I'm starting a garden on my roof and a friend gave me some White Ginger, Hedychium coronarium. I have brought it in for the winter to a slightly warmer location and it is starting to die back. If it doesn't die completely back should I cut it back in the spring? Any suggestions on growing this plant in a container would be helpful.
mike
White Ginger
Hey Mike!! If that's the White Butterfly Ginger - I've had mine in the ground the last year and a half...but I'm 7A.
You might want to post that question over in the Ginger Forum as well: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/gingerly/all/
Here it stays out in an oak barrel half. I cut the dead foliage off and it will come back from roots. I would say yes, cut it back early spring when you are ready to move it out. Good luck with it ~ the blooms are lovely.
I brought mine in and have it in my sunroom. It is just now beginning to look a bit under the weather. The edges of some of leaves are getting a bit brown but otherwise it is looking very healthy. SOooo, does this mean when I bring it back out (I'm in 7a and our freeze date is 4/15, I think) I should cut it back? It is still looking pretty nice. It never did bloom last summer which is the first summer I had it. It did form a bud but I had to bring it in before it bloomed. I'm hoping for great results this summer.
I don't have an answer, sorry... Mine was cut back and mulched. Left outdoors. It is now putting on new growth. pod
Ty podster, tarantella's sunroom is a great place even after cutting back the dead/dyeing leaves. Now, what I hear is to winter in a bright area after cutting back. So mine were cut back and stay in a pot. This year I see some great looking eyes. I might want to divid it this spring! It got so full. LOL Sun light seams to always help bud formation, but mine need to stay next to a tall grass for some shelter; on the roof top. Oh, someone else interested in a sunny room. Morgana, your sleeping on the sofa. http://davesgarden.com/tools/journal/viewentry.php?rid=171082
Pretty kitty! We have a Russian Blue that was a hurricane refuge. Named Scraps for someone elses' leftovers. Odd how he loves the dogs and hates ALL CATS.
How large is your Ginger pot?
Smaller then an oak barrel half. 1' deep and about 16" wide. How often do you divide yours? Is there anything I should know when dividing them this spring?
The cat may be a Russian Blue but I think she could also be a breed originating from Thailand called a Korat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korat Its a toss up. The previous owner doesn't know and nether will anyone else. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
I haven't divided mine yet but am needing to... I also hope to put them in ground this spring and try something else in the barrel. They have been in the barrel 3 years and are bound! It will be a task to seperate them.
Thanks for all the good advice everyone! I cut mine back late winter and divided them into three pots from the original one in March. Not kidding when I say these things out grow their pot, it has more then doubled in size from last season. Some Calla Lilies are growing with them and seem to be doing well too. I am waiting to see more of the flower and whether it is fragrant before trying to determine which one I have.
Those Hedychium grow outdoors in Portland, Oregon...against a wall. No clue what zone it is....but they cut it back to the ground every fall and mulch heavily....really grows beautifully and flowers!!!
i'm in zone 7a and just leave them in the ground year round. i let the leaves stay dead on them until spring , then pull them off and put in compost pile.the leaves make thier own mulch , altho i have cut them back in the past ,but doesn't make any difference. i cut away some of the root every so often to share with others ,and honestly don't think i could kill them on purpose. when i first got them, i was scared to death that i would lose them, so i dug them up and stored them under the house for winter.talk about hard work! then that spring the ones i missed came up , so knew they would survive, and not have to dig ,except to divide.hope you can use this. sally
I'm concerned that the roof gets a little colder then zone 7 because its so exposed so I bring mine in the winter. The good news is that there will be so many next year that I'll be able to leave some outside to see how well they do. They are in pots, so it isn't a lot of work to bring them in.
Even if the roof doesn't get colder, just the fact of being in a container knocks about a zone off the hardiness of most plants (unless you sink the pot in the ground so that it has the soil helping to insulate it). So I'd definitely keep bringing it in for the winter.
I would cut only the dead, brown/tan and dry parts. Any stems, parts of leaves still connected will still make food for the rhizomes. If I were up north (I do it here also in Fl.), grow this in a black plastic pot. The soil temps will be higher and when really hot the plant makes its own shade.
These are often planted in wet areas along the shores of lakes. Once your plant is rootbound, you could keep a saucer of water filled under the pot. Once it gets water-addicted tho, it'll be hooked.
My grandmother grew these in the ground in Montgomery, Al. They'd die back to the ground, and she's cover them with 1 ft of pine straw.