Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Red Ginger (Alpinia purpurata)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Red Ginger, Red Cone Ginger, Ostrich Plume, Pink Cone Ginger.

More about red ginger

About Red Ginger

Alpinia purpurata · also called Red Ginger, Red Cone Ginger · tropical

A spectacular tropical ginger producing tall canes with bold, lance-shaped leaves and striking red or pink bracts that last for weeks as cut flowers. Native to Southeast Asia and the Pacific, it thrives in warm, humid conditions with filtered sun. Vigorous and clumping, it is prized as an ornamental and used in Hawaiian lei-making.

Cold limit: USDA 9b–11 · RHS H1a (21–32°C)

What red ginger's hardiness rating actually means

Red Ginger is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1a means: Tropical — needs a heated room or greenhouse; no frost tolerance whatsoever. On the US scale that maps to USDA 9b–11 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly above about 15 °C (warm, never cold). Red Ginger has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for red ginger as it gets too cold:

Below about above about 15 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can red ginger go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above above 15 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when red ginger can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1a figure above.

Red Ginger hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is red ginger cold hardy?

Red Ginger is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Red Ginger can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 9b–11); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature red ginger can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly above about 15 °C (warm, never cold). Red Ginger has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is red ginger?

Red Ginger is rated USDA 9b–11 and RHS H1a — Tropical — needs a heated room or greenhouse; no frost tolerance whatsoever.

Can red ginger survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above above 15 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to red ginger below its minimum temperature?

Below about above about 15 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.