Cutting seed made easy

Here are some hands of ginger, they are nice

Please do not plant our gingers in California, Arizona, Texas or Louisiana. This guide is intended for everyone else.

You will need the following.

Ginger

A very sharp knife, the sharper the better

Cutting board.

Some Vodka, the cheaper the better.

Small scale to check your seed size now and again

Cutting

Important cut a 1/8-1/4 of an Inch up from where one finger meets the other so that when the cut heals and shrinks slightly it does not shrink back into the other piece.

Dip the knife in vodka every few cuts or every cut if you choose

Check your weights on a scale to see if you're meeting your target. ***Warning basic math involved***

Don’t hack at the ginger…ideally one smooth cut will heal the fastest.

The cut area should not be huge, you want to minimize the surface area of cuts so they heal correctly. We usually try to use the rule of thumb here…no cut area much bigger than the circumference of your thumb.

You do not want too many pieces with over three cuts per seed on them. A few is no big deal but don’t cut everything up too much trying to get an extra seed here or there. Some seeds will end up with one cut, some two, some three and a few might have 4.

Here is some cut seed pieces

Each piece weighs between 18-50 grams generally.

If you trend towards larger seed you will of course get less seeds per pound. Larger seed may perform better under stress or late planting. Smaller seeds can do well in more ideal conditions and of course yield more seed pieces. Average seeds per pound is about 12-15 pieces.

Lay cut seeds out to air cure for 2-7 days before planting or presprouting.

General rule of thumb again… as long as seeds are bigger than your thumb you're good.