Sungold? I sow them every year. I’m in zone 7B, and before the first frost hits, they grow over 4 meters, up onto the roof. I buy the seeds on Amazon—10 seeds for 5 euros. I split them seasonally into two batches, so 5 plants per season. Unfortunately, they’re F1, so saving your own seeds isn’t possible. Well, it is possible, but you won’t get Sungold. Is that what you meant?
Best tomato ever.
I completely forgot. Life happens in between, and then months pass until someone reminds you. I’ll bounce around with my phone today and snap a few things.
Has ever anyone tried to grow Ginger in Europe?
When I buy large peaces in fall, they tend to start growing, but dry out when the first leaf is 10 cm.
Never tried to put them into ground, but am curious if it’d work.
Of course, extremely easy to grow. I keep mine in a huge pot outside in the garden year-round. It’s a tropical plant, but it’s never rotted over winter for us—every spring it returns with a new bush. Most importantly, don’t plant store-bought rhizomes—they’re treated and die quickly (like in your case). Get an organic, untreated one from a farmer, grower, or strictly organic store.
Prepare the rhizome to have at least one eye, preferably more. Place it in a jar with room-temperature water to start rooting. Once the rhizome is ready, get a large container with big drainage holes. In late spring, plant it in well-draining soil… and forget about it. It’s very easy to grow, but a strict warning: it’s highly invasive. Make sure it doesn’t escape the pot, or you’ll never get rid of it. Similar to mint—which happened to me, and now it’s literally everywhere. Just a tiny piece of root falls into the soil, and you’ve got a new plant starting.
As for pests, I’ve had nothing but cabbage white caterpillars—but they’ll decimate the above-ground green parts. Which doesn’t bother the roots too much—they send out new green shoots.
It looks very…well, disgusting:
Do they produce edible “new roots” ?
Of course. Half of that container in my photo is just root—I started with a piece about 5 cm. You dig up one part, break off a section of the root, put it in the fridge. The rest in the pot keeps growing.
Is it “visible” within 1 year time? Or does it take decades to grow big?
Of course. After a year, dig up the root, cut off the part you want for kitchen, and put the rest back in the pot. How big the sprout will be depends on too many factors for me to be able to estimate. Ginger is one of those “plant once, enjoy forever” plants.
