TOPIC: No-till seed drill for planting ginseng seed?

I live on a farm and own a no-till seed drill. I've used the drill to plant a wide variety of seeds, from small grass/hay seeds to large sunflower seeds. The drill plants in 8 inch rows, and the seeding rate can be adjusted. The main advantage (less work) I see of a \"no-till\" drill is that it uses coulters to slice a slot for the seed to be planted without the need to disk, rake, or work the ground. These drills also reduce soil erosion and reduce the germination of weeds and other unwanted seeds that may result from raking the soil.

Has anyone tried using a no-till seed drill to plant ginseng seeds directly in the woods, without raking or otherwise disturbing the woodland soil? It seems like it would work, but I haven't found any articles on the web that mention using a no-till drill to plant ginseng.

Any advice or shared experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

I have heard of folks using the no till method but have no first hand knowledge. A few problems I could foresee are leaf litter, rocks, tree roots, size of the machinery, and the slope of the ground you are working. All of these factors would prevent me from using a no till rig. If you are going to do some field cultivated (artificial shade) ginseng beds, a drill would be ideal. That being said, the drill itself will work fine in my estimation as long as the seed is placed into the soil at the correct depth (1/2 to 1 inch).

It sure would be pretty having the rows of ginseng every 8 inches. I would not place the seed too close together though. 3 to 4 inches apart would be ok if you have a lot of seed and not too much space. A perfect 8 on 8 would be really cool.

I just got a letter from Ozark Mountain Ginseng; Dennis has 100 pounds of seed left. I planted 25 pounds last fall and do not have any more ground prepped or I would probably buy a few more.

Good luck with the drill, you are in charge of R&D on this one.

MMG

MMG,
How is your 25 lbs doing that you planted 3 years ago?
Thanks,
Latt

Latt wrote:

MMG,
How is your 25 lbs doing that you planted 3 years ago?
Thanks,
Latt

Lost some due to disease but other wise it is doing quite well. Same year we lost 30 to 40% of the two year olds (18 pounds). It was a cool wet year. We got more aggressive with spraying (wet or dry) and have had much better results.

Thanks for asking.

MMG

MMG,
Thanks for the reply. Do you mind recommending what you spray with? I see a lot on info pertaining to this and I was curious to hear what is working for your plants when you spray.
Thanks,
Latt