TOPIC: stratified ginseng seed

Hello folks a quick question can stratified ginseng seed be planted in may and June an come up next spring whats your thoughts

If it's stratified already and then planted this May or June it will most likely come up this summer assuming there is enough rain. If it's stratified and left in storage it would most likely sprout in the bag and die in my opinion. So if I had stratified seed now I would plant it right away.
Latt

I think it is way too late to plant stratified seed. We had a late spring, and most of my raised bed stuff is still coming up. They started almost two weeks ago now. If the seed is stratified -that is harvested in fall 2012- it would have already sprouted I'm guessing. If it was harvested last fall, it isn't fully stratified yet and shouldn't be taken out of the boxes until August or so, and then should be planted as soon as possible.

kentuckyhilldigger,
If it is stratified seed then it will not be difficult to tell. The seeds will have tails sticking out of the shell. If this is the case and the tails are not rotten then plant them now. Be careful not to break the tails off when planting them. They will still come up this summer.

Latt

I talked to Larry Harding (of Hardings Ginseng) a few years back and he said he starts planting stratified seed as early as July.

He is much more north than me and the summers there are no doubt a lot cooler than here in TN.

The seed that he is planting in July, would be the same seed that I would start plating in October.

He just pulls it up from the stratification box a little sooner to get a jump on the planting. I am sure in some of the more northern places (Alaska, Main, etc), you get snow in October.

TNhunter

I planted 2800 seeds in the early fall last year and checked it last week. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't have between 97% and 100% germination rate. Even the stuff my brother broadcasted by hand came up. he just tossed it out and it came up.

I guess that's Larry Harding has to get a leg up on the work he does. His operation is really big. If I had that much 'sang to harvest and plant every year, I'd be looking for ways to free up time in my fall season as well. He's very proud of his seed and roots.

I've never tried to plant this late in the year...Kentyckyhilldigger, can' t say as I would recommend, however Latt's point about not wasting seed is valid. If it's going to go bad, then why not plant.... What do you have to lose? I would like to know how this does!

TNhunter wrote:

He just pulls it up from the stratification box a little sooner to get a jump on the planting. I am sure in some of the more northern places (Alaska, Main, etc), you get snow in October.

Last year, here in northern PA, I took my daughter trick-or-treating in late Oct and there was snow on the ground, she had to wear her winter jacket over her costume.

Whitjr wrote:

I guess that's Larry Harding has to get a leg up on the work he does. His operation is really big. If I had that much 'sang to harvest and plant every year, I'd be looking for ways to free up time in my fall season as well. He's very proud of his seed and roots.

I've never tried to plant this late in the year...Kentyckyhilldigger, can' t say as I would recommend, however Latt's point about not wasting seed is valid. If it's going to go bad, then why not plant.... What do you have to lose? I would like to know how this does!

I think we might be talking about two different things here.

Stratified seed harvested in 2012 and stratified until fall 2013 would have likely been sprouted by June of 2014.

However, if we are talking about seed harvested fall of 2013 intended for planting fall of 2014, that is totally different. What Larry is doing is pulling 2013 harvested seed and planting late summer/early fall rather than waiting until later. If you have early winter, or good soil moisture, this will not be a problem. The only downside I see is the additional time the seed is exposed to disease or predation.

My initial concern was that the seed being planted should have been planted the fall before. My additional comment was based on my geographical area where we still are very hot and dry normally until the end of September. I am fine planting in late August or early September, as there is normally enough moisture in the ground to keep the seed healthy until the late September rains come. However, I would be worried about pulling seed from stratification earlier than that if planting in very hot, dry conditions.

Btw, on a separate note, I got to meet Larry this weekend at the 2014 Ginseng Summit. Decent fellow.