If you want to grow big and healthy ginger rhizomes like you usually see on tv, you will have to provide them with the best fertilizer. High Nitrogen fertilizers will not do! You need a balanced fertilizer or one with a higher Potassium content.
Some of the best ginger fertilizers that I would recommend are:
- Down to Earth Organic All Purpose Fertilizer Mix
- Burpee Natural Purpose Fertilizer
- MARPHYL Organic Liquid Fertilizer
- Lilly Miller All Purpose Planting & Growing Food Fertilizer
- The Andersons PGF Balanced Fertilizer
- Diamond K Gypsum Organic Grade Sulfate Fertilizer Powder
- Ortho-Phosphate Liquid Fertilizer
Take a look at why I am suggesting these seven fertilizers for your ginger.
What Fertilizer Does Ginger Need?
Different fertilizers will create a specific change in a plant. Some may promote flowering, others induce foliage growth. But neither of these is much help to ginger plants. Ginger is essentially a rhizome and so its fertilizer requirements will differ from other flowering plants.
Here are a few notes to take when wondering what would be the best fertilizer for ginger plants.
- It requires less Nitrogen and more Potassium.
- Excessive amounts of Nitrogen will lead to the overgrowth of foliage at the expense of the rhizome.
- An equal ratio of NPK will also do.
- Generally, ginger plants need a high amount of potassium, usually in several applications.
Down to Earth Organic All Purpose Fertilizer Mix
The Down to Earth brand is quite popular which did give me hope they could provide the best fertilizer for my ginger plants. I used the all-purpose fertilizer mix which comes with a higher Phosphorus ratio than Potassium and Nitrogen.
This is not much of an issue since Nitrogen is not as important and a separate Potassium fertilizer is necessary if you want plump rhizomes!
This fertilizer did well to give my ginger plants the growth boost they needed, above-ground and below-ground.
I found it especially helpful when I just planted my ginger and it needed that first fertilizer application to help it along.
The fertilizer itself comes in the form of small granules. The application was easy and you don’t have to worry about it spreading to other plants since it is an all-purpose fertilizer that is applicable to all plants, vegetables, and even lawns!
Burpee Natural Purpose Fertilizer
Another contender for the best fertilizer for ginger is the Burpee Natural Purpose fertilizer because of its mild yet effective composition. It is not overly strong with a 4-4-4 NPK composition. But, this is exactly what a young ginger plant needs.
The granules are fine and I easily scattered them around my ginger plants. But, be sure to keep a distance to avoid fertilizer burn!
It won’t work immediately as they are in undissolved granular form so you will have to give it time. You’ll notice rapid foliage growth after a few weeks or so.
An added advantage of using this fertilizer is that it applies to both indoor and outdoor plants.
This means you can even use it on potted ginger plants if you don’t have a garden. The fine pellets/granules are very easy to mix into the soil prior to planting the ginger.
MARPHYL Organic Liquid Fertilizer
For people looking for a faster solution, a liquid fertilizer would be a better option to pick. The MARPHYL Organic Liquid fertilizer makes for the best solution for rapid effects because plants absorb it using their roots very fast!
This isn’t any Liquid fertilizer as it makes use of marine phytoplankton! Another reason why you should use this fertilizer is if you have pets in the garden. It is non-toxic and safe to use around pets and toddlers.
Being 100% organic in composition, the results from this fertilizer is quite evident! It features high ratios of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium.
But the secret is there are many more components as well. Examples are vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, EPA, DHA, and amino acids!
In case this fertilizer works miracles for your ginger and you are wondering if you can use it elsewhere, you can! You can even use it on the lawn and flowering plants.
Lilly Miller All Purpose Planting & Growing Food Fertilizer
I also suggest getting the Lilly Miller All Purpose fertilizer which holds a good mineral ratio of 10-10-10 which makes it suitable for using on your grown ginger plants. It makes for a rapidly acting solution for your ginger plants.
