TOPIC: When to thin?

Planted some beds of floaters and got several hundred in a small spot. Is it a good idea to separate them this Fall or wait til the Fall of their 2nd year?

WildCrafter

I would transplant them this fall after they have gone dormant. They will be just fine!

A few years ago we had a real hard rain and it washed a bunch of seeds up against a log. I transplanted them the first fall and they are doing great three years later.

Just wondering how close together are they?

classicfur

Wait until the 2nd year or even 3rd year. The over-crowding will make them odd shaped like wild roots. If you dig them this fall they will look like carrot roots in the end. It will not hurt them to be crowded for now and take on the look of a wild root at an early age. When you transplant them next year or the third year, you may want to make sure you do not work the soil up too much. Just plant them and compact the soil good around them.

I have two planting beds that I planted too close together 2 years ago. This will be the second growing season for them. I am going to transplant them either this fall or more likely the fall of 2012.

I planted the bed heavy and I got 80 to 90% germination. I have at least 8 to 10 seedlings per square foot which is too many. But I have seen worse from some people that claim to know what they are doing. Nobody on here I might add.

There is always a risk of disease when they are planted too close together. But so far mine are OK in those 2 particular planting beds.
Good luck,
Latt

OOPS,
Sorry Classicfur,
I was writing when you had posted.

Wildcrafter, these are two different ideas from two different guys. I am no expert so do what you think best for your situation.
Thanks,
Latt

If you like promoting the chance of disease leave them over crowded for two or three years.

classicfur

Latt, Thats ok

I think letting them to continue to grow bunched together like the field cultivated roots is never a good idea. I think it would be best to get them into their wild growing area as soon as possible

classicfur

Thanks for the replys. They were floaters, first year ever planting and from now on will not even bother to seperate floaters from sinkers. Just guessing ClassicFur they are 400-500 in a bed 3ft by 8ft in some spots the plants are 10-12 in a 4x4 inch spot, nothing like my beds.

All advice is appreciated.

Wildcrafter,

I always float test my seeds and at first I just tossed the floaters but in the pound of seed I got from wildgrown there were a few floaters and I just kept them and planted them in a little spot off by themselves.

I planted them the same as I did my other beds 4-5 per sq ft and this spring there are 8-10 little 3 leavers up in that spot but they are not crowded at all.

Now in talking with Mike over at hardwoodginseng I know that he plants his beds very thick (more like 8-10 per sq ft) and thins some beds out the first year and others out the second year.

He sells 1 and 2 year old rootlets on his website along with seed.

Now on those extra thick beds he may be spraying them to keep disease down, not sure, he did not mention that.

Hope you can get them all moved around and spaced out like you want them to be. Going forward I would just recommend that even if you are just planting a handfull of floaters that you still space them out properly when planting so if you do get lucky and a bunch of them come up you will not have to mess with them later on.

I have a bunch of land here to work with so from now own I do plan to plant any floaters and can sort of isolate them and just see how they do.

So far the floater bed that I planted - they 3 leafers there look great.

Best of luck with yours.

TNhunter

The purpose of float testing is to eliminate the possibly diseased seeds(the floaters) from the good healthy seeds that sank to the bottom. Floaters should be cracked open to inspect for disease.

You should never plant floaters in the same beds that you plant your healthy seeds. If the floaters are indeed diseased, you take the chance of the disease spreading to your healthy seeds that are in the same beds.

Check out Persons book pg 148-151 about seed floating and seed diseases.

Like TNhunter said. Planting the floaters in an area far away from your healthy seeded beds may be a way to utilize the floaters, if you have a large amount. Normally I have about 25 seeds per pound that float. To be on the safe side, I throw them in the trash.

Occasionally a large amount will foat because they are a little dry. Thats why it's best to crack some open for inspection.


Diseased seeds are not something you should mess around with. You have too much at stake with healthy plants becoming diseased.

classicfur