TOPIC: When to plant seeds??? Is it too late????

Is there a \"best\" time to plant seeds??? Does it get too late to plant??? When is this????
If deer eat the plants I am going to guess and say bear will as well, what about turkeys???? If all three eat ginseng how would you ever get it to grow in woods that have a lot of all three???? Thanks in advance for any info.

You can plant any time from August until the ground freezes.

Deer are identified as a major (if not THE major) predator of ginseng. Turkeys will eat the seed from the sown beds, eat seeds on the plant, and scratch out young plants. Bear, no clue.

...that's why ginseng is valuable.

Well, anything a deer will eat a bear will and then some, so I probably aint got a chance at raising any sang...but, I gotta try it anyways. Thanks for the info!!!!!

Msiebert wrote:

Well, anything a deer will eat a bear will and then some, so I probably aint got a chance at raising any sang...but, I gotta try it anyways. Thanks for the info!!!!!

I wouldn't give up. Like BCastle said, you can plant til the ground freezes, and this takes longer in the woods under the leaf litter than on exposed bare ground. As for the critters, I had gotten a lot of pics of deer last winter and even early spring in my woods. In late spring and summer, they tend to gather more in fields and open areas as there is more vegetation there. I hardly got any pics of them in the woods all summer and early fall until recently after all the leaves fell. I think they head to the woods for more cover as the land gets more barren in fall. This could vary depending on how much human intrusion has taken place near your location. I did take measures on a few locations to prevent deer damage, but on the locations left unprotected I had no damage from deer either. However, I didn't completely clear the woods of undergrowth so the seng don't stand out (alone). I feel the natural companions will deter disease as well as give the critters something else to munch on. I would focus more on keeping poachers out! They are the low-lifes that want your seng the most. Never enough trail cameras well hidden. I just got two more and cut and camoflauged chain for them and wired the solar panels and external batteries. Putting them out today if the wind calms. Too many widowmakers out there for me to risk it.

P.S. You want some cameras in sight and some hidden. It keeps them guessing, and most likely out of your woods. Getting a few (or even one) on cellular networks so you get the text and or email of the picture every time the camera is triggered, is the greatest route for security. You just have to weigh out if it is cost effective to spend the cash on the monthly bill. Waiting until the seng is of digging size may make it more cost effective.

Thanks for the info...it is always greatly appreciated!!! I do have cameras up already as well as a sign that says \"smile, your on candid camera\"
I am not gonna say my place is trespasser proof. It might be as long as no one knows there is sang growing there...and I have no intentions of advertising. A few years back when I first got the place a asked the real estate guy and one of the contractors about ginseng and they both had about the same response...\"yeah, I think it might grow here, but I have never heard of anybody hunting it.\"
Of course, that don't mean there are no poachers either!!!
I have a locked steel gate and it's a 1 mile drive to the top...no guarantees, but most poachers are pretty lazy, if they have to walk 2 miles to try and find something, I don't know, but I hope not.
Virginia has a little different {to me anyways} law regarding trespassers...if the land is not posted and they get caught the fine is pretty stiff...but, if it is posted and they get caught the fine almost doubles. In four years I have never had any trespassers, I hope it can stay that way!! Thanks again.

Well, I just got back from the mountain and I planted 100 ginseng seeds. I don't know the odds of seeds that make it, but if it's like everything else I try to do I will be lucky if I end up with two or three plants!!!!!

The sign would sure make them wonder. The thought of trail cameras make trespassers turn quick. I had removed my gate to widen the driveway and have a camera on the drive and just caught a truck on a camera but the camera was in sight and the camera took burst pics and you could see the truck backing out just as he approched the camera. Of course the sign that says \"you are here\" with an arrow pointing to a person in a scope's crosshairs, and then a picture of someone laying down with a hole in them and a caption pointing to that saying \"you will be here\", might have helped!

By the way, I just ordered some seeds. Had thought about not planting this year to just see how things go but don't want that lost time, so I ordered just one thousand, from a very near source and supposedly the seeds are from New York state, and wild. This will be planted on my most eastward side of the woods taking heed of TNHunter's remarks of how much better his do on the morning sun. Definitely not too late yet.

Well, I haven't posted on here for quite some time...I also haven't had time to get up to the mountain since last March, but I am headed that way this weekend. Will probably leave tomorrow evening. I am taking my camera and am hoping to find some of the sang that i planted growing. Will have a report either Sunday evening when I return or sometime Monday...excited to see if it has taken hold or not.

Well, I have visited the area I planted the seeds in several times and so far no sign of any growth. I am worried that the county I am in suffered a pretty bad dry spell...I hope this didn't hurt the plants, assuming any have even popped up yet.
Didn't get up there all thru the spring and most of the summer. Maybe the plants did come up and they were promptly eaten by the local wildlife. Maybe it is too soon to expect anything yet, but they were supposed to be "stratified" seeds.