Alpinia officinarum
Alpinia officinarum
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant for the warmer, moister tropics, preferring high humidity and a temperature that does not fall below 15°c[1]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 19 - 27°c, but can tolerate 15 - 36°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 3,000mm, but tolerates 1,100 - 4,000mm[2]. Prefers a well-drained, humus-rich soil and a position in partial shade[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 5.5, tolerating 4 - 6[2].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as ripe[3]. Sow in containers and keep at around 20c[3]. Division of the rootstock as new growth begins[1]. Very easy. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Alpinia+officinarum>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
- [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [4]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
- [5]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
- [6]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.