TOPIC: New guy/Few questions????

Yes sir, there is in fact some maiden hair fern on the property. I just posted a few photos of the woods as requested. I wasn't really taking them of anything in particular, except the bears. Didn't realize until I started going thru the pictures of what to post that I actually had a photo of that black cohosh. I want to say that there is blue cohosh there also but I need to get back up there and have a look to be sure...I think I had the two confused. Thanks for the reply and the info.

The photos you posted tell us a lot.

It looks like a couple of test plots, like TNHUNTER wrote is a great idea. Looks like you have enough of a shade/sunlight ratio for growing 'sang to work.

You will need to do some ground prep in your test areas. Removing the understory brush, and raking back the leaf clutter before planting. I'd get a soil sample out to a lab As well.

Maybe the bears will leave your patches alone! Cool photos of them, anyway! Please keep us posted on how things are going!

Yes sir, I sure will...I am looking forward to getting back up there soon. I want to have a quick look at that black cohosh. It is actually right behind my cabin, within 25 feet of it in fact. I wasn't really taking a picture of it, I was just taking one looking up that old woods road. I didn't even realize what it was until I saw a picture of it when it flowered on the web and thought that looked familiar. Sure enough...
I will keep you guys posted.

Msibert- I have been called a lot of things during my life, however \"sir\" is rarely one of them! LOL

Hey, while on (or near) the subject of maidenhair fern, I was wondering if the seng likes growing near it for the same soil nutrients, or is it the dampness being similar, or is it the darker woods factor? Last year I was finding a bunch of seng near it in a different hollow a couple miles away, but on my own property I don't have a single mhf plant, yet down deeper in the hollow adjascent to my property there is some. However, I am finding more wild seng up in my higher (dryer) elevation than what I have seen growing down in the deeper lower elevation in the hollow. If it is in fact the deeper, darker factor than even though we find wild seng growing with mhf, wouldn't it be better to not plant around it (for profit) as it will take much longer for the planted seng to grow to maturity? I guess the first question will answer the last. Anyone know why they get along so well in nature?

This is a good question....I am wondering now myself. Maybe somebody will come along and tell us.....I have quite a bit of it on my place too. All my land is on top, 2200 feet of elevation for what that is worth.

Msiebert wrote:

This is a good question....I am wondering now myself. Maybe somebody will come along and tell us.....I have quite a bit of it on my place too. All my land is on top, 2200 feet of elevation for what that is worth.

Really? I have only seen it lower in the valleys in my area. We don't have much per se of mountains, but mainly high hills and deep hollows. Highest on my land in an open field being 1235'. That is about the highest it gets in these parts. At winter I can see nearly all directions for miles. The lowest in my woods is about 950'. The lowest in the area is 650' and is the bigger creek which leads down to the Ohio River which is 600'. So around here no mhf until about 850'. So maybe the dark woods isn't the factor since you have it on top and most woods let more light in up on top the hills vs. down in the hollows. I usually don't find seng on top any hills around here either. It is usually about a third the way down the hollow and lower. Sometimes I get tricked though.

I guess I should clarify...on top of my mountain, right behind where I built my cabin is a big bowl of probably 6 or 7 acres. It is covered with pretty good sized poplar and wild cherry trees so it is pretty dark. This \"bowl\" or depression in the woods also is on the exact north side of the mountain so it never really gets much direct sunlight....maybe that is the difference.
Next time I am up there I will have a look on the south face and see if I see any.

Edit: If you go back and look at my pictures of the companion plants in this thread {page 1} the second picture shows some ferns and a bears leg. Top left of the picture, isn't that Maidenhair fern????? I know some of it is Christmas fern too but there are two different types...looks like it to me.

No sir, that is not maidenhair fern. Maidenhair fern has a black stem about 8\" high and then all the fernlike branches come off of that at one point. TNhunter's pic kind of don't show that part of it so well. Here is a pic showing the full pattern of it's branching. That \"bowl\" probably will produce some good seng but if it is really dark it will take quite some time to mature. Probably 15 years. I would consider a spot with about 75% shade. Gotta let some sunlight in here and there. Mostly matters how far north you are.