TOPIC: TN GoldenSeal season

I know about the TN ginseng harvesting season. Is there a Goldenseal harvest season?

in ky there isnt, you can dig or sale anytime

I have not heard of any goldenseal season in TN, but i typically dig after the plants have seeded out for the year. when the berries are ripe,That method goes a long way in making sure that the crop is replenished each year. do that and watch how much larger your patch can become.

K_duce wrote:

I have not heard of any goldenseal season in TN, but i typically dig after the plants have seeded out for the year. when the berries are ripe,That method goes a long way in making sure that the crop is replenished each year. do that and watch how much larger your patch can become.[/quote

Good Advice K_duce, Also only dig the largest (top 50% of the patch) and You will have sustainable patches that you can harvest about every 3 years. If you know of enough patches just rotate them. I don't dig a whole lot of godenseal, but usually do get out and dig 1 1/2- 3 pounds dry each year. Could dig a lot more, but saving it for when and if the price ever spikes again.

thanks for the replies.

I was thinking of digging during those long days during turkey season when the turkeys are not gobbling good.

When is the peak of red berries on golden seal?

I don't know much about this plant....

How much does it dry out wet/dry ratio?

I'm finding out my ginseng looses 2/3 of it weight. 3 pounds making a pound dry.

thanks again!

Red Berries peek from mid to late July all the way to late August depending on the weather. If it is hot and dry they peak early. Cooler and wetter weather they will peak later as well as having larger berries.
Let me know if you want to hear more on stratifying them. Actually it is similar to stratifying ginseng seed.
Thanks,
Latt

Latt wrote:

Let me know if you want to hear more on stratifying them. Actually it is similar to stratifying ginseng seed.
Thanks,
Latt

Latt, I have several bags of seed in my fridge from this summer that i collected and didn't plant right away. they have been in cold storage for about 90 days. What next?

K_duce,
Man you are good to go. You have two options. the first is to bury the seeds in a stratifying pit much like ginseng and dig it up next fall (2012) to plant. Then you should see the seeds sprout the spring of 2013.

Second option (The One That I Use) is to plant them now just like ginseng seed. You will get some germination this coming spring (2012) but most will come up the spring of 2013. I plant it a bit thicker than some. 4 to 6 seeds per square foot is what I do. I rake back the leaves then broadcast it like I do ginseng seed and recover the bed with the leaves and walk the bed down. This applies no matter if you plant now or wait until next fall.

I am sure you already know this but it does not hurt to plant goldenseal seed in tilled beds. They will grow better, faster and larger in tilled beds in the woods. Tilling does not diminish the value of the goldenseal root. Bigger goldenseal roots grown in tilled beds are fine unlike ginseng which would be the opposite. Also the goldenseal will spread (unlike ginseng) and will completely cover the planting area. It is best to harvest goldenseal roots after 4 to 6 years. Any longer than that they will start to thin themselves out and many will die. I have not planted in tilled goldenseal beds yet. I have planted it like I do ginseng seeds. I have talked to many that do till their goldenseal beds thou and not only does it make a bigger root faster, it is easier to dig at harvest time. I planted a pound last year and a 2 oz last weekend. That's a lot of goldenseal seed. There are about 20,000 goldenseal seeds to a pound if I remember correctly.
Good luck,
Latt

Ok Latt it is 2013, I went back to check on those goldenseal seeds this week and i found alot of tiny plants each with 1 or 2 sort of rounded leaves, they looked somewhat different from what i was expecting, i guess goldenseal does not get true leaves until maybe its second year. At any rate i only found those plants growing in the area that i planted, i wanted to confirm that it was indeed goldenseal so i used the only method available to me at the time..........the \"taste test\". after digging up 1 plant and as soon as i chewed it up i was 100% sure it was goldenseal.

That is too cool.
Thanks,
Latt