Ok now how do I take care of it? Sun, no sun, water plant food etc.
Thanks
Lavina
What type Ginger is this
looks like alpinia zerumbet variegata. mine is in shade, the sunnier the more "crispy" leaves you'll get. so do recomment sunny location. average water. I don't fert. mine and grows quite well. lovely plant to have, in the fall its variegation really stands out.
That is the plant. The PlantFiles has a variety of good pictures. I love this one of it growing in Rio de Janeiro:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/28796/
The plant is zone 9a and higher, which is probably why vossner has it in the ground - at least I guess that from your note! Here, up the road from you in the Charlotte area, I have one that I have grown for 3 years. iI is extremely tolerant of wet or dry. It likes fertilizing when young, but now, as a 3'x3', it may need to be repotted with fresh soil. It is pretty, but I can't stimulate a lot of new growth and it has spread a bit, losing it's prettier shape from the last couple of years. I haven't tried it in sun, but apparently it does ok in sun in hotter places than ours. I use it in the pot as a fill plant in the shade gardens, and it really livens things up, then overwintered in the house, and when it got too big, in a cool greenhouse. It is really a gem, so different than the in ground plants in my shade gardens. Such a contrast to ferns, hydrangea, just about anything!
Peter
Actually Alpinia Zerumbet and variegated Alpinia Zerumbet will grow through zone 8, they're actually very cold hardy. i know a few people even into zone 7 that grow A. zerumbet in protected areas and a thick layer of mulch in the winter and it comes back great. It looks horrible in too much sun, looks much better in shade/filtered light. We use Nutricoat fertilizer on our gingers and all of our other plants for that matter, on retail market it's 'Dynamite'. We use 13-13-13 with minors and in spring give a little Milorganite and super phosphate along with the time released Nutricoat. Mine that are in the garden actually bloomed last year and again this year and we're bordering zone8b and we went down to 23 2 nights in a row and were below freezing for as long as 10 hours. Other years it's been strictly a foliage plant for me.
Liz
Der Liz,
I'm 7b, as you can see, so the "better half" of 7. I'd hate to lose my plant, but it would be interesting to try it in the ground. Can I divide it? Return one half to the pot, plant the other. If so, would it be best to do that now, and let it acclimate before fall, or wait for Spring?
Peter
I have two of them in the ground, one is larger and in a very protected space and I am going to leave that one-heavily mulched and dig the other one up and bring it into the greenhouse during the winter and grow it out more, and probably split it up in January.
So you are thinking to to grow it out 'til maybe April (the one in the greenhouse) then plant? I do think that setting one in the ground for the first time, it should be in spring, to give it a chance to root deeply before frost.
I agree, the longer the plant has to become established the better. Tigerlily doing what I do. Plant some and keep some in the greenhouse, to test it. When it freezes back just cover large area with pineneedles, about 12" deep. I've known people to grow plants 2 zones colder than anyone else , just by doing that.
Liz
A chicken wire cage would mark it well and retain the mulch. This is a helpful conversation.
Are yall saying I should keep mine in a pot and let it grow more? I am thinking about a bigger pot as I plan to put it in the basement under grow lights for the winter.
Lavina
Yes, this time of the year I'd just pot it 'up' and put it in the ground next year, after your last frost date and let it get established in the ground, then come autumn and your first frost just pile the pine needles at least 12" deep in a nice large circle and it should be fine. If you want to divide it and keep half in the ground and half in the ground next spring you can do that also.
Does this ginger bloom ? I noticed the lady who is having the open house has blooms on her plants.
Lavina
It does bloom but, only if the tips don't get nipped by frost ro freezing temps. It blooms off of 2 year old growth. Yours is the variegated form of the picture I put in earlier.
Liz :)