How long should I give my gingers?

[DavidF]

I have about 6 Gingers that I've overwintered in the (unheated) greenhouse. Various species, Ellipticum, Gardnerianum (sp?) Villosa etc..

They all look brown bread, not a sign of life in any of them. The greenhouse gets hot during the day and has done for the last few weeks so I thought there might be stirrings by now. But nothing.

Space is really becoming a premium in there, so if they've had it, they're on the compost heap.

Am I being impatient? How are everybody elses gingers doing?

Btw, my Tara (planted out with no protection over Winter) has started to shoot.... all the more reason why I think the greenhouse ones are gonners.

[bodster]

you could always just leave them out on the patio if space is at a premium and give them a little longer fletch. Might be best with your temperatures to wither leave them in the ground or store them in the house over winter

[lee-ann]

Mine sound exactley like your even my canna stutgart has started growing but nothing on my ginger.

[AndyC]

David, are they bare rhizomes in your greenhouse or are they in pots? Either way, if you have a good look at the rhizomes and there are no signs of new stem buds then they are probably a gonner. Most but not all of my potted Hedychium in the poly-tunnel have started to shoot but only the 'Assam Orange' is visably shooting in the garden. I didn't provide any protection for the ones in the ground which was a big mistake last year as I know I've lost quite a few.
I'm now convinced that Hedychium densiflorum 'Assam Orange' is the most bullet proof of all the ones I leave out and flowers without fail when left in the ground over winter.

[bodster]

i've had to move a few of my gingers due to remodeling the garden after all the winter losses. I found that the upper arts of all the rhizomes got killed but the deeper parts where the frost didn't reach are fine and growing

[Guy]

Be patient! I've got about 40 pots of gingers in my greenhouse. Didn't go below 6c all winter. The evergreen ones are growing like crazy. Most of the decidious ones are sprouting, but many aren't yet and are under the staging waiting to get going. If you really want to know, knock one out of it's pot and check for nice fat pink buds. I'm confident mine haven't been frosted but are just resting still and waiting to get growing.

[Mark]

Fletch , its worth noting that the new bud don't always sprout from the side of the rhizome. Sometimes it will sprout from beneath. Even a mushy top can sometimes have a firm bud beneath it.

Mine are sprouting in the garden too

[simon]

None of my gingers or cannas are showing shoots yet outside. Some are a bit squishy on top so I hope they come back. The only one growing at the moment is a greenii in the conservatory that was grown on from a bulbil.

[DavidF]

David, are they bare rhizomes in your greenhouse or are they in pots?

They are all in pots Andy. I bought them all as plants last Spring and grew them on in the greenhouse all last year to bulk them up so they would be big, flowering sized plants this year. Umfortunately they are all just mushy rhizomes now

I think I might tip them out of their pots and have a good route about and see if there are signs of life. I guess I've nothing to lose now.

[ash]

I have 4 greenii coming to life,one with its first leaf after being outside all winter, but 3 pots with Zingiber are a no show at the moment.

[DavidF]

Well I've tipped them out of their pots and had a looky see. 3 are definitely dead (auranticum, coronarium and ellipticum), 1 had a shoot (villosum) and the other 2 (garderianum and one I've lost the label of) although they didn't have shoots, the roots were reasonably healthy looking and the rhizomes firmish.

I've potted them with some fresh compost and given them a good drink.

So, 3 out of 6, although disappointing, is better than nowt!

[ash]

Ive got about 10 pots with no labels on and havent got a clue what they are, all no shows at the moment.

[lee-ann]

I've just binned most of mine mush mush and mush oh and some had just vanished

[derrick]

This is my ellipticum and aurantiacum .I got them last year with flowers on them .They are just starting to grow now.

[Spezzo]

Left mine outside in the garden with just a layer of mulch. Hardy Exotics 1 and Assam Orange are starting to shoot. No sign of life from Gardnerianum or Greenii yet. Tara, while still with 2 stems from last year is yet to start pushing out new shoots. I don't thnk the ground has quite warmed up enough yet. This time last year it was quiet too until about June when they all just took off.