TOPIC: Some questions about a growing idea

Hello, this is my first post on the forums so I guess I will introduce myself.

My name is Jake, I am a 20 year old from middle Tn just north of Nashville. Guess what... I am interested in ginseng (shocking I know, why would I be interested in seng and post on a sight like this :O ) .


Anyway, a friend of mine has about 50 acres of land, about 40-45 of which are woods. Me and him have walked up there a few times to see a 200+ year old spring house. On the way each time I kept noticing these strange looking plants that had a smooth stem , and branched off at a single point. Little did I know that I was walking right past what may in the end pay for my first vehicle.

I do not know how dense the plants are, I couldn't give an estimate of how many. It has been to long since we have been up on the hills. I do remember seeing quite a few 4 pronged plants and (I am sure it is my mind playing trick on me knowing how rare they are now) 2-3 5-prongs! The land has been in his family for about 40-50 years, and no one has thought to harvest the seng. Supposedly there are truffles in them woods aswell (yes, I was quite surprised aswell O_O ).

I will be going this weekend to scout the land again with him.I am not sure if it just grows on a few acres or if it grows on most of the 40+ that they have. If it is worth it I will put up the 250$ I need to harvest seng and me and him will split the profits.

So after daydreaming about having a good form of income ( I currently am not able to work do to a certain disability) I started thinking of how we could make this a good form of income for both of us (I don't know if I said it but he's my best friend, and Will remain so for hopefully a LONG TIME) that is different than most 20 year olds job's, fairly profitable, and will not be subject to the economy crashing.

What I have came up with is if the seng grows well all over his property we will harvest maybe one or two acres this year, and use about 25% of the profits to buy seed and plant more up there. After we get it set up in a couple of years to where we have new seng growing, we will continue to harvest an acre or two every year (supposedly an acre can bring like $50,000+ , but once again idk how dense it is growing, and $50,000 in Northern middle Tn is very good money. My family is currently living off of 25,000 a year, and thats being generous). Anyway while we wil be harvesting every year, we will also sow more seeds in. I have heard a half acre can produce 100lbs of seed (about 9,000 $ if I remember right), so one acre would produce around 18,000$ a year.

Would it work if we used about 25 acres worth , and cycled about a 2.5 acre root harvest a year, along with harvesting 2/3rds of all the berries, planting the other 1/3rd of course. It would bring in quite a large sum of cash from the seeds alone, with a decent bonus from the roots. And because we will only be harvesting 1/10th of the roots the freshly planted seeds have 10 years to grow before being replanted.


This is just me ballparking, and I am sure I am being over eager with this, but here is what I would assume me and him could make off of 25 acres set up like that a year before splitting between ourselves, paying laborers,misc stuff.


22x $18,000 (22 acres not 25 because I belive they take 3 years to start seeding)= $396,000

2.5 acres of roots a year- 2.5x50,000= $125,000 a year


So we could be bringing in about 325,000 $ a year before we split (after all other exspenses). Does anyone see any major flaws in this idea, or is it just something not many people have the option to start?

Welcome to the forum. You are certainly embarking on a very ambitious journey. Growing ginseng can be profitable, however there is a lot of work involved. Keep in mind if something sounds almost to good to be true, it probably is. Be mindful that drought, insects, disease, animals and poachers can and will wreck havoc on your crop. If you ask anyone that posts here, most have a full-time job. It's almost impossible to rely on ginseng as a way of life. I know of only one individual and his ad is to the right of the box I am typing into. Not saying there aren't more, but if it were easy everyone would be doing it. Also I noticed that you said you have a disability. Digging wild ginseng is no easy task. Not sure about the terrain where you live, but in the mountains in WV you have to be in pretty good shape. Even as a younger man I would drop off a ridge and trip and stumble and fall down trying to navigate down a holler full of old timber tops, grapevines, green briers and rocks. Extreme care must be taken especially with a disability. Having said all that. There is no reason you couldn't start a small plot to test and see how the ginseng will grow. You are only 20 so you have plenty of time to grow the business. What I have learned throughout my years is that it is fun to go out and dig ginseng. You get to spend time with friends/family, get exercise and see God's wonderful creation. You also get to make some money. Just don't get disappointed if you don't get rich from it!

Well ty for your advice. I am not disabled as in I cant walk, but It's more of I had a sever eye injury several years ago that I am still having masive issues from. I had had a few surgurys each with a recovery time of 1-2 months, and wouldn't be able to keep a job. I am physiccly able to do it.

While I am wanting to get rich, I am not really counting on it. If I could get about 15-20 thousand a year I would be able to live, but more would be nice.

YOur plan is interesting... and sounds good \"on paper\"...

I want to encourage you to go forward, however the path on this is sometime frought with some dissapoinments, and you should be willing to be flexible.

I like that you want to replant... and many factors can reduce your germination rate. Replanting is the only way to keep things going forward.

Many on this forum have calculated the money side of things pretty much down to the \"nth\" detail, and you many seek some of the previous postings on the money side.

The single biggest research influence on my efforts has been the Scott Person's book. Wonderful information there, and not too expensive, I couldn't find it in any local library, so had to get my own copy on Amazon.com.

