Ginger – Red Torch – Etlingera elatior

Plant family: Zingiberaceae

Plant origin: South East Asia.

Fruit description:

Flowers: Red Torch Ginger has a stunning red flower which is edible as a bud. The flower is about 120 cm high, with a waxy cone shaped top and folding red petals. They are a lovely garden plant.

Growing conditions: Red Torch Ginger is a hardy, perennial evergreen plant that grows to about 2.5 metres high. It grows in any warm climate. It likes plenty of water in the growing seasons, little or none in Winter. Let your Red Torch Ginger plants clump and harvest the rhizomes as you need them. Gingers grow well in pots. It is a handsome plant used to give a tropical feel to a landscape.

Uses: Red Torch Ginger is used in Asian cooking. Use the fleshy rhizome, the young red shoots, and unopened flowers grated or in slices that you can remove after cooking. It has a mild aroma and a subtle flavour. It is used in Thai and Indonesian foods such as Rendang, sambals, and soups. Red Torch Ginger flowers are edible, they are used to prepare Laksa dishes. Ginger flowers are used in floral arrangements, especially the stunning Red Torch Ginger flowers which looks similar to a NSW waratah.

Medicinal uses: Red Torch Ginger is widely used in traditional medicines in many Asian cultures.

Pollination requirements: Self-Pollinating.

Harvest time You can harvest the edible fleshy rhizome or underground stem of Red Torch Ginger anytime. You can also eat the young red shoots, and unopened flowers for a mild flavour.

Plant relatives Common Ginger;Cape York Lily;Kencur;White Fragrant Ginger;Turmeric;Kencur;Galangal

Special features: In the ginger family there are about 20 species which are edible.

Grown by method: Root Division Pot size: 200mm

Plant growing Height and Width for pots or in the ground planting: Grows to metres high by metres wide if Planted in a Pot. Grows metres high by metres wide if Planted in the Ground.

Shipping plant pot or planter bag size: 200mm