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Ginger (Wild) or Yellow Ginger
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Wild Ginger - Not The Good Stuff
Wild Ginger (including Kahili Ginger and Yellow Ginger) is an aggressive, shade-tolerant herbaceous perennial originating from the Himalayas. Not to be confused with shop bought Ginger - which is part of the same family - Wild Ginger is toxic and a major pest plant because it thrives in the New Zealand bush environment, smothering out and excluding the growth of native species. It completely takes over producing dense areas of nothing but ginger, preventing natives from establishing in these areas.
On steep banks it spreads rapidly downhill - have you seen massive, broad-leafed thickets dominating bank cuttings and roadside gutters? Wild Ginger creates impenetrable underground networks of thick, tuberous rhizomes that completely block waterways and starve surrounding soil of nutrients. Often these infestation begin with gardeners throwing thinning over the hedge into the reserve behind their gardens where it just takes off.
Ginger plants are hard to kill with standard surface weedkillers because its real power is stored underground in heavy root tubers.
Luckily Cut 'n' Paste MetGel is purpose-built to beat it!
Identification of Wild Ginger is very simple. Here is a key that you can use for a more systematic ID
Wild ginger can still successfully multiply when rhizomes are damaged. Young plants are very palatable to livestock, and both species tend to invade all areas where stock are excluded, including within native bush and on road sides and riverbanks. Due to its all smothering nature, it will eventually replace all other species, being extremely shade tolerant, somewhat tolerant of frost and drought and can withstand immersion in sea water. It is a terrible pest plant in native bush and wetland areas where it tolerates wet and dark conditions excluding native species.
Leaves: Large, shiny, wax-like, alternate leaves up to 45cm long and 15cm wide radiating from thick central stalks.
Height: Grows in thick clumps up to 2–3 meters tall.
Flowers: Kahili ginger produces large, fragrant yellow flowers with bright red stamens in late summer; Yellow ginger produces creamy-yellow flowers.
Rhizomes: Massive, knobby, tuberous underground rhizome beds that sit partially exposed above soil.
Images courtesy of Carolyn Lewis and Trevor James Weedbusters
While some people have luck pulling out the plants, most will fail as the ginger will cleverly snap off, leaving you with the leaves and the roots in the ground that will regrow. You are much better off treating the whole area once or twice, with MetGel. Cut’n’Paste the stumps with MetGel – unless there is water nearby (if so, you are advised to consider using Bamboo Buster instead).
Slice through the rhizomes, the bulbous snaking roots that look like the ginger you buy at the shop (but these ones are not edible!), and apply MetGel to the cut surface. Try to make the cuts level so the gel doesn’t run off.
When you work on a large patch start at the bottom and throw the slash behind you as you go working systematically up the slope or across the flat ground. Use one of our serrated saws to cut through them neatly and efficiently.
Target Product: Cut ‘n’ Paste MetGel 10g/L Metsulfuron-methyl;
Alternative Product if near water courses: Bamboo Buster if near water;
Application Method: Cut thick leafy stalks near the base right above the rhizome mass. Immediately smear a thick, full-coverage layer of weed gel over the cut stump and any exposed rhizome cuts;
Follow-up: Check the patch after 4–6 weeks. Any rhizomes that shoot new green sprouts should receive a direct spot treatment.
Important Note:
MetGel is ground residual and may stay active in the soil for 6 months. Do not use over or near water course, rivers, streams, wetlands.
When using any herbicide ensure you READ THE LABEL THOROUGHLY, follow all instructions and directions for the purchase, use and storage of the product.
We also urge you to wear gloves and protective clothing.
While Wild Ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum and Hedychium flavescens) belongs to the Zingiberaceae family — the same family as culinary ginger (Zingiber officinale) that you buy in the shop – this stuff is not edible though, and is considered toxic – so don’t be tempted to put it in your curry.
Store-bought ginger comes from a completely different species (Zingiber officinale) cultivated specifically for food. Wild Ginger species brought into New Zealand as ornamental plants contain bitter, irritating essential oils, resinoids, and complex chemical compounds that culinary ginger does not have. If you suspect someone or a pet has ingested Wild Ginger, contact the National Poisons Centre (NZ): 0800 764 766 (0800 POISON) immediately.
The Wild and Yellow species of ginger are non-woody perennials, growing up to 2m tall from thick-branching rhizomes (swollen underground stems). Their dense underground root system spread up to one metre deep excluding all other species. Both species produce shiny leaves 20 to 45cm long.
Kahili ginger flowers January to March and produces scented, lemon and yellow flowers with conspicuous red stamens, followed by fruiting spikes with fleshy orange fruits. Yellow ginger produces scented, cream coloured flowers in clusters, from May to June and does not produce fruit.
Both species prefer forest environments, where soils are fertile and damp, thus wild ginger has been termed a ‘forest invader’. Areas where it can commonly be seen growing include forests, streamsides, alluvial forest, light gaps and gullies. It cannot tolerate very dry or rocky areas, due to the generally low fertility of the soil in such environments.
