Shop-bought ginger and lemongrass roots well
If you like to use a lot of herbs when cooking, it is amazing what you can grow to save money from the weekly supermarket shop – and I’m not just talking about splitting pots of parsley or coriander here.
Late last summer, in a fit of untimely enthusiasm, I rooted and potted up a lemongrass stalk and a section of ginger, both bought from a supermarket. It was the wrong time of year to do so but miraculously they survived the winter, the lemongrass in the bathroom and the ginger, once it had died back, on a bedroom windowsill.
They are both growing again so I’ve repotted them in multipurpose compost and moved them to the greenhouse where they should get enough warmth and light to grow well.
Both are easy to grow. Lemongrass can be started in a small glass of water, then potted up once it has rooted. With ginger, nestle a piece of root with ‘eyes’ where the shoots emerge, in a tray of compost and it will soon start to root and shoot.
Both plants need light and warmth to grow well and take a couple of years to get to the size when you can start harvesting them. Make sure you keep their compost damp and consider feeding fortnightly with a general purpose fertiliser added to their water.
Little seedlings
Take care when separating
1. I oversowed these nettle-leaved bellflower seedlings, which formed into a dense mat. The easiest way of potting them on is to carefully break it apart and tease out the individual plants.
2. Fill modules with multipurpose compost, make a hole in each then carefully lift the individual seedlings clear of the others while holding a leaf. Pop their roots into the hole and gently firm them in. Keep the compost damp as they grow, but don’t swamp them.
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