TOPIC: Babies are still Babies

Hey guys its been awhile since ive been on here so hope all is well with everyone. Anyways guys got a question for you all. Have anyone who has growed ginseng ever had their two year olds come back up three leafers again. I know its suppose to be first year 3 leafs, second year two prong and then so on. Well almost always my seng that i grow hardly ever comes back up two prongs in their second year and most of the time the third year. I notice this a lot in the wild and in my patch. I have had one loney thats wat we call a 1 year old here but it has been a loney now for four years. out of my plantings two years ago which all should be two prongs this year i would say that only 10 to 20 came uptwo prongs out of about five thousand or more. I know if you read the books and study upon this, this is not suppose to happen in cultivated seng. Anyways just wanting to know some of your alls growing experiences.

hillbilly

I would say that anywhere from 20-35 percent of my two year olds come up 2 prong. Out of one pound of seeds I usually have one or two that come up 3 prong in the second year. My avatar to the left is a 3 prong two yr old.

The only thing I can figure with yours staying single prong, is something may be lacking in the soil.?

Here's a pic of a two yr old bed this spring. There is some 3 leaf, 5 leaf and 2 prong. So far this year I have noticed two 3 prongs in the two year old beds.

I would say that the majority of two year olds come up as large 3 leafers and large 5 leafers.

In the third year, I would say the majority ar 2 prong.

And most two yr old 2 prongs look like this. For some reason the plants take a long time to develope into 3 prongs.

Good info. My patch is the same way to.

I don't have a lot of experience growing ginseng other than wild berries that I have planted over the years. However, this is very consistent with the wild ginseng that grows around here.

Check this out. Pg 8-12

www.wildgrown.com/growing_ginseng_instructions.pdf

It says that it takes 3-6 years for a plant to become a 2 prong. And it goes on to say that stunted growth is because of too much shade.

I know that years ago I had plants that seem to be growing slow. But I did not think much of it. I did notice that it was time to cut some tree down because it was starting to be too shady. So a couple of years after letting more light in, the plants seem to be growing alot better.

classicfur

I don't know for sure but do expect that at least 2 factors will come into play as far as how quickly they turn into 2 and 3 prongs.

Soil - calcium level, also P & K levels.

Light - if growing in fairly deep shade, could stay 3 leafers or smallish 2 prongs quite a bit longer compared to a site that for example gets some good morning sun followed by shade.

That spot where I found some huge ginseng (3 and 4 prong tops) and roots last fall (that were 5-8 years old max), the soil was full of rock chips (expect high calcium and other minerals) and also that bluff faced due east and during the morning hours they got almost direct sun for at least a few hours, but then were shaded well in the evenings.

I do expect that both Light conditions and Soil conditions will make a difference in how quickly they develop past a 3 leafer.

TNhunter

To give your seng beds more light check out the area due east of your beds for trees that could be cut back or eliminated completely to let in more morning light.

If you are like me and are growing seng in some decent timber land you may not want to shed any nice oak trees but you could eliminate some trash trees like dogwood, sourwood, ironwood, etc..

Remove or cut back only the trees that are blocking morning sun and leave the ones that are offering evening shade.

Below is a pic that demonstrates well how the site can make a big difference in results.

The 4 roots on the upper right side were all 8-10\" 3 prongs and were all 20+ years old (long root necks), with around 1/4 oz roots. They were growing on some old timber land that offers deep shade and the soil is mostly clay with some leaf mulch on top. I expect the calcium levels are low.

The roots on the bottom and left were all in the 5-8 year old range (short root necks) and much larger in the 1 oz to 1.5 oz range. The tops were big and stout 3 and 4 prongs. They were found growing just a 1/2 mile from where those other roots were found, but in a site that was quite different. They were growing around the bottom of a limestone bluff, the soil was just full of rock chips and leaf compost. The bluff was facing east and the seng was getting very good morning light, but were shaded well in the evenings.

That may be the ideal setting to grow big seng with less time.

TNhunter

Check out Guy's website: BSM Ginseng. He has pics of ginseng at different ages. Just click on Photos.

www.bsmginseng.com/index.htm

I think his plants are alot like mine for two and three year olds.

classicfur