If you want to grow something tropical but don’t have the climate, chances are you can pull it off with the zone-pushing methods in this article. Here’s how to grow ginger in cold climates (turmeric, too!).
Image by Ratna Fitry from Pixabay
How to Grow Ginger in Cold Climates (Turmeric, Too!)
Virginia writes about ancestral zone-pushing methods that are now being treated as revolutionary:
“I have used milk jugs and anything else with a lid to make a wall of heat-retaining water for over 40 years! I know people are just getting back to nature or homesteading and so a lot of these OLD ideas are being treated as new—it’s just funny to me.
The water method has worked for me in the mountains of Tennessee during winter, in Oregon during snow, and now in 29 Palms, California (desert), where I just bought a house. . . .”
One of my favorite things about writing Push the Zone: The Good Guide to Growing Tropical Plants Beyond the Tropics was discovering the zone-pushing methods of the past. Smudge pots in Florida, for instance; or the large walls used to hold in heat so peaches could be grown inside of Paris back in the 1600s. In the book, I combine both “new” ideas with the wisdom of the past, then mix it all together with humor and some crazy ideas that only a truly mad gardener would try.
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In this video, I harvest our little patch of turmeric and mention how easy it is to push the zone with both turmeric and ginger:
Don’t let the cold defeat you. If you want to grow something tropical but don’t have the climate, chances are you can pull it off with a little ingenuity.
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Protected locations next to walls, large containers you can haul into your house, deep mulch—zone-pushing is possible! Experiment and learn. Turmeric is very worth growing for its incredible health benefits—and ginger? Of course you’d want to grow ginger. It’s awesome!
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This article was originally published on August 3, 2018. The author may not currently be available to respond to comments, however we encourage our Community members to chime in to share their experiences and answer questions!
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David The Good is a Grow Network Change Maker, a gardening expert, and the author of five books you can find on Amazon: Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting, Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening, Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, Create Your Own Florida Food Forest, and Push the Zone: The Good Guide to Growing Tropical Plants Beyond the Tropics. Find fresh gardening inspiration at his website TheSurvivalGardener.com and be sure to follow his popular YouTube channel.
