Red Ginger Plant (Alpinia purpurata)

About the Red Ginger Plant (Alpinia purpurata)

Red ginger is one of the most rewarding tropical flowers you can grow: tall, leafy canes topped by long, glossy spikes of brilliant red bracts that keep coming almost all year in warm, humid climates. The tiny white flowers hidden among the bracts are a bonus for hummingbirds and butterflies. It is a staple of tropical floristry, with stems that last well in a vase. Older inflorescences often grow plantlets you can root to make new plants. Available as a rhizome, a potted young plant or a flowering-size clump.

How to Care for It

To plant a rhizome, lay it horizontally 3–5 cm deep in loose, compost-rich, well-drained soil with the buds facing up, water once and keep it barely moist until shoots appear; too much water before then can rot it. Give sun to partial shade, rich soil and plenty of water; it dislikes drought and drying wind. Feed monthly while growing and mulch to keep the roots cool and moist.

Sculptural flowers, fragrant blooms and edible rhizomes. Our tropical gingers include beehive ginger (awapuhi) in golden, red, pink and chocolate, shampoo ginger, red and pink torch ginger, red ginger, shell and butterfly ginger, plus culinary ginger and turmeric. Sold as rhizomes, potted plants or flowering clumps.

Growing Profile

Botanical name

Alpinia purpurata

Family

Zingiberaceae

Native to

Malesia and the western Pacific islands (Moluccas to New Caledonia)

Mature height

1.5–3 m

Plant spacing

1.5 m

Time to first flowers

1–1.5 years

Light

Sun to part shade

Water

High, keep moist

Cold tolerance

down to 5 °C

Best climates

Humid tropics, Dry tropics

Grows in a pot

Yes

Ships from

Our farms in Yucatán & Chiapas