It is a good fit for a plant with constant nutrient requirements because the pellets are slow-release.
It means that nutrients will gradually be emitted. Because of this, I found fertilizer applications don’t have to be as often as you think.
Again, because it is an all-purpose fertilizer, you can use it on all your plants and trees when necessary.
These highly absorbent pellets can even be placed in water and offered to potted ginger in a tray. This form of fertilizing is commonly called bottom feeding.
The quantity available is more than enough to last several months or several weeks if you decide to use it on your other plants!
Want ginger to beautify the garden? Here are 4 Types of Ornamental Ginger with use and flower details
The Andersons PGF Balanced Fertilizer
Looking for another balanced all-purpose garden fertilizer? Try out the Andersons PGF Balanced fertilizer if you want one that is extremely fine-grained offering fast-release of nutrients.
What I loved about the fine texture of this fertilizer was that it evenly distributes itself in the soil.
This means that every inch of soil will be equipped with enough nutrients and minerals to feed your ginger and any other flora present!
Apart from a 10-10-10 mineral ratio, it also comes with micronutrients which we often forget that our ginger plants need. Included in this is a 2% Iron content that assists in the greening of foliage.
If your ginger is yellowing, lack of Iron could be a common cause of such a condition.
To get an idea of how much ground you can cover with this fertilizer, one bag can cover 5,000sq ft. So you’ll have more than enough to last till your ginger is ready for harvest and maybe more!
Diamond K Gypsum Organic Grade Sulfate Fertilizer Powder
Other than the regular NPK fertilizer, ginger plants will also need a Potassium fertilizer to apply during the mid to later phases of growth. I urge you not to ignore this fact or else you won’t be able to get those fat ginger rhizomes we all dream of!
With a nutrient composition ratio of 0-0-50, this fertilizer was all I needed to make sure my ginger was getting more than enough Potassium for rhizome formation.
A few applications throughout the growing season will be necessary but not in the very beginning.
In the beginning, it is best to use a Nitrogen rich fertilizer or a high-balanced fertilizer instead of a Potassium fertilizer. This Diamond K Gypsum Sulfate fertilizer is water soluble, making it the best way to get the nutrients to your ginger rhizomes.
Ortho-Phosphate Liquid Fertilizer
Anyone who is growing ginger on a large scale can invest in this fertilizer for fertilizing ginger plants in the later part of their growth cycle. Use this to mass apply Potassium to the ginger plants occupying a large area in a field.
It is a liquid fertilizer and can easily be diluted with water and fed to your ginger plants through an irrigation system.
This particular fertilizer makes the list because it boasts of improving tolerance to drought, improves vitality, and immunity, and even works to reduce the stress on crops.
You can keep it for next year or use it on other plants since it is quite a big quantity!
Conclusion
Ginger plants do have high fertilizer requirements. Initially, when planted, a well-balanced fertilizer will provide a boost to the ginger’s foliage. After the plant is developed, the focus should shift to ensuring the rhizomes below-ground are fully developed and big.
Give your ginger a balanced fertilizer with equal ratios of NPK (e.g 4-4-4) at the start of growth. Afterward, give it a high Potassium fertilizer or a concentrated K fertilizer.
We hope your ginger plants will be healthy and yield excellent ginger rhizomes with these fertilizers!
Not sure which Ginger to plant? Read this: Types of Edible Ginger – Use and complete details
FAQs
Ginger plants do benefit the most from organic fertilizers. However, compost alone cannot satisfy them completely. But a fertilizer made from highly concentrated organic materials such as cow dung or poultry-based materials would be most appropriate for the ginger plant’s requirements.
In the initial stages of growth, ginger will need a Nitrogen fertilizer to aid the growth of foliage. The growth of leaves is important for photosynthesis and the plant must establish leaves first. After this, the plant will have to route all resources towards growing a larger rhizome, seeing as this is the most beneficial part of the plant.
