the name of your variegated curcuma. there is a Curcuma 'Figi' which is variegated but, had yet to be proven to be a different species than 'Emperor'.
I actually have a 'sport' of 'Emperor' that has held true for 2 years now, as well as any rhizomes cut from it. We have named it Curcuma petiolata 'Gingerland's Snowdrift'. This picture will show you how much the variegation can vary.
Liz
Thanks for the input, Liz, especially that the petioles will not branch, which I suspected but needed confirmed! I may try multiple divisions next spring, assuming a bunch of rhizomes are hanging out below the surface. It does seem to be getting ready to bloom - wasn't sure it would do it here and in a pot - at least, looked that way about a week ago, when I last looked.
Peter
Sorry Peter that I didn't answer that question about what happens when you cut back a ginger stem and the possible branching...I read your post too fast!! Like Liz said...no branching for these babies. Just cut the stem about 2" from the dirt cause it's going to die anyway.
That's okay Lily. You are thoughtful to write again. I get such good feedback on DG, and give it when I can.
P.
Thanks, Liz! That is a real beauty! (Snowdrift)
Will you be selling it any time in the future?
I also have a variegated Curcuma Emperor with just a ridge of white around the outside edge of the leaf. Can anything be done to alter the variegation or spread it .
Variegation just naturally varies, this one just happened to be a sport (mutation) that has held true. What you can do is when you get ones that come up with more variegation than others just, remove it and keep propagating the rhizomes from those that have more white. We have been grwoing this one for 2 years but just began dividing the rhizomes from it this year and have about 8 babies and 2 or 3 adults. We wanted to make sure it was holding true before we got our hopes up and began working on 'making' more :) When Richard feels that we have enough to divide from and still have a few or more to seel we will then begin selling some.
Liz
I'm glad you liked it, I think it's beautiful.
