TOPIC: Site selection question

Just have a few questions? Our property was logged about 7-8 years ago, since that time the under canopy has went wild. Not to mention all the tree tops left all over by the loggers. There are some open patches that require little work, but for the most part everything has grown up to the point of being quite a pain to walk through. That being said, 70% of the 15 acres is very well shaded and I find wild ginseng, maidenhair fern, Jack-in-the pulpits, May Apples, and I believe the soil would be excellent. My question is, should I go in with chainsaws? Bulldozers? or should I work with what I have and disturb things as minimally as possible? With wanting to grow on a large scale, I think it would be much easier if the sites were cleared, just not sure what the best way to do that would be. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Chad

Here's what I'm dealing with

One more

You would have to clear all the under brush to make some good planting beds. It looks really thick. If you still have 75% canopy shade I think you would be good to go as long as the soil conditions are good. If I were you I would try a pound or two to see how it does. It looks like the remaining trees are only 15 to 20 years old and I do not see any old growth trees remaining. But shade is shade and the soil may still be good from all those years of decomposing leaf litter prior to the logging.
If the canopy is less than 65 to 70% you are going to be fighting stickers, grass and a lot of underbrush in years to come in my opinion.
Good luck

Latt,

Some areas are more shaded than others but the soil is great and the few patches I've planted have done well. How would you personally go about removing all the undergrowth?

I would plant in 5 foot wide beds 50 foot long. 1 lbs of seed should be planted in 1600 square foot. So each 5 x 50 foot bed= 250 sq foot. Therefore to plant 1 lb of seed you will need to clear 5 to 6 of these 250 sq foot beds.

To answer your question I would say this. If I were planting a few lbs I would probably clear the beds by hand. However, I am not opposed at all to using equipment to clear Saplings, Stickers, Grasses, Debris of any kind. Equipment can be small attachments added to small tractors, 4 wheelers or self propelled mowers, wood chippers, roto-tillers etc.

I would look for spots in your woods that lend themselves to better planting areas with less work than some areas. By planting in 250 sq foot beds you can plant here and there where the land permits with as little work as possible. I would leave the difficult spots alone if you can find plenty of spots that will require less effort to prepare.

If you do have to clear some difficult spots I believe as long as the SURFACE of the soil is only tilled 1 or 2 inches deep, the seed in my opinion will grow and hit the harder soil and struggle therefore taking on wild ginseng characteristics.

It sounds like you are already familiar with growing ginseng and I may not have offered you any info that you haven't already thought of. But if I did I hope it is useful to you.
Good luck,
Latt

I would like to add to what Latt said.

If you need to plant smaller beds(say 20x4'), that don't need much clearing, that would be the wat to go.

If you need to plant a lb of seeds in 25 small beds instead of say 10 larger beds, that would be the best to eliminate so much ground clearing.

Another thing to keep in mind about clearing areas that are so heavily over grown, is that alot of that growth will come back within a couple of years and it will start to grow too heavy for your short seng plants. You might have to fight that under growth for years after planting, to get it under control. It will be difficult to keep all the under growth from taking over again. But if your persistent with it, I think you can get a handel on it.

And if you till the soil like Latt suggested, you will still need to clear out all the brush and growth before you till. You sure do have your work cut out for you!

classicfur

Another thing to consider, wild seng often grows and does well in grown up places. Sometimes I use my long handle digger to push the weeds and briars back and WOW there is a nice 4 prong. I have found lots of nice big old seng plants growing in thick mess like that expecially in the edge of clear cuts where there was lots of sun geting thru in the morning hours, then it was shaded fairly well in the evenings.

When it comes to planting, it would be ideal to plant in beds as others have suggested, but that is sure not the only way to do it.

You could just get in there and poke a hole and plant a seed, or perhaps with a leaf rake, just rake back a 4x4 or 6x6 or even 2x2 spot where ever you can and plant your seeds at 4-5 per sq ft. In areas where it is real thick, reduce your seeding rate to more like 2-3 per sq ft - to help with possible disease issues. Removing the underbrush increases airflow and helps to reduce disease, if you can't reasonably do that in some places then reduce your seeding rate to help wiht that some.

When it comes to planting in beds, that is very advisable if you are going to have to add soil supplements like gypsum, and would also make it easier at harvest time, but now if your soil does not need any ammendments, calcium is good, ph is good, healthy seng does grow there, then I would sure consider ditching the large bed approach and just do what you can without killing yourself to clear large areas.

Good Luck !

TNhunter

Thanks everyone! I believe I can find a dozen or so spots to do small beds with minimal clearing, and from there I'll just plant the hell out of the rest of the woods. Makes sense and makes for alot less work! I guess the idea of clearing the whole woods and having a ginseng plantation got the better of me! LOL! Thanks again everyone!

cdowell1972

I would not advise planting in thick areas like TNhunter suggested. Little baby ginseng plants would have a slim chance of surviving if planted in thick undergrowth.

TNhunter said:
\" In areas where it is real thick, reduce your seeding rate to more like 2-3 per sq ft - to help with possible disease issues. Removing the underbrush increases airflow and helps to reduce disease, if you can't reasonably do that in some places then reduce your seeding rate to help wiht that some.\"

Scott Persons book and many others suggest \"avoid these areas and choose a more suitable spot.\"

IF you plant in areas where the actual undergrowth is producing the shade for your plants intead of the above tree canopy producing the shade. Then it is too thick for planting seng. They will be choked out or become diseased from lack of air flow before they ever get established. True, you might be able to get some to grow in this situation(areas that are real thick), but you will have a very low percent of success.

Stick to areas that are opened up enough for little ginseng plants to survive, with good air flow and no undergrowth plants shading the ginseng plants. Or clear areas and then plant. If you start out with an area that is choking the little plants, your bound to have the majority of them die.

Six years ago I planted in an area just like you showed in your picture. Too Thick. It had failure written all over it, before I even planted the first seed. They got choked to death! Stick with suitable open areas.

classicfur