Today, I want to show you a unique container planting system that I use to grow turmeric—one of my favorite home medicines.
This container gardening system is called the Urbin Grower, and it’s a small bed that has a trough bottom for water, creating its own self-watering system.
I’ve been growing turmeric in this Urbin Grower for several months now. I simply planted some turmeric root that I picked up from the grocery store. Turmeric is an amazing medicinal plant!
I have to say that I love this container. I just check to make sure that it’s always got water in the bottom. That water acts as a natural moat that keeps ants and other insects out. It’s also a buffer, so if I’m gone for a week, the planter is going to be fine.
If you’re growing in small spaces or on patios, or for those precious plants (like turmeric!) that you want to have by your house, the Urbin Grower is really working out well for me.
Want to read another article about how to grow turmeric? Check out Learning to Grow Ginger and Turmeric in the Midwest.
(This article was originally published on February 27, 2017.)
Marjory Wildcraft is the founder of The Grow Network, which is a community of people focused on modern self-sufficient living. She has been featured by National Geographic as an expert in off-grid living, she hosted the Mother Earth News Online Homesteading Summit, and she is listed in Who’s Who in America for having inspired hundreds of thousands of backyard gardens. Marjory was the focus of an article that won Reuter’s Food Sustainability Media Award, and she recently authored The Grow System: The Essential Guide to Modern Self-Sufficient Living—From Growing Food to Making Medicine.
COMMENTS(11)
I live in NY State and would love to grow turmeric. Is this out of the question since I’m in growing band 4 and do not have a greenhouse?
Thank you!
I’m in zone 6 and trying turmeric and ginger for the first time. You’ll need to start indoors unless you have a heated greenhouse. I started mine first week of Dec. and they are about 3′ tall now and looking great. I believe I read that soil temps need to be fairly warm before setting out but I don’t remember exactly the number mentioned…. 55 or 60 maybe? I plan on either re-potting mine or getting them into the ground once the soil warms up enough into a cold frame (large one obviously) as I do not have a greenhouse. They will winter kill so my plan is to harvest as late as possible and hopefully have enough to use and enough to replant next season.
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So what about growing turmeric in a container? No info about that at all. please re-name these container gardening videos to reflect that they are about promoting the specific container not about growing things in them.
totally agree!
I’m looking for one that is not plastic.
Thank you! I am going to start it this week! How tall will it grow before the roots are big enough to use? I have grown ginger before here in Alabama in a pot. Now I can do them both. And if you put a slice of ginger and a slice of turmeric root and bring to a boil; then add some lemon juice and honey, you will have a great tasting, health promoting tea!
My sister-in-law worked at a commercial ginger farm in the Hilo, Hawai’i area for several years. The climate there is very humid, with frequent rainfall and average daytime temps around 70F to 85F and many partly sunny, breezy days. She commented that it grew very well, but soil fungus could become a problem in an especially wet year. I’m wondering if compost tea would help here? How would a container garden circumvent this risk? Also, how many hours of daylight would it require to grow well? How many months from planting the root to harvesting?
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That’s a nice looking watering system. Thanks!
I just finished David the Good’s book, Push the Zone. I’m planning to test out growing turmeric in Arkansas and letting it overwinter outdoors (with some special precautions). We’ll see how it goes.