TOPIC: seven to nine years

Seven to nine years? That is very interesting and I believe that's possible. Thinking about how the Seng grows after logging, I am thinking it goes dormant until more sun hits the spot. Now I wonder if it grows when under the ground dormant. It has to stay alive somehow. Shows how little we really know.

I believe it may be the other way around. Once a canopy starts to develope or even undergrowth the plants will emerge and last longer and longer due to more shade. I have some areas that I dig that went to hell this year due to dry hot weather. Almost all the tops had dropped due to exposure by the time season opened. I still don't understand why seasons vary so much from state to state, anyhow. Like I said I don't know much about lying dormant, or for how long. But I do know I have found \"sang\" in areas where people would not think it would grow.

Whoops, I did not mean to start new thread, but up here it seems that more shade does not mean more plants. I can tell in areas on my land that the shady areas developing have less ginseng as time goes by, even after heavy seed planting.

i don't know either how seng stays alive either if it don't come up. But u know good and well on some of them big ol fat roots that only have like five or six curls are a lot older than that. SO i say that they have just layed dormant for many years. Because i have dug a many a root like that.

hillbilly wrote:

i don't know either how seng stays alive either if it don't come up. But u know good and well on some of them big ol fat roots that only have like five or six curls are a lot older than that. SO i say that they have just layed dormant for many years. Because i have dug a many a root like that.

So have I.

I think you mountain folks are seeing those big fat roots with just a few bud scars on the neck because you have ideal growing conditions.

I am fairly sure I remember reading in Scotts book where he said the root does not grow when the top is removed.

I found one today that was in the 35 year old range and the top was a average sized 3 prong and the root weighed about 1/2 ounce. It was by far the longest root neck I have seen in a good while. Age did not make it HUGE - think you have to have the ideal growing conditions for that to happen.

I found some the other day that where 6-8 years old that were big 4 prongs with 1.2 - 1.5 ounce roots. They obviously liked where they were growing.

If you look at the seng they grow in cultivated/artificial shade conditions it gets huge in just 6-8 years.

Look what a root neck on the one I found today.

TNhunter

TNhunter that is one long neck. True about good growing conditions and large roots. I have been finding large roots in the little valleys which are no more than holes about 5 or 6 feet across and 1 to 2 feet deep. These are not real old plants, but the sun is right and the soil is blacker than a bearskin. The rich soil and nutrients settle there. If any of you guys have similar area transfer some small roots into these depressions, you might be surprised.

TNhunter

That is one long necked root!

Have you ever wondered how a root can keep extending it neck upward each year without it protruding above the soil? I know I have.

Here is some info I found in a book called: Ginseng, How to find, grow, and use Americas Forest Gold. By Kim Derek Pritts.

\"The Koreans theorize that the ginseng root contracts in september or october of each year and actually \"wriggles\" deeper into the soil to accommodate the upward growth of the neck. The yearly shrinking of the root keeps the bud stem underground and helps to produce the valuable circles or transverse wrinkles around the root. The theory would seem to have merit, because the neck of the ginseng root rarely protrudes above the soil surface, no matter how elongated it has become.\"

classicfur,

I have wondered just that and in fact was wondering about that while trying to reach the root on that long necked root.

The root ball was around 5\" deep and the neck extended up to just below the surface. Down at the root ball it was between some roots/rocks and I tried but could not get all of the root hairs out, some did break off.

But one thing is for sure, if the berry/seed had of been that deep originally I don't see how the sprout could have sent up a top thru that much (5\" of soil).

It was located at the bottom of a bluff and there is a lot of loose soil there and rock chips and I am sure that as winter freeze/thaw happens that rock and dirt is continuously spilling down to that area.

I wondered if it just got burried a bit deeper over the years as that happened and sent up that long neck to keep the bud scar nearer the surface.

I never thought about them possibly wiggiling their way down deeper each year.

That is a interesting thought.

TNhunter

I believe those big sang plants save there energy for the right conditions. The reason why I think that is this. I walk past the same spots year after year with there only being a couple of plants there from the time they came up until the deer ate them off. We went in to a rainy cycle 2 years ago in Missouri this year 120 plants came up in one of these spots, some where 4 prongs with only 5-9 growth rings. In another spot I have walked by for 4 years without a single sign of a plant 16 4 prong plants came up this year 46 ounces worth!. Monster roots! I'm a firm beliver due to conditions those really old ones conserve until they know that they will produce the most seeds. How? who knows but I love it