As a tropical crop, ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizomes will not fully mature inside high tunnels in Virginia. The objective of this study was to monitor the growth and development of ginger rhizomes throughout the season, as reflected in the fresh and dry weights. The ultimate goal was to determine the harvest time of rhizomes for profitable fresh and dry ginger. Ginger cultivars Bird, Blue Ring, Buffalo Gung, Chinese, Indian, Peruvian Yellow, Red, and Yellow were pre-sprouted in a greenhouse in mid-March of 2024. Sprouted ginger rhizomes were transplanted into raised beds in a 26’ x 150’ high tunnel on May 16, 2024, on Randolph Farm of Virginia State University. The in-row spacing was 1 ft. Monthly destructive samples of 3 plants/cultivar (one in each of the 3 replications) were conducted for fresh and dry weights. Cultivars differed in the rhizome fresh and dry weight over time. Fresh rhizome weight of cultivar Bird, Chinese, Indian, Peruvian Yellow and Yellow reached 0.5 lb/plant 3 months after transplanting (MAT). “Red” had significantly higher percentages of dry weight (> 8%) than other cultivars (< 6%) until 5 MAT, when other cultivars began to catch up. Pooling data from all cultivars, we found that ginger rhizomes will reach 0.5 lb/plant, which is a profitable yield, around 3 MAT. The percentage of dry weight remained low (5.3-5.7%) until 4 MAT, but the number spiked quickly to 8.3 % at 5 MAT and 13.4 at 6 MAT. Our results suggest that young ginger harvest can happen as early as 3 MAT. However, to harvest rhizome for dry ginger, 5 MATs are needed and harvest should occur at the end of season for maximal yield. “Red” is a unique cultivar. It has the lowest yield (1.3 lb/plant), but its percentage of dry weight remained high (8.2-8.8%) for 5 months, compared to all other cultivars (4.4-6.4%).
