TOPIC: Age Question

Here is a root I dug from my property that is air drying. It is not washed. It has a double stalk and was from seed that I planted 14 years ago. You can see the stems but no growth rings. Is this unusual? How does a buyer ascertain age in this situation?

That root looks like it was heavily fertilized. It doesn't have the normal wild/wild simulated rings we are used to seeing. Normally, when I see roots with that scaley look, they are pushed into growing fast and they end up drying very boney --which means very low value.

Based on that observation, I would suspect that root is growing so fast it is actually growing over the rings.

Thanks, very informative. It was near the edge of the woods line so yes it could have caught some excess fertilizer from the yard.

Good assessment, BCastle. I wan not too sure what to make of it. I think in order to sell this root to a buyer it would have tol be washed, to show that it really is 'sang. Even then, the lack of the proof of it's age will hurt it's value.

The vertical lines in the stem along with the stem color is not consistant with any ginseng that i have dried. even the way the stem is attached to the root looks like it may not even be ginseng. From what i remember the stems that i hav dug were more purple to white at the base and about 1 to 2 inches up the stem turned more green/purple.

I know there are anomalies in the plant world but I am surprised that it might not be ginseng. Its leaf structure was exactly like every plant next to it. Also, soil conditions are clay here which is very different from up north of here.



Its the large root in the center of this photo

Here is the patch it came from.

Seed was purchased from Tuckasegee Valley Ginseng about 15 years ago and as plants matured seeds were collected and replanted.

Thanks for all the advice. Great learning experience and hopefully this will help someone else.

Yes looks like ginseng based on the plant picture.
Do you plan on washing the roots at some point? If you do maybe you can get them into a little better condition then they are now, but you will probably have to put them under good ventilation/air flow to keep them from getting mold afterwards. Also the act of washing them at this stage is most likely going to break up the small feeder roots somewhat, but thats the only way that i can think of to maybe salvage them to the point that you could sell them. I saw a dealer one time have a barrel of goldenseal get mold in it and he re-washed the roots and dried them to get rid of the mold.

huntsman53 wrote:

natureflixs wrote:

Seed were purchased from Tuckasegee Valley Ginseng about 15 years ago and as plants matured seeds were collected and replanted.

Well, since the Ginseng came from W. Scott Persons, then it should be North American Ginseng! If you are willing, could you dig up one root, wash it and take pics and then once it has dried, take pics again and post the pics on here? I think that there will be a lot if interest in your' Ginseng as to why there is little if any necks or scars on the neck! What is the cause, the Red Clay, the minerals in the Red Clay or other??!! It would also be nice to see pics of a cleaned root that is green and then dried. This topic might even interest W. Scott Persons!


Frank

I guess because of where they are grown (Georgia red clay) they may not have any market value. No big loss since it is a hobby and I enjoyed introducing the plant back to this area. I have always had good luck with seeds sprouting in this soil and plants developing healthy looking leaves. This year is the first time I have ever dug any up.

For the sake of knowledge as suggested, I just dug up this three prong. In the photos below where you can see the soil conditions and what the root looks when it comes out of the ground. The last photo is lightly washed. I will dry it and post a photo when it is done and we will see what the color looks like.