I’LL BE harvesting my root ginger this month, and by the look of the foliage it’s going to be a record crop. I’m guessing that’s because of the extraordinary heat we’ve had this summer — but it’s only a guess.

The reason we know so much about growing cabbages in this country is because millions of us have grown them over many centuries.

We don’t have the same accumulated knowledge when it comes to ginger. Perhaps some of you may be tempted to engage in a little citizen science, by planting your own ginger next spring.

For instance, one of the things we think we know about ginger is that it prefers dappled rather than direct sunlight. But that is thrown into doubt if this year’s extreme levels of sun have indeed led to bigger yields than usual.

Is it possible that this plant needs dappled light in its native regions, but not in Britain?

Something I have definitely learned about ginger in a quarter century of raising it in Somerset is that it’s best harvested as soon as it stops actively growing, rather than waiting for the foliage to die back completely.

Left too long, the tubers will start to rot. Now, when I first see any of the long, blade-like leaves begin to flop or lose their colour, I dig up the root.

The whole process starts in April or May when I buy a hand of fresh, plump-looking ginger from the supermarket, or else use a piece of last year’s harvest which I’ve kept through the winter in a cool, frost-free place buried in a pot of dry compost.

I’ve come to think that it does best if planted whole, but you can also try breaking the hand into three or four chunks, each of which carries at least one green bud on it. If you do break it up, leave it out to dry for a week, so that the scars heal over.

Plant the ginger just below the surface of peat-free multipurpose or potting compost, in a medium-sized pot with a capacity of maybe 10-20 litres. If you happen to own a self-watering pot of any kind, that's best of all.

The perfect place for ginger is in a conservatory. It doesn’t have to be one of those luxurious sun-rooms as featured in pension adverts; a rickety lean-to, or a glazed porch will do.

All you need is somewhere sunny which, from late spring until early autumn will be significantly warmer than outdoors. Failing that, a bright windowsill is worth trying — at the worst, you should end up with a handsome house plant.

Ginger needs constant feeding and watering, so that its compost is always moist without ever becoming soggy. Misting the leaves with a sprayer, to create humidity, might be worthwhile.

In a decent year I expect to lift about double the weight I started off with. The flavour of fresh ginger makes all the trouble taken more than worthwhile.