Can You Compost Ginger? (And Ginger Peel?)

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, a lot of theories went around on how to combat it. Granted, it is a novel virus and no cure nor vaccine was available at the time. People, throughout the world, resorted to fighting the condition or at least preventing themselves from it through various methods. One of the ingredients in the concoctions made was ginger.

Ginger is well known as a popular home remedy for the cold or the flu, as well as other health conditions such as nausea, stomach pains and indigestion. It has also been used since ancient times in cooking as it is a good source of antioxidants. With all that said, can ginger be used in another way, aside from cooking and as medicine? Well, this article analyses ginger with regards to it being composted.

Can You Put Ginger in Compost?

Yes, ginger can be composted, but only in small amounts. However, there are a couple of reasons why adding ginger to your compost is not such a great idea, especially if you have a large amount of it.

First, the outer layer is woody and can take a long time to break down in compost.

Secondly, worms tend to avoid spicy or flavourful foods such as garlic, onions, and ginger. Ginger is spicy and fragrant, which makes it ideal for use in many culinary dishes.

As such, adding ginger can slow down the decomposition process of your compost significantly. Lastly, adding ginger to your compost pile can create unpleasant odors. As such, although it is safe to add small amounts of ginger to your compost, you are better off replanting your ginger or using it to make a delicious broth.

There are also those people who prefer vermicomposting. This is the process of decomposing using species of worms. Vermicomposting or worm composting turns kitchen scraps and other green waste into rich, dark compost that is nutritious to the soil and improves the soil’s structure.

You should absolutely avoid adding ginger to vermicompost as the worms will not like the spicy herb. It also means the composting process will be slow and the result might not be what you expected. If you are doing cold composting, which is the add-as-you-have-materials pile type of compost, ginger will do okay there.

This is because the process is slow and can take about a year or more, and will do well with your large amounts of ginger. However, if you have minimal amounts, try hot composting, where you add it to a composting bin or tumbler.

The rule of composting still applies here, that you should chop your ginger into small pieces, for easier composting. Having the tiny pieces around might also be okay for the worms who might not want too much of the spicy herb. Therefore, ensure you crush the ginger into the smallest pieces possible.

When mixed in with other materials, the spicy nature of ginger might be neutralised, making it easier to compost and of course at a quick rate. If you leave your ginger whole, chances are high, you will find it the same way when your compost is ready.

Also, do not forget that being a plant, ginger also attracts its fair share of pests like aphids, ants, mealybugs, red spider mites, fungus gnats, armyworms, and yellow woolly bear caterpillar, among others.

These slugs and snails might also follow the ginger into the composting bin, so be sure to turn it occasionally, hide the ginger in the middle of the pile, and overall, keep an eye over your composting bin as it does its work.

Can You Compost Ginger Root?

Yes, you can compost the ginger root. Again, as mentioned above, ginger is okay to add to compost in small amounts. The same applies to ginger root, and you should also add less of it.

The first reason behind this is, like the ginger itself, the outer layer is woody and can take a long time to break down in compost.

Next, worms will avoid the spicy root and the same will be revealed when the decomposition process is slowed.

Thirdly, adding the root will lead to it finding an ideal place to regrow. Rather than root composting, it might continue to grow. Putting even the tiniest part of a root, regardless of crop, into the compost can lead to it springing back to life and sending its roots out through everything else in there.

The best solution is therefore to drown them. The root is a store of energy, so it takes a long time to die but dunked for several months in dustbins full of water, it eventually rot down into a compostable mush.

Some choose to spray the root with herbicides to kill it, which is okay. However, do not place such a root inside the compost as it will transfer the herbicides into the compost and back to the ground

Can You Put Ginger Peel in Compost?

Oh yes! Ginger peels are very good manure, especially for flowering plants. Many people use the peels to create a potent broth that can be added to absolutely anything, including blending juices, making cocktails, and steaming veggies.

In the same manner that ginger peels can be used at home, so can they be used inside the composting bin. However, take precaution. First, if the ginger were sprayed with a herbicide while still in the garden, that herbicide might still be present in the peels.

As such, do not throw them in there before cleaning them thoroughly to remove the herbicide. If it is not removed, it will be carried over into the compost and back to the garden, adversely affecting other crops and the garden in general.

