Culinary Red Galangal (Alpinia galanga) in 90 mm Bottomless Pot

Family: Zingiberaceae (includes gingers, galangals, and turnerics)
Genus: Alpinia (includes Australian native ginger)

Botanical/Binomial Name: Alpinia galanga
Meaning of Name:
Alpinia, after the 17th century Italian botanist Prospero Alpini + Latin -ia (used especially to form genus names by appending to the name of (usually) a scientist or patron); and
galanga, from Mediaeval Latin galanga (‘galangal’)

Common Names: Galangal, Culinary Galangal, Lesser Galangal, Red Galangal

Botanical Characteristics: Herbaceous | Perennial | Rhizomatous | Drought tender | Frost tender
Propagation: Division of rhizomes | Seed

Item Description:
These galangal plants are 300-400 mm tall and the dimensions of the bottomless pot are 90 mm square × 150 mm deep — I love these pots as the square shape and bottomless design produces beautifully straight and deep roots with no spiralling whatsoever. (I sell these brand-new if interested.)

I reuse and recycle pots whenever possible, and the pots the plants come in may show signs of this, but are otherwise in great condition.

The pots sit in very shallow water (when not being photographed!), which is why roots are seen coming through the bottoms in the first photo.

The plant you will receive may not be the one in the photo, but will be very similar. I may remove the pot and/or trim the leaves when posting if that aids packing and getting postage down for you.

Plant Description:
This member of the ginger family is both a culinary and medicinal plant as well as a striking ornamental.

Galangal is a clumping plant which can reach 2 m high.

Growing Information:
Galangal can be grown in pots as well as the ground — I do grow a small amount in 20 L and 38 L Air-Pot containers to make harvest easier, and plan to use hedge bags next season on account of how well turmeric grows in them.

Galangal thrives in rich, moist soil in a shady and protected spot.

This species is an evergreen perennial native to the tropics, but will grow in temperate areas with mild winters. The leaves may brown considerably during winter, but new shoots come back with a vengeance in spring.

Regular applications of fertiliser will help develop the fragrant and tasty rhizomes galangal is renowned for.