Final report for FNE23-048
Project Information
This project was to be a continuation of FNE21-980 Ginger Spacing in High Tunnels for Maximum Yields. Unfortunately our ginger research project this year was a total crop failure. We only harvested about 12 lbs of ginger across our entire planting of about 50 lbs of seed ginger (this includes the research plots and ginger not in research plots. We were very excited to have put up a tunnel just dedicated to ginger. It was a 22 by 50 tunnel and it was the first time we had ginger growing without anything else in the same tunnel. However, we did place the tunnel on some of our heaviest soils thinking that the ginger would love some extra soil moisture. However, the tunnel proved to not ventilate well, plus the heavy soils with our traditional water schedule we have used for the past few years caused the ginger to rot in the ground very quickly after planting. We did have a few sections of test plots that we were hoping would pull through for the fall, but Hurricane Lee lifted our ginger tunnel and moved it about 20 feet. Plants were destroyed and the test plots were pretty beat up from the metal hoops being dragged across the soil.
This project seeks to determine the most optimal planting density for ginger rhizomes in order to produce the highest yield. In addition, we seek to determine net income for different planting densities using an enterprise budget.
Objectives
- Research high tunnel-grown ginger using three different in-ground research plots with three different planting densities. The yield data from these plots will help farmers determine how dense they should plant ginger in their high tunnels for maximum yields.
- Calculate net income for each research plot using an enterprise budget, with specific labor data for each planting density. The enterprise budgets will show if certain planting densities are more efficient in terms of labor and will show how the labor required for certain planting densities affects net income.
Our project proposal is an extension of a SARE grant proposal that was funded in 2021. We are aiming to get data that shows the most optimal spacing for ginger rhizomes in order to return the highest yield in weight. In 2021 we had high yields and great data that showed us planting densities that returned high yields. However, in 2022, we had large scale crop failure in our ginger research plots. We were unable to replicate results for the second year so we are seeking project funding to continue researching planting spacing. One problem that we did not anticipate in our previous study was the amount of time needed to process and wash ginger planted at different densities. During our previously funded study, we found that varying planting densities yielded different size ginger hands that were harvested, and thus required varying amounts of labor to process and wash in order to get to market. If we can determine ideal ginger spacing and planting densities, it will help farmers who use prime high tunnel real estate on their farm to grow ginger and get the highest yields based on the space available. However, as we have found, profitability also lies in the time it takes to process and wash ginger. We aim to track the labor involved in preparing harvested ginger for market to determine if high density plantings are still profitable once the labor required for cleaning is factored into an enterprise budget.
This research project will improve farmers’ abilities to be profitable using their high tunnel protected growing space. The data collected from the research plots will help farmers make decisions about how densely they should plant ginger rhizomes. The production of multiple enterprise budgets based on planting densities will allow farmers to see how the labor required for a certain planting density will affect their profitability in their ginger crop.
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
Research
Objective #1 Materials and methods
- Ginger rhizomes will be cut and weighed into seed pieces ranging from 1 oz to 1.5 oz. Ultimate size will be determined by quality of seed stock. Seed pieces will be placed in 1020 plastic trays in stermile coco coir medium. These 1020 trays will be placed in a germination chamber. The germination chamber will be set to 80 degrees and the rhizomes will be left to germinate for 6 weeks.
- There will be three research plots in total. All research plots will be 25’ long located in a high tunnel at our farm
- Research Plot #1 will be set up for a double row planting with rhizomes planted at 4” spacing in row. Rows will be 8” apart. This plot will have 150 rhizomes planted
- Research Plot #2 will be set up for a double row planting with rhizomes planted at 8” spacing in row. Rows will be 8” apart. This plot will have 75 rhizomes planted.
- Research Plot #3 will be set up for a triple row planting with rhizomes planted at 8” spacing in row. Rows will be 8” apart. This plot will have 112 rhizomes planted.
- The research plots will all be planted by the last week in May or first week in June, depending on optimal soil temperatures. At the time of planting, the rhizomes will be planted into a 6 inch trench with compost, fertilized with fish emulsion, and covered with soil.
- Research plots will be irrigated daily by overhead emitters set on a timer. Duration will be 1-2 hours per day based on the season and high tunnel temperature.
- The research plots will be hand cultivated for weeds every other week for the duration of the growing season.
- Plots will be fertilized with fish emulsion every other week for the duration of the growing season.
- Research plots will be hilled once in early July and again in late August.
- Harvest will occur between October 1st and October 10th. All research plots will be harvested on the same day. We will harvest, trim the roots, wash the ginger hand, and then weigh and record the ginger weight by each plot to determine the yield in plot weight and compare it to the seed weight planted to determine yield. We will time the harvest to include time to dig, time to trim, and time to wash to get labor data for the enterprise budget.
Objective #2 Materials and Methods
- Time data for all labor tasks associated with the research ginger plots will be recorded including bed prep, seed prep, planting, weeding, fertilizing, hilling, and harvesting.
- Input costs for all seed and amendments will be calculated
- Time and financial data will be plugged into an enterprise budget template
- Three enterprise budgets will be developed and will correlate to the three specific planting densities in the research plots
- Each enterprise budget will determine a final net income for each research plot
Our ginger research project this year was a total crop failure. We only harvested about 12 lbs of ginger across our entire planting of about 50 lbs of seed ginger (this includes the research plots and ginger not in research plots. We were very excited to have put up a tunnel just dedicated to ginger. It was a 22 by 50 tunnel and it was the first time we had ginger growing without anything else in the same tunnel. However, we did place the tunnel on some of our heaviest soils thinking that the ginger would love some extra soil moisture. However, the tunnel proved to not ventilate well, plus the heavy soils with our traditional water schedule we have used for the past few years caused the ginger to rot in the ground very quickly after planting. We did have a few sections of test plots that we were hoping would pull through for the fall, but Hurricane Lee lifted our ginger tunnel and moved it about 20 feet. Plants were destroyed and the test plots were pretty beat up from the metal hoops being dragged across the soil. This season was very discouraging and we will be withdrawing our project from the SARE program.
Unable to obtain results.
Education & Outreach Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
Because of crop failure, no outreach was performed.
Learning Outcomes
Because of crop failure there were no changes in KASA.
Project Outcomes
Our ginger research project this year was a total crop failure. We only harvested about 12 lbs of ginger across our entire planting of about 50 lbs of seed ginger (this includes the research plots and ginger not in research plots. We were very excited to have put up a tunnel just dedicated to ginger. It was a 22 by 50 tunnel and it was the first time we had ginger growing without anything else in the same tunnel. However, we did place the tunnel on some of our heaviest soils thinking that the ginger would love some extra soil moisture. However, the tunnel proved to not ventilate well, plus the heavy soils with our traditional water schedule we have used for the past few years caused the ginger to rot in the ground very quickly after planting. We did have a few sections of test plots that we were hoping would pull through for the fall, but Hurricane Lee lifted our ginger tunnel and moved it about 20 feet. Plants were destroyed and the test plots were pretty beat up from the metal hoops being dragged across the soil. This season was very discouraging and we will be withdrawing our project from the SARE program.
When you reduce the surface area of a tunnel, I think that heat and humidity should be considered. Our tunnel was smaller than in previous years and heated up way faster and became too humid for an optimal ginger growing environment.