How to Grow Chinese Ginger

Use a general purpose potting soil to grow Chinese ginger. A mixture of equal parts garden soil, coarse sand and moist peat also provides a good soil medium for Chinese ginger. Fill a planting pot with the soil mixture.

Slice a whole Chinese ginger rhizome into sections 1 to 2 inches in length with a clean, sharp knife. Each section should have at least two growth buds. Place a section of Chinese ginger rhizome in the soil so that half of the growth buds are above the soil's surface.

Keep the planting pot outside in full sun when the temperature is between 60 and 85 degrees F. Bring the Chinese ginger plant indoors and place it in front of a southern window when the outside temperature is not within this range.

Water the Chinese ginger plant with 1 inch of warm water per week to keep the soil evenly moist. Use distilled water if your tap water is acidic. Mist the leaves with warm distilled water to keep them moist.

Fertilize the Chinese ginger plant twice per month with a water-soluble fertilizer during the summer.

Divide a mature Chinese ginger plant by cutting off one of its rhizomes in late spring. Put the plant back in the pot at the same soil level after you obtain the rhizome.