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I was given some galangal a couple of years ago, which is now thriving in my garden. Is there a best time/season to harvest galangal, and can one just retrieve a small portion of the rhizome as required, or is it best to dig the whole lot up and replant at the same time?

Niall C.
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long
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  • I recently planted a Galangal tuber. I am in a temperate zone (Sydney, Australia) and the bag I bought the tuber in suggested that in such areas if the winter is too cold then Galangal can be grown as an annual, harvested in Autumn and storing part of the dug up tuber for planting in the next Spring. I am going to see how it copes over winter. Leaving a comment not an answer as I don't have a reference (and disposed of the wrapper I mentioned, so I can't refer back to it exactly). – Bogdanovist Dec 11 '13 at 21:42
  • @Bogdanovist - thanks. I am near Sydney also, and this plant has lived through a couple of winters of several sub-zero nights and some frosts without any problems. Looking likely that I'll harvest next Autumn. – long Dec 11 '13 at 21:48

1 Answers1

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After some searching, it appears that you shouldn't harvest galangal until it is at least 4 years old. When it gets to that age, you should harvest in autumn or winter.

ElendilTheTall
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    Does that mean you can only harvest every 4 years, or you can harvest each year after an initial 4 years of growth? Care to add in the link you found this info at? – WebChemist Dec 05 '13 at 21:57
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    I gather the 4 years is to let it grow to a decent size and establish itself, but I'm no gardener. Here's the link I found: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/edible/msg0407382629540.html – ElendilTheTall Dec 06 '13 at 09:47