Secondly, the peels could contain chemicals and acidity that is not safe for the microorganisms and worms inside the compost. Therefore, be sure to chop the peels into tiny bits to hasten the decomposition process. If left whole, they will take a long time to decompose and break down, which in turn delays how soon you can use your compost.

Can Ginger Be Used as Fertilizer?

Yes! Garlic skin and ginger peels are very good manure for flowering plants. We have identified that ginger can make excellent compost, which can then be used as fertilizer.

Although ginger cannot on its own make the compost or make the fertilizer, try composting it instead. If you used the ginger on itself as fertilizer, chances are that it will start growing and probably take over your other plants.

However, ginger is best known as a pesticide or for pest control. Ginger contains zingerone ketone compounds and oils that have a spicy taste, causing the insect body to feel hot, fever and die. This natural pesticide can also control other pests such as caterpillars, tomatoes, grasshoppers, grasshoppers, curdles, nematodes, and anthracnose.

To make the natural and organic garlic pesticide, first, grate or crush one ginger palm or around 50 grams ginger until it is smooth. Secondly, prepare about 3 liters of clean water and 12 ml of detergent or soap, and put the ginger into the liquid.

Next, stir until the water, detergent, and ginger blend together. Let the mixture sit for a day. Finally, strain the solution and put it into a spray bottle. The mixture is your natural pesticide and is ready for use.

Be sure to spray it on all parts of the affected plant in the morning or afternoon. It is also possible to make an all-natural pesticide from the mix of ginger, garlic and green chili. The combination of the three will also be able to control aphids, nematodes, tomato caterpillars, fruit flies, leaf-miner flies, thrips, whitefly, and other pests.

Can You Compost Rotten Ginger?

Definitely! The whole idea behind composting is to have a product decompose or rot, only now in a controlled area, together with other rotting materials, to produce a compost that is beneficial to the garden and plants.

Rotten ginger is therefore halfway there! The moldy cells on the rotting ginger are just one of the many different types of microorganisms that take care of decomposition and are fine inside the composting bin.

Again, as compared to fresh ginger which has a spicy bit that will affect some microorganisms, the rotting one has already been taken over by the necessary microorganisms for this particular production. They will therefore help it decompose and in time, will arrive at a healthy compost for your garden.

However, be sure that the rotting is not as a result of a disease that affected the ginger, as transferring it directly into the composter, will spread the disease and help reinfest your garden.

At the same time, take caution as some damaging insects might survive in the infested and rotting garlic, and might not die off inside the composter, thereby become a menace to your garden. If your ginger is rotting due to rodent or pest activity, avoid throwing them inside the composter.

This is because the pests will follow the ginger into your pile, where they might also take on other rotting materials. This will also slow down the entire process. Therefore, understand the rot and if it is natural, or if it is a rot that is not harmful when inside the composter, then it is safe to compost that ginger. If it does not seem natural to you, take precaution to avoid more harm than good

How Long Does It Take For Ginger to Compost?

It is unsure as to how long it takes for ginger to break down completely, but the best guess is some few weeks. However, even when arriving at this conclusion, some factors can cause it to take longer.

First, where the ginger was boiled and crushed into smaller particles, the process will take a short time, probably a few weeks. However, if the ginger was thrown in whole and not cut, it will take longer.

Remember, the rule of composting that items need to be cut into smaller pieces for a speedy and effective compost. Additionally, ginger is spicy and worms tend to avoid such spicy or flavourful foods.

Ginger will therefore slow down the decomposition process of your compost significantly. Cutting it into smaller pieces might have a better result. Additionally, ginger does not really require soil to continue growing and can continue to grow inside the compost, if placed in whole.

Secondly, if it was the root that was composted, it might continue to grow rather than be composted. Therefore, take enough precautions and kill the root before adding it to the compost, lest it continues to sprout. Finally, and regardless of the ginger, each compost will take more time if it is relatively bigger. The process can take a few weeks or months for a complete compost to be arrived at.

References:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265990

https://www.answers.com/Q/Can_ginger_go_in_compost

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jul/27/garden-waste-compost-ideas

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About Rinkesh

A true environmentalist by heart ❤️. Founded Conserve Energy Future with the sole motto of providing helpful information related to our rapidly depleting environment. Unless you strongly believe in Elon Musk‘s idea of making Mars as another habitable planet, do remember that there really is no 'Planet B' in this whole universe.