LInk to this book: www.amazon.com/American-Ginseng-W-Scott-Persons/dp/091487523X

Please kepp us posted, and welcome to the forum!

Hmm... I'm strapped for cash at the moment, but I'll try to get enough together to buy it. If the seng already grows fine there with no signs of mold, wouldn't increseing the population mainly consist of making sure the berries get planted?


Are the seeds grown from seng plants that are not wild worth less than wild or wild sim seeds?

On this site you can purchase a lb of high quality roots for around a thousand dollars. What constitutes a high quality root?

I have heard it takes up to 60 roots to make a lb. Is there an average size or is it solely dependent on the soil?

How long would it take to hand pick a lb of seeds?

Is the age of the plant always a sure fire bet of the size of the root?

Is the reason most people don't make a living from farming it like they would other crops simply because it is over to widespread of an area, or because it is to much physical labor?

If it is to much physical labor, can you elbaorate? I was under the impression that aside from having to spray antifungal chemicals on mass cultivated seng, you plant it, leave it, and harvest it.

Are deer a problem for seng growing? If so, are they enough of a problem to shoot em once deer season opens (deer jerky would just be a plus .


How does tenessee rate as a seng producer?

Wow Oka nieba, that i a lot of questions so I have posted my answers in parenthesis beside your questions below:

Hmm... I'm strapped for cash at the moment, but I'll try to get enough together to buy it. If the seng already grows fine there with no signs of mold, wouldn't increseing the population mainly consist of making sure the berries get planted? (In a wild patch YES)


Are the seeds grown from seng plants that are not wild worth less than wild or wild sim seeds? (Yes typically less expensive)

On this site you can purchase a lb of high quality roots for around a thousand dollars. What constitutes a high quality root? (I would not purchase roots at $1,000 a lb)

I have heard it takes up to 60 roots to make a lb. Is there an average size or is it solely dependent on the soil? (It typically takes 200 to 300 roots depending on the size to make a lb dry)

How long would it take to hand pick a lb of seeds? ( At 40 to 50 seeds per large plant it would take 140 mature ginseng plants to get a lb of seed. So it depends on how long it takes you to find 140 mature ginseng plants)

Is the age of the plant always a sure fire bet of the size of the root? (Not at all. I have found big roots on small plants and small roots on big plants. But typically the larger the plant the larger the root)

Is the reason most people don't make a living from farming it like they would other crops simply because it is over to widespread of an area, or because it is to much physical labor? (No it is because it takes 7 to 10 years to harvest and most people do not want to wait that long)

If it is to much physical labor, can you elbaorate? I was under the impression that aside from having to spray antifungal chemicals on mass cultivated seng, you plant it, leave it, and harvest it. (It depends on your preferred method. Some take care of their crop with sprays etc and some plant it and leave it up to mother nature)

Are deer a problem for seng growing? If so, are they enough of a problem to shoot em once deer season opens (deer jerky would just be a plus . (Deer, mice, voles, slugs, poachers and disease can all be a problem. Some have problems with none, some or all of these. And yes Deer Jerky is great! lol)


How does tenessee rate as a seng producer? (TN is one of the leading states for producing seng. Hope this helped a bit.)

Good luck,
Latt

Latt,well said my friend.

Latt wrote:

Wow Oka nieba, that i a lot of questions so I have posted my answers in parenthesis beside your questions below:

Hmm... I'm strapped for cash at the moment, but I'll try to get enough together to buy it. If the seng already grows fine there with no signs of mold, wouldn't increseing the population mainly consist of making sure the berries get planted? (In a wild patch YES)


Are the seeds grown from seng plants that are not wild worth less than wild or wild sim seeds? (Yes typically less expensive)

On this site you can purchase a lb of high quality roots for around a thousand dollars. What constitutes a high quality root? (I would not purchase roots at $1,000 a lb)

I have heard it takes up to 60 roots to make a lb. Is there an average size or is it solely dependent on the soil? (It typically takes 200 to 300 roots depending on the size to make a lb dry)

How long would it take to hand pick a lb of seeds? ( At 40 to 50 seeds per large plant it would take 140 mature ginseng plants to get a lb of seed. So it depends on how long it takes you to find 140 mature ginseng plants)

Is the age of the plant always a sure fire bet of the size of the root? (Not at all. I have found big roots on small plants and small roots on big plants. But typically the larger the plant the larger the root)

Is the reason most people don't make a living from farming it like they would other crops simply because it is over to widespread of an area, or because it is to much physical labor? (No it is because it takes 7 to 10 years to harvest and most people do not want to wait that long)

If it is to much physical labor, can you elbaorate? I was under the impression that aside from having to spray antifungal chemicals on mass cultivated seng, you plant it, leave it, and harvest it. (It depends on your preferred method. Some take care of their crop with sprays etc and some plant it and leave it up to mother nature)

Are deer a problem for seng growing? If so, are they enough of a problem to shoot em once deer season opens (deer jerky would just be a plus . (Deer, mice, voles, slugs, poachers and disease can all be a problem. Some have problems with none, some or all of these. And yes Deer Jerky is great! lol)


How does tenessee rate as a seng producer? (TN is one of the leading states for producing seng. Hope this helped a bit.)

Good luck,
Latt