Steve L

Jewel Pagoda is pretty hardy. Stokes lists it as Zone 8 and higher. It is a real good looking bloom. I don't know what your winters are like but if they are extremely wet, planting it in the ground might not be the ideal thing to do. I would store it in a paper bag inside in a closet until spring. You will really like this ginger. I think I posted a picture of mine in my gallery from this year. Good luck.

Steve

STEELVIPER

Hey steve,

yeah i looked up this ginger on the web and the blooms are incredible! The guy who sold me this ginger said i would be amazed. The weather here has been very warm. Are winters can be very dry. So far this fall it has been dry.But it can rain up to 20 inches in a year here.That is alot of rain for us. Never know what we are going to get. But the avg. rainfall for us here is about 11 inches of rain a year. I may just plant it in a large pot.But i do like the idea of storing it.What would you recommend for a soil mix? will it need some sun to bloom? Thanks again for your knowledge.

mark

__________________

Steve L

Mark,

For my potted tropicals, I have been using Miracle Gro potting mix for years and have had good success. It drains very well.

Mine is planted in partial shade and has bloomed every summer since planting. It probably would be larger if it got a little more sun but it's done well where it is. I might dig up a small rhizome is the spring and try it in another location because I like it so much.

Steve

STEELVIPER

Thanks again for the info Steve. Going to pot the ginger for the winter. Ill be keeping an eye on it over the winter. Make sure it does not rot. So many gingers not enough land!! LOL

__________________

simon_c

I'm growing the pink colored torch ginger and its flowering.
Ocassionally we do cut the edible flowers to eat. Its used extensively in South East Asian cooking.

-Simon

Steve L

Mark,

Don't overwater. Give it a good drink after you pot it up and then wait for some sign of growth. Put the pot on concrete where the sun will heat it up. The warmth from the concrete should help stimulate new growth. At this point, you could probably put it in full sun until you see new shoots.

simon c,

I'll be fortunate to get my red torch to bloom since I have to grow it in a container in my zone and it's reputed to be difficult to bloom in a pot. I'm giving it a try.

Steve

STEELVIPER

Will do steve. Thanks again. Hope all my questions do not bug you.

mark

__________________

simon_c

Here are some pictures of the pink torch ginger I am growing.

Steve L

Very nice Simon c. Maybe one day mine will bloom.

Steve

Lilith

I currently am growing 2 Etlingeras. I used to have 4 different ones but I took 2 of them out of the greenhouse because they are such space hogs. I have bloomed all 4 types of mine: Pink, Red, Yamamoto and Hieroglyphica.
It is VERY HARD to bloom the pink and red in containers. I won't say its IMPOSSIBLE, but these plants are not a small growing species. My greenhouse has a 20 ft ceiling, and in the ground, the pink torch (which seems more robust than the red) grew stalks that were in excess of 20 feet. Some were more on the scale of 25-26 feet. The blooms are basilar and held on stalks that can be between 3-5 ft tall. The blooms on the pink and red are the size of softballs.
These gingers are cold sensitive. I know of one person in South FL that has bloomed Red Torch in 10A but he described it as difficult. It will bloom better and more reliably outdoors in 10B.
Its my own opinion that unless you have a VERY LARGE CONTAINER that will allow the plant to reach a critical mass (the stalks on these plants when blooming size can have a diameter in excess of 10 inches) you may grow a very nice ginger plant but get no blooms. By big container I mean 30+ gallons, with overwintering practises that keep the plant above 40F.
I'd post a photo of some of my blooms, but I can't seem to figure out the photo posting function on this forum

__________________
11/2008 Outer Banks Marathon 26.2, Kitty Hawk NC--3:50
2/2009 5 Points of Life Marathon, 26.2, Gainesville FL--4:00
4/2009 Boston Marathon, 26.2-- 4:38
10/2009 Marine Corps Marathon, DC, 26.2--457
1/2010 Houston Marathon, 26.2--3:55:09
2/2010 5 Points of Life Marathon, Gainesville--415
Halloween Day 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, DC--
2/2011--Austin TX Marathon--

Lilith

One other note: Simon's plant looks like a variety of Etlingera called a "tulip torch". Yamamoto is a tulip torch. These have smaller stalks and much smaller blooms than the regular Pink and Red torch and are a lot harder to find starts of in the US

__________________
11/2008 Outer Banks Marathon 26.2, Kitty Hawk NC--3:50
2/2009 5 Points of Life Marathon, 26.2, Gainesville FL--4:00
4/2009 Boston Marathon, 26.2-- 4:38
10/2009 Marine Corps Marathon, DC, 26.2--457
1/2010 Houston Marathon, 26.2--3:55:09
2/2010 5 Points of Life Marathon, Gainesville--415
Halloween Day 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, DC--
2/2011--Austin TX Marathon--

estan

I've been interested in the torch gingers too. A year ago in Honduras I got to see lots of them - the pink right outside my dorm and the red across the Lancetilla botanical garden mixed in with heliconias and Musa coccinea on a steep bank. The pink was never as tall as Lilith's - more like 10'-12' but the red was bigger. New leaves on the red were flushed red purple. I also saw the red in two enclosed courtyards in Copan where they did grow to 20' . I swear the one flower last year was as big as my head. I would gather bouquets of these and theheliconias from the trash piles in the gardenafter the clearing crews made their rounds. Musa balbisiana constituted much of the offending undergrowth they cut down. "Slaughter of the Innocents" to me. but when I opened the first fruit with 200 seeds I understood why they are trying to control it. I have 6 seedlings in the house and am ready to plant the rest of my seeds (36). Can you soak seeds too long? I recently read "at least two days"

I've bought the ginger plants and never got them through the winter in the house. I now have two little pink seedlings 3" on heating pad, under lights in a south window. In my cool (50 deg.) greenhouse I have pots of A. zerumbet and the variegated form which also makes a good house plant here.
also several other gingers. Is there a dwarf variegated zerumbet? Liner farm offered it some time ago. I have bought a few small plants Walmart Lowe's but expect they will grow larger.

I remember Red torch blooming at Selby in Sarasota but it was in a greenhouse.

One other question: What is the Ace of Hearts? Is it the red thai banana? and is Agri-Starts already propagating it?

simon_c

Hi guys,

Found this site selling all types of tropical gingers. Has lots of pictures too.
http://www.alohatropicals.com/Gingers.html

island cassie

I planted etlingera eliator in the ground in September as a small plant with 1 leaf. Now it is 15ft tall with 16+ leaves and what I hope are flowering shoots. It is in light semi-shade with high humidity. As soon as it flowers I will post pictures.



On the right hand side, this is how it looked in late December at 8 ft tall while it was still under the shade netting - it is much bigger now.

The red thing hanging in the background is a hummingbird feeder.

Cassie

Lilith

These are mine, #1 is tulip torch E. "Heiroglyphica":

__________________
11/2008 Outer Banks Marathon 26.2, Kitty Hawk NC--3:50
2/2009 5 Points of Life Marathon, 26.2, Gainesville FL--4:00
4/2009 Boston Marathon, 26.2-- 4:38
10/2009 Marine Corps Marathon, DC, 26.2--457
1/2010 Houston Marathon, 26.2--3:55:09
2/2010 5 Points of Life Marathon, Gainesville--415
Halloween Day 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, DC--
2/2011--Austin TX Marathon--

Lilith

Red Torch

__________________
11/2008 Outer Banks Marathon 26.2, Kitty Hawk NC--3:50
2/2009 5 Points of Life Marathon, 26.2, Gainesville FL--4:00
4/2009 Boston Marathon, 26.2-- 4:38
10/2009 Marine Corps Marathon, DC, 26.2--457
1/2010 Houston Marathon, 26.2--3:55:09
2/2010 5 Points of Life Marathon, Gainesville--415
Halloween Day 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, DC--
2/2011--Austin TX Marathon--

Lilith

Pink Torch

__________________
11/2008 Outer Banks Marathon 26.2, Kitty Hawk NC--3:50
2/2009 5 Points of Life Marathon, 26.2, Gainesville FL--4:00
4/2009 Boston Marathon, 26.2-- 4:38
10/2009 Marine Corps Marathon, DC, 26.2--457
1/2010 Houston Marathon, 26.2--3:55:09
2/2010 5 Points of Life Marathon, Gainesville--415
Halloween Day 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, DC--
2/2011--Austin TX Marathon--

island cassie

Beautiful pictures - these certainly are gorgeous plants. I can't wait for mine to flower.

jnstropic

Fantastic! It's hard to believe that it is finally blooming in Florida. Congratulations. It must be the warming and a good